“Nothing will. Except potentially the Armanellis trying to take a bigger cut.”
“Bah.”My dad’s signature sound, the one he saved for my brothers and me, was his way of waving something off. He wasn’t going to give such an insignificant thing another thought. I wished I shared his ability to get past his concerns. “Don’t worry about it.”
“You called specifically for me to worry about it.”
Silence hovered on our line. My father’s voice was somber when he replied. “Maybe. Maybe I am getting a little tired of it all.”
The cogs stopped moving, jerked a little. Dad never admitted to wanting a break. The defeat in his voice shifted something in me. “It’s fall, Dad. Mom’s been emotional because of the wedding. It’s a lot. Take a few days, huh?”
“What if a few days is all I got?”
“Dad, come on.”
“I’m thinking I might agree with you after all this time and now you want to fight me?”
I cleared my throat. “Well, you not having your head in the game and half-assing it is still better than most people’s full-assing. The company needs you.”
“Not true. You and Jax handle things very well.”
“Jax is buried in algorithms half the time, and I’m stuck in meeting after meeting. We need you driving the stocks, your connections, your presence.”
More silence. “I’m thinking your mother needs me more.”
“Dad, come on. Not this bullshit again.”
“Love’s bullshit to you, son, but without it you wouldn’t be here.”
“You seem to forget the aftermath. Mom and you used to—”
“I’m aware our relationship damaged your outlook on love, Jett. Your mother reminds me of that more than anyone. But, make no mistake. What you witnessed between us was no aftermath. An interlude, sure. I’ll even admit to a break. But we were never done. There’s no such thing as an aftermath with us. She’s the only person aside from you boys who I will always fight for.”
“You didn’t fight very hard when the company was at stake and I came to run things with you.”
When he didn’t reply at once, I figured my attempt to go for the jugular had worked. He needed to pull his head out of his ass though. Our empire couldn’t have a lovesick leader and if I had to kick him a little to shake the illness, I would.
“Jett,”—his voice was woven with anger as he sighed my name—“the company is yours. I’m not making the same error twice. Your mother and I are flying back to Kauai for a few weeks. I intend to renew our vows. I intend to make things right.”
“I … you … are you fucking with me?” My ball of hate for love and happily ever afters grew twofold as I sat there waiting for a reply.
My father didn’t respond. He breathed into the phone, and I could picture him with his full head of silver hair, sitting in a desk much like mine, his index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. After so many years of working with him, I knew he was leaning back in his work chair when I heard the leather creak over the line.
“Dad, I’m not running this company without you.”
“You already are. Jax will be there. I’m done.”
“You’re giving up a multibillion-dollar company that you built from the ground up to run off into the sunset with the woman you think was your first love? You two could barely stand one another ten years ago! And that woman flies off the handle as much as you do. You’re putting the company at risk for nothing.” I tried to check my rising voice. I straightened a file on my desk. “Let’s just back up a step.”
“I’m not backing up at all, boy. This is me and your mom. We built this empire for you boys. Don’t forget that she was just as much a part of it as I was.”
“She wasn’t keeping the company afloat—”
“She kept this goddamn family afloat,” he yelled. “She worked her ass off to raise you boys and did a damn good job. And she righted my ship so many times, I should give the company to her, not you. Don’t make me question my decision.”
His shouting knocked me right off my high horse. The man was still my father, still the guy I looked up to, still the one I wanted to make proud even if I wouldn’t admit it. “I’m not saying she’s not a good mother—”
“You better not be saying anything of the sort.”
I sighed. “Can we just back up?”