Mine To Promise, page 22
“Do you want pizza for dinner?” he asks me over his shoulder, and I nod my head.
“Sounds good,” I say, walking into the house and going to sit on the couch. I sit at the edge of the cushion while Stefano places the order on his phone.
He comes into the living room, stopping midway to the couch. “Is there something going on?” he asks me, unsure.
I look at him and do a fake smile. I know it’s a fake smile, he knows it’s a fake smile. “Listen, I think we need to talk.”
“We do,” he agrees, coming over and sitting down next to me. The nerves in my stomach crawl their way to my throat.
My neck suddenly becomes like a heater. “I get it,” I say the words. “I understand.”
He does not make a move to hold my hand, instead he leans back onto the couch. “You understand.” I nod. “What is it you understand?”
“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious.” I avoid looking at him and instead I turn my head and scratch my neck, pretending it’s itchy.
“Well, it’s not obvious to me, so why don’t you tell me what you understand.”
“This isn’t for you,” I finally say it. “You have to go work and even though you tried to—I don’t know—be happy here. You aren’t.” I look at him and he stares at me with his mouth hanging open. “I understand, trust me, I know.”
“You understand.” He says his words in a whisper.
“I know that we are going to have to come up with a parenting plan.” I put my hands together to stop them from shaking. “She starts school soon, so you are going to have to come up and see her when you can, of course. And then, of course, whenever you come home here, she can come and stay with you.” I literally think I’m going to vomit. I jump up, shocking Stefano as I rush away from him, running to the bathroom. I shut the door behind me and close my eyes, counting to ten. I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. “It’s going to be fine,” I say, walking over to the sink and turning on the cold water. “It’s going to be fine.” I wet my hand and then tap my cheeks. “It’s going to be fine. You’ll be fine.” I close my eyes, take a deep breath in, and open the door, screaming when I see him standing there. “Holy shit, you scared the bejeezus out of me.”
“Good,” he declares, his tone tight, “hopefully now the real Addison is with me, and not whoever left that room.” He points at the living room, making me pissed.
“I was trying to help you,” I growl between clenched teeth.
“Trying to help me?” he asks me and I never will get over how hot he is. Like today when I saw him, I couldn’t help but stare at him. His hair is longer than I’m used to and his beard looks like he hasn’t trimmed it since he left. He also looks a touch tired, but I thought it was because he was feeling guilty about what was going to happen. “How were you trying to help me?”
“Oh my God.” My hands fly up. “I don’t know why I have to spell it out for you. I know.” I fold my arms over my chest.
“You know?” he replies, and I don’t know why but I think he’s smirking at me. “You know I’ve had the worst four days of my life?” he asks. I don’t say anything, only because he doesn’t wait for me to answer him. “That for the past twenty-four hours I was huddled into a room, trying to make the logistics work so I don’t have to go into the field anymore.” My mouth opens. “I mean, I will still have to go into the field, but it’ll be two days… tops. I’ll get what I need and then come home. I spent over six hours on the phone with Casey Barnes discussing it,” he informs me. “Five hours and fifty-five minutes of him threatening me also, by the way.” He holds up his hand to make sure I don’t speak. “Rush home to my girls because I’m miserable without them.” If I wasn’t so pissed, I might sigh, but I am, so I don’t. “Guilt eating at me for missing bedtimes. I’ve missed too much already. I’m not missing more. Put my foot down, spoke with who I needed to speak to. I’ll do my part for the business because I’m good at it and because I like it, but I’ll do it from nine-to-five in the comfort of my house.”
“Stefano,” I whisper.
“Rush home with a plan to wine and dine you and ask you guys to move in with me.” His voice gets louder. “Only to be given the cold shoulder and then you sit there and tell me you know.” His eyes almost glare at me. “Not even a kiss. Four days I’ve been gone, and you aren’t even happy to see me.”
I know he’s throwing a lot of stuff at me. I know I need to focus on what he is saying, but the only thing I can zoom in on is: “You want us to move in with you?”
“Um, yeah,” he says like I should have known this. “Didn’t you know?”
I roll my eyes at his last remark. “Addison, I’m in love with you,” he declares, his voice soft and quiet, which makes my heart literally skip a beat. “Like, so in love with you.” I blink away the tears. “And it has nothing to do with Avery. It has to do with when you hold my hand, I feel a sense of peace. It has to do with when you kiss me, my heart speeds up. It has to do with when you smile at me, I feel like I could take on the world with just you by my side.”
“You.” I put my hand to my mouth to stop the sob from coming out, but it’s too late. “You aren’t leaving?” He is in front of me in one step, his hands on my face, tilting it back to look at him.
“I’m not leaving,” he reassures me, “not now, not ever.” He finally lowers his head to kiss my lips. I put my hands on top of his.
“I didn’t know that,” I admit and then laugh out through the tears.
“No shit,” he says, shaking his head. “I don’t even know what you thought you knew.”
“You are not picking a fight with me right now. Not after I spent four days practically sleepless because I was missing you,” I grumble between clenched teeth, “and then you come home and kiss my cheek.”
“You were being weird,” he replies between clenched teeth.
“You were being weirder,” I counter. I know it’s not a good comeback, but it’s all I have right now.
“When is your lease up?” he asks me. “Doesn’t matter, it’ll just sit vacant.”
“It’s over next month.”
“So do you think you can move in with me tomorrow?” He smirks at me. “I mean, I would ask for you to do it today, but it’s late. I have to feed my daughter, and then I have four days of sex to catch up on.”
“Four days?” I can’t help the smile that fills my face. “That’s a lot of sex.”
“I have faith in us,” he declares, kissing my lips. “Now, let’s go tell our daughter that you’re moving in.”
epilogue one
Stefano
One year later
“How are you so calm, cool, and collected?” I look over at Casey as he just stands there looking down at his phone.
“Well, for one.” He tries not to smirk. “I have no skin in this game. I’m here because they heard of me and took the meeting. And number two, I’ve been where you have been.” I look at him, my eyebrows pinched together. “First thing I did when I had money was buy the farm my ex owned. No one knew it was me. I broke it to her in the middle of the barn, where I found her fucking someone else. It was a good day.”
“So the moral of the story is?” I look out the window.
“Moral of the story is I won, one, by buying her farm and, two, by finding the love of my life, which wasn’t her.” He puffs out his chest. “Now, relax.”
I’m about to say something to him when the door to the conference room opens, and a woman comes in. “Showtime,” Casey says and I nod my head.
She’s dressed head to toe in a designer outfit. “Hello, gentlemen.” She smiles at Casey and then her eyes fall to me as she smirks.
“Kristina.” I nod at her as she pulls out her chair, putting her phone on the table.
Her brother is the next one in, who looks annoyed that he was called into this meeting. Which doesn’t surprise me since he actually has no idea what the fuck he’s even doing. “I have a meeting in thirty minutes,” he huffs, pulling out a chair, and I know he does. He’s actually having an affair with his fiancée’s best friend’s boyfriend.
I don’t bother even acknowledging him, because in walks the man of the hour. I have never in my life been more nervous, but I’ve never in my life hated someone more than I hate this man who is walking into the room next. “Gentlemen,” he greets, smiling to me. All I can do is nod instead of wanting to throat punch him.
“Mr. Laurier.” I nod at him. “How has your day been?”
“It’s been good,” he replies, pulling out the chair at the head of the table where the president usually sits. I look over at Casey, who pulls out the chair in front of him that is in the middle.
“Shall we get started?” I look over at them.
“Should we not wait for the rest of the shareholders?” Kristina smiles at me as she taps her finger on the table.
Gerald takes a deep exhale and looks bored AF and just wants this over with. They are the only three who we haven’t shared the news with. News I’m ready to share with them. News I hope shatters their whole fucking world. “I think we can start without them,” I state, looking over at Casey, who leans back in his chair. Cool, calm, and collected.
“Yes, let’s,” Casey says, smirking. “Knock them dead.”
“Well, I don’t want to drag this on, so let’s get to the point. Since your company is public, and Casey has been looking into purchasing stocks to become a majority shareholder in Laurier Lumber for a while now.” I look over at Casey, who just rocks back and forth. “I’ve met with several of the shareholders.” I put my hands on the table. “And your numbers are, well, how do I put it?” I look over at Casey. “Fictitious.” I look at the reaction of all three of them, the only one who isn’t surprised by this is the man at the head of the table. “You see, I’m really good at my job.”
“He’s lying,” Casey cuts in. “He’s the best at his job, even I’m somewhat impressed.”
“Thank you,” I tell him. “Now, as future shareholders of Laurier Lumber, I think it’s our right to see how much Mr. Laurier has, how do I put it?”
“I think it’s called embezzling.” Casey leans in like he’s going to tell me a secret, but the whole table can hear him. Kristina, who smiled at me before, now just looks at me with big eyes.
Gerald suddenly sits up in his chair, now paying very close attention.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Laurier says, sitting up in his chair.
“You’re excused,” I say to him as I open the folder I placed on the table when we walked in. I hand them each a sheet of paper with columns and numbers. I slide it to them, Mr. Laurier snapping it up in his hands. “As you can see, the three of you have been, well—” I look for words to say. “Having a field day with funds that were not yours.” I look over at Casey, whose face grimaces. “So, for the past couple of weeks, we’ve had the pleasure to show this to some of the shareholders.”
“Past couple of weeks?” Mr. Laurier says. “Are you saying you went behind my back?”
“I am, in fact,” I say, nodding, “saying that we went behind your back.”
“I’m not taking the praise for this,” Casey declares. “This was all Stefano. I’m just here because I knew someone.” He looks at me. “Go on.”
“This is bullshit.” Mr. Laurier slaps the table with his hand. “I want you out of this office now.”
I just stare at him while Casey laughs. “I don’t think so.” I laugh also. “You see, I sort of—” I move my head from side to side. “Kind of”—I snap my fingers—“am the majority shareholder.”
“That’s,” Mr. Laurier shouts, “that’s impossible!”
“But is it?” Casey asks him, then turns to me. “Go for it.”
“Mr. Laurier,” I say his name, “from my findings, you have been dipping your hand where it shouldn’t go.” I smirk. “But you aren’t the only one.” I look over at the other two. “You see your son, Gerald, has a hotel room that is booked four times a week with the company card.” I look at him, and his face goes white as I turn to him. “And I don’t think you are bringing clients there.” I don’t wait for him to say anything. “And, well, Kristina over here, she has a little bit of an issue that she needs help with.”
“Shut the fuck up,” she says, slapping her hand on the table.
“And, well, you.” I point at Mr. Laurier. “There are the family vacations. The hotel suites. The private jets are all paid for by the company.”
“I have an allowance.” He shoots to his feet as his chair flies back. “My father started this company.”
“He sure did,” I confirm. “And we aren’t even going to go into all that. Because if we went through all of it, your father would have been behind bars for the way he obtained some of his materials. But, in the end, I’m sure you will be handing it down to your kids.” I look at the two next to him.
“It’s a family tradition,” he states.
“You have just the two children, then?” I ask him, and he is about to answer me when the door opens and in comes the other person I hate.
“What is going on?” she asks, looking around at her husband and kids. “Why the hell did you summon me here?” I shake my head and look down. How the fuck did Addison come from these people? My hands bunch into fists on the table.
“Mrs. Laurier,” I say, my voice tight, “I was explaining to your husband and your two children that I now am the primary shareholder in the company.” Everything I’ve done in the last year has paid off for this moment right here. Standing before her family, taking what they love the most away from them.
“This is fucking bullshit.” Gerald jumps out of his seat, just like his father.
“No,” I say quietly and stand. “What is bullshit is the four of you.” I look over at Casey, and he just smirks. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced.” I look over at the woman. “My name is Stefano Dimitris.” They all look at me like it means nothing, and I guess to them, it doesn’t. “You would know who I am if you were in your daughter’s life.”
They look over at Kristina, who holds up her hands. “I have no idea who he is.”
“Not that daughter,” I explain. “I’m talking about Addison.” The minute I say her name, the blood drains from their faces. “I’m guessing from the reaction on your faces that you know who I’m talking about. You see, you turned your back on her over six years ago.”
“Yeah, so what?” Gerald says. “She was stupid enough to get knocked up.”
“Breathe,” Casey says from beside me.
“I’d watch what you say.” I look into his eyes. “You’re talking about my fiancée and my daughter. So if you don’t want to eat from a straw for the rest of your life, I would watch the next words that come out of your mouth.”
“Are you threatening me?” He puffs out his chest.
“Nope, threat means I won’t do it.” I smirk. “This is me telling you that I’ll make you eat from a straw for the rest of your life.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Mr. Laurier says.
“What is going on, old man, is”—I look at him—“this is your last day working for this company.” I look at Casey, who nods at me and gets up. “As much fun as this was.” I take the other paper in the folder and hand it to them. “You will see, Casey bought two shares of the company.” I smile big at them. “While I bought the other sixty shares. Which means…” I hold up a hand. “Which means I move to have you removed from the company,” I declare. “All in favor, say aye.”
“Aye,” Casey says, then looks over at the four of them. “I guess you guys are opposed.”
“Doesn’t fucking matter.” I clap my hands. “My shares are going to my future wife and my daughter. It’s in her hands. But for now, for me, I want you out of your office tonight.” Then I look over at her mother. “You turned your back on your daughter and tossed her out like garbage. She struggled to pay her medical bills while you spent forty-seven thousand dollars in the Bahamas in a weekend.”
“She made her bed,” her father retorts, “she had to lie in it.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” the woman says. “You can’t speak to me like that.”
“Trust me, lady, the last thing I want to do is speak to you.” I shake my head. “I thank fuck she didn’t turn out like you.” Then I look at her sister. “You should go to rehab.” Then I look over at her brother. “You should also tell your fiancée she’s not your type.”
“Fuck this, I quit!” Gerald yells. “I won’t stand here.”
“You haven’t worked a day in your life.” I laugh. “You don’t even know how to do your job. We’ve already hired your secretary to take your place since she has been doing your job since you started.
“You have until the end of the day to pack up your shit.” I look at Casey. “You were right, this was fun, but I’m done.” He nods at me, and I start to make my way out. “You fucked up, old man. Trying to do things like you were still in the fifties, thinking no one would know the difference,” I inform him. “You fucked up even bigger when you turned your back on your daughter. You will never see the woman she has become, and you will never see the goodness that is our daughter.” Then I look at her mother. “You were supposed to fight for her. You were supposed to be her strength and guide her, and instead, you chose to stand behind your husband.”
“Don’t speak to me that way,” her mother seethes. “You don’t know us.”
“Thank fuck,” I reply, “wouldn’t even want to walk on the same street as you.”
With that, I take one look at them and then walk out with Casey at my back. “How you feeling?” he asks me and I just look down. “I’m going to say that I’m happy as a pig in shit right now.” I look over at him. “Do you know how pissed Matthew is going to be that we did this without him?”
