“What was it?” I pushed her even though I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear her dismiss what we had. Yes, it was impulsive. Yes, we were young. But I’d cared for her. At the time, I was sure I loved her.
“A hook-up.”
Fuck. I was right. I didn’t want to hear that. “You don’t feel it was a little more than that?”
“At the time, sure, it felt like more, but we were in the middle of it.” She cocked her head to the side. “You can’t tell me you pined too long. Or didn’t have someone in the wings ready to take my place.”
Her words felt like they had weight. Like she thought I was cheating or had moved on quickly. Had I fucked other women since her? Yes. But it hadn’t happened quickly, and I hadn’t had the same feeling with them as I’d had with her.
“It sounds like you want me to be the bad guy here. Once you lost your virginity, how long was it before you went out with another man? Were you curious to experience the size of other dicks?” The minute I said it, I regretted it. It was petty. But dammit, there was only so much my ego could take.
Her eyes flashed with heat reminding me of the times I was thrusting inside her, watching her as she rode the edge of an orgasm. Of course, this time she wasn’t hot from pleasure, but from anger.
“You’re one to talk, Devin.”
Huh? “What is it you’re accusing me of, Serena?”
All of a sudden, she straightened to attention.
“Everything okay here?” her boss asked as she approached us.
“Yes, of course,” Serena said. When the door to the elevator opened, she hurried in. “It was good to see you again, Mr. Roarke.”
I nodded. “You too, Ms…” Fuck what was her last name?
She smirked at me as the doors closed.
Moore. Fuck it was Moore. I wanted to poke the button and chase her down to let her know I hadn’t forgotten. She wasn’t just some random short-term hook-up in a long line of hook-ups.
“Mr. Roarke?”
I sighed and turned toward the chef. “Yes, chef.”
After dealing with the chef, I finished my business at the Roarke, and then I scouted a location a few doors down from the Roarke building for the potential of a club. My dad would balk, but if I was going to be taking over the business, then I was going in all the way. He’d had his run, now it was my turn.
After work, I returned to my parents’ place on Riverside in the Upper West Side of the city. The place was large enough that I could be there without seeing my parents unless I wanted to. Even so, I was in the process of buying a penthouse in midtown.
After dinner, I went to my father’s study to let him know about my day. To my mind it was a courtesy, although I’m sure he felt it was my duty. My father had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and encouraged to reduce his workload, which was why I was summoned home. But on the first day, I could see my father wasn’t going to let go of the reins that easily.
I felt bad that he was sick, but that didn’t mean I was going to come home simply to do his bidding. I told him so when he clearly didn’t like that I was seeking a spot for a club.
“You know you wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t sick,” he said. I couldn’t decide if it was sadness at what his illness was taking from him, or envy of my taking charge.
“That’s true. I’d still be in Europe living the life you forced me to create there. But now I’m back at your insistence to take over the business.”
“I’m not dead yet, Devin.”
“No, but you asked…actually, you ordered me back home to start running the business. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m not here to take orders though. You give me the reins, or keep them for yourself. I don’t care. Just make a choice.”
“Devin!” My mother’s scolding voice echoed across my father’s study.
“You think you can do better than me?” my father asked.
“A better question is if you don’t trust me, why am I here?”
“Roarke’s has been doing business the same way successfully for a century, and all of a sudden you think you know better?” my father demanded.
“Roarke’s clientele is dying, Dad.” I winced at my own insensitive words. My mother gaped, but my father’s eyes sharpened. “You also seem to be missing the fact that many people today that can afford to eat at Roarke’s are under the age of forty. The truth is, in the next ten years or less, Roarke’s will be dead too if we don’t pay attention to the market.”
“So, what, you want to turn it into fast food?”
I rolled my eyes. “It can still appeal to the rich, but it should appeal to the young rich. But for now, I’m not touching the restaurant. Right now I’m looking for a club, which, if you read the financial reports I’ve sent back, are not only profitable but often are the first step to getting people into the restaurant.”
“I read the reports,” my father grumbled.
“So, what’s the problem?”
“This isn’t easy for your father, Devin,” my mother snapped. “He’s spent his life dedicated to and sacrificing for Roarke’s.”
“Me too, Mom. Because neither of us had a choice. Thank God I’m not having kids.”
My mother flinched, and she quickly turned away, which was a weird reaction. I’d more expected her to say something like I was overreacting.
“I can’t do what I did before, but I’m not ready to let go,” my father said, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I saw genuine emotion in him. “I know you’re good at business. And when the time comes for you
