“I wish there was. Ah fuck…I’m so tired. And I miss you and Andrew. How is he?”
I closed my eyes, wondering why I was so worried about Devin when all he had been was wonderful to me and Andrew. Even now, with his world gone crazy, he was asking about him.
“He misses you. He wants you to hang his airplane over his bed.”
“I’d like to do that for him.”
I heard a commotion on his end and he said something muffled as if he covered the speaking end of his phone.
“Listen, Serena, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go. How about lunch on Friday? My sister has promised she’d keep my mother occupied. I have to take care of some business, but I should be able to meet you for lunch.” He gave me the name of a restaurant.
“I’ll see you then.”
At work, my team met with Nikita about the St. Patrick's party at the Roarke. I wondered if I needed to tell her now that I was seeing him. Then again, when I told him about Andrew, I might not be seeing him. Even so, he was Andrew’s father, so it seemed likely we’d be involved even if it was just co-parenting. God, why couldn’t anything be easy to figure out what to do?
I decided not to worry about telling Nikita now. Right now, I’d just focus on my lunch with Devin on Friday and dealing with the fallout. From this moment until then, I’d pray that he’d understand and forgive me. I crossed my fingers that my mother was right, and Devin’s mom would accept Andrew because he was part of Devin.
22
Devin
Before Serena, I managed my family and business like a machine. They were all I had in my life, and I was able to deal with everything with a sense of detachment.
But now, I was growing to resent my mother’s histrionic control, my sister’s outrageous behavior, and my father’s secret calls to the board to undermine my work. They all were taking me away from the one thing…no two things, that made me happy. Serena and Andrew. God, what I’d do just to see her. To be able to hold her and have some quiet for a minute. I wanted to hang Andrew’s airplane and have him look at me like I’d given him the world. I didn’t want the adulation as much as I needed appreciation.
I’d guilt-tripped Bri into giving up her Friday shopping spree to deal with Mom and Dad. She and I had put the New York club on the back burner, for now, because I had to exert control over the business to prevent a mutiny. There would be an emergency board meeting on Friday and I was determined to show them that I was more than capable of running Roarke businesses. I was also prepared to run any of them out if they continued to sabotage me.
The only good thing about my life now was it was so crazy hectic that time flew by. Before I knew it, I was standing in the conference room, with the board, and my father being video-conferenced in. My mother, with my sister’s help, had encouraged him to join in. He looked frail and, if you looked closely, you could see the tremors, But he was in a suit, his silver hair slicked back.
One of the longest-standing board members started to speak, but I cut him off, which might have been rude, but my intention was to show my dominance from the get-go. When my father tried to interrupt me, I muted him, and continued on. It was obnoxious, but if I didn’t win this battle, there was no use staying on.
I’d made headway, but as lunch approached, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make my date with Serena. I had to hope she’d understand. I’d call her later, and maybe if all went well tonight, I could take her and Andrew out for dinner. Maybe we’d even go see a movie.
“You’re definitely, Roarke’s son,” one of the board members said at three in the afternoon when I’d finally wrangled the last agreement out of them.
I didn’t want to be compared to my father, but for now, I’d take it if it would give them confidence in me. “I hope you see that I want what’s best for this company as well as you and my father does. I know what I’m doing, and I intend to do it.”
“That sounds like an ultimatum,” one of my father’s allies said.
“It’s a promise, Rich,” I said, using his first name, again as a rude way to hold my position of power.
He glanced at my father, who looked small on the screen. He’d have hated that. While he looked pale and frail, his green eyes were as sharp as ever. Worried about what undermining or back-handed comment he might make, I forged ahead.
“The Roarke is having a St. Patrick’s Day party. I hope you’ll all attend.” I pulled all my notes and items together, shoved them in my briefcase, and then left the meeting.
I didn’t even bother going to my office. I went straight for the elevator and headed down. My destination; Serena’s place.
It was possible the board, along with my father, would vote to get rid of me. So be it. I was thinking that perhaps I should transfer the New York Club work to my own business entity. Maybe I’d arrange to buy the other clubs too. My father would be happy and I’d be free.
I got into my car and asked Doug to drive me to Serena’s building. When he let me out, I gave him the rest of the night off. If I was lucky, I’d be staying with Serena tonight. Or maybe I could invite her back to my new place, which I hadn’t spent much time since my father’s fall.
I poked the buzzer to her apartment and waited. When she didn’t buzz
