Page 51 of Cade

Suddenly, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The room was closing in around me and I needed to get out.

I needed to be as far away from Rhodes Enterprises as I could get.

Just as my father opened the floor for questions, I took my leave.

I calmly stood, I’m sure distracting some much better equipped employees than I, and I walked as fast as I could down the hall.

When I heard footsteps behind me, I didn’t turn around. Instead, I kept my eye on the elevators, picking up my pace.

“Weston, stop!” my father hollered.

I didn’t stop. Instead, I hurried toward the hall, hearing him picking up his own pace.

“I’m not doing this, right now, dad,” I said with a huff.

“Then when the hell will you do it?” he growled. I stopped in front of the elevator, hitting the button with rapid aggression.

“There are a hundred people in that room who are far more qualified for this job than me, and you know that,” I said boldly.

“On paper, yes. But the heart of this company isn’t quarterly reports and product development, and I think somewhere deep down, you know that,” he said.

I turned to look at him, that hopeful, wistful look in his eyes filling up with... tears?

My dad never cried.

And something about that made my heart break.

I was the worst son on the planet. I didn’t deserve any of this. The company, or his unwavering faith that I could do this if he just... forced my hand enough.

“I’ve got a fundraiser to attend,” I said as the elevator door opened, and I walked away.

CHAPTER 30

Cade

I lazily stroked the soft fur of an orange and white striped kitten in my lap. Diane called our friends from the Deer Park Rescue, albeit very last minute, but they’d agreed to let us take some kittens to the event to help promote their adoptions.

The tiny kitten pawed at my shirt, stretching her little claws to make biscuits in the folds of the fabric, and I sighed.

I’d been at the event for a couple hours, and although I had several people stop to play with the kittens and ask about the adoptions, as well as take some flyers, stickers, and pens from the hospital, I couldn’t help but feel worried for the one person I didn’t see.

I knew it was probably selfish of me to expect Weston to show up like the breath of fresh air he was, especially given he’d practically run out the door this morning to make a mandatory meeting at his family’s company. But something about his departure, no matter how sound the reason was, left me feeling empty.

He’d said he’d be there, and I wanted to believe him.

But there was also a part of me that knew this was par for the course for me. I’d had a history of falling for assholes who I couldn’t really count on.

I gazed down at the kitten who had stopped making biscuits, and was now curled up in the folds of my shirt, snoozing away.

I guessed she was bored of waiting too.

“Why so gloomy, sunshine?” a familiar voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I looked up to see Mitch, complete with camera, as usual. I swear he never left home without the damn thing.

“I’m not gloomy...” I said, even though I knew the words were a lie.

Mitchell kneeled to take some photos of the kittens in their pen.

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