I stand, hands going to my hips. “Are you joking? I own as much of the company as you do. You can’t make the decision unilaterally.”
“Until this is done and taken care of, you are on leave.”
“You’re playing into just what Morgan Bennett wants.”
My parents visibly cringe.
Claire shakes her head. “I don’t think so. Your decision to sleep with Tinsley and a whole list of others, including the crazy woman here in your own building, has put the company at risk. You need a break.”
I turn to my parents, and they won’t look at me. I want to kick them all out of my apartment, banish them from my life. But I know there’s an element of truth in what Claire is saying.
Without looking back, I leave. I’m not sure where I’m going, but I need some fresh air.
Chapter 22
Tinsley
The last time I spoke to Landon, he told me about the paternity suit, said he needed to discuss it with his family, and said he would meet me later at SHN. That afternoon, I received a text that said he was going away and would be back in touch after he’d sorted some things out. But he hasn’t texted, called, or anything since. I’ve reached out more than a dozen times with no response.
When he didn’t show up as promised, I texted him and got no response. I didn’t push it, because I didn’t want to interfere with whatever he was dealing with. When I returned to his apartment that night, no one was there, so I ate and retired to my room early. I heard Edna and Peter return after eleven. I sent Landon a text, telling him I missed him and goodnight.
The next morning, I didn’t see his parents. When I checked his room, it was clear he hadn’t slept there, and I saw his suitcase was gone. My anxiety began to rise. I texted him, and again he didn’t respond. I waited in the kitchen for Edna and Peter, but when they finally appeared, they didn’t seem to have any answers. Edna’s eyes were red from crying.
I checked the hospitals, just in case, but I knew he’d gone somewhere. I just couldn’t figure out where.
Claire asked me to meet her at the Disruptive offices. When I did, she dropped the bomb that she didn’t know where Landon was, but given that my apartment was free of bugs and spyware, she thought I should move home where I’d be more comfortable. It was certainly going to be more awkward at Landon’s with his parents now that he was gone, so I did.
I tried to give Landon the space he’d told me he wanted, but as the days went on, his absence became harder for me to understand. He’d left me in the lurch at work, and I just plain missed him.
In the weeks that followed, the paternity story moved from the gossip pages to the mainstream news. The paparazzi have been staked out at his apartment, and Tiffany has been interviewed a dozen times, always throwing him under the bus. Through it all, he’s been mysteriously silent. So, everyone else filled in the gaps: He’s a billionaire who owns the most prestigious piece of real estate in San Francisco and an entitled jerk who’s not paying for his mistake with this mysterious woman.
Could they be right? Did she have the date wrong and he’s actually the father? It’s not like pregnancy is a precise science. Due dates are wrong every day.
But that’s not who he is, and it hurts my heart to think anyone believes that.
After a while, I sent him a few less-than-cordial messages, trying to convey the urgency of the situation. But when he still refused to respond, I stopped trying. I had to preserve a little of my dignity.
Claire continued to tell me she had no idea where he was, nor did she have any interest in discussing it. She wanted our interactions to be strictly business, but unfortunately, she didn’t have much of a plan for how we were going to integrate the Disruptive and Translations software, which left both teams twisting in the wind. I’ve had to step up as best I can.
So, each day I go into the SHN offices, but I’m an outsider at SHN. I don’t feel part of their team, and I don’t feel part of Disruptive. Without Cameron’s help, I’d have been working eighteen-hour days to try to hold it all together and keep things moving forward. I’m still working long hours and seven days a week, and I’m still behind, but at least I’m not doing it alone. Cameron and his team are getting close to the end of their side of the project. Nevertheless, I’m exhausted and in need of a break.
I believe in my bones that Claire knows more than she’s saying, but I can’t seem to get her to tell me anything. Why isn’t she more upset? And why has she shut me out? She acts like Landon’s dead to her, and that hurts me, too. It’s like neither Walsh wants anything to do with me anymore. Which is unfortunate.
At night I lie in bed and ask myself if I made the wrong decision. And sometimes I cry because I miss Landon. I feel like a fool for allowing my personal and professional lives to get this tangled.
Has he blocked me?
What the hell is going on with the paternity suit?
Why won’t anyone get the paparazzi to back off?
How could he have left Disruptive at such a crucial time?
Why isn’t he helping me with this software?
Where the fuck has he gone?
It’s now been almost seven weeks.
Despite the strangeness between us, Claire has invited me to
