Page 63 of Caffeine & Chaos

“Would you shut up?” Nadia shot back, rolling her eyes. She took a slow sip of her black coffee, her mind racing. “I care about him, okay? Please no teasing, I can’t take it right now.”

“Alright, no more teasing,” Mandy declared, reaching across the table to clasp one of Nadia’s hands, her expression earnest. “So, do I need to make a trip down there and fuck up that Melanie chick for you?”

Nadia couldn’t help but laugh, a hearty chuckle escaping her lips as she returned her friend’s grip. “Maybe.”

“Just say the word, and I’ll book my flight, with you footing the bill, of course,” Mandy replied with a grin, taking another hearty gulp of her coffee.

“Did you see Maria here?” Nadia asked, changing the subject hoping to catch the owner to talk about picking up some shifts.

“No, but I asked Hannah when I got the coffees and she said she’d happily give you her shift tomorrow night, you lunatic.”

“Oh good! I’ll go confirm with her,” Nadia walked up to the counter to seal the deal with Hannah. She could feel her life clicking back into place with every slap of her sandaled foot on the tile.

Him.

“Ryan!” Theresa’s startled voice greeted him as he blew through the reception area of his office suite, “I wasn’t expecting you back for at least another few days, or even a week.” Theresa stood from her desk, recognizing the urgency in his stride as she matched his pace towards the glass doors leading into his office.

“Yes, well, I have some matters that require my immediate attention,” he said curtly.

“How is Clara?” Theresa asked, trying to both soften him and slow him down.

“Better,” Ryan slowed and faced Theresa, reminding himself of her unwavering support over the years. “She is coming along. Things could have been so much worse. My dad has agreed to allow me to transfer her to a private hospital close by where she can get better care. I am confident in her recovery,” he said, attempting to justify his presence at the office.

“I am so glad to hear it,” Theresa squeezed his arm reassuringly, “anything I can do to help this current situation you are dealing with? It’s not Markus, is it?” she groaned, considering the headache he had already caused the business.

“No, mercifully it is not Markus, and no, I don’t think there is anything that you can do at this time. I will let you know if there is anything I need,” he said, slipping into his office and shutting the door.

The spacious office felt suffocatingly small as Ryan paced back and forth, his footsteps echoing off the polished marble floors. His normally composed demeanor had been shattered by the last week’s events, replaced by a storm of conflicting emotions swirling within him. It was exhausting.

Nadia’s betrayal lay heavy on his mind, each revelation stabbing at his heart like a dagger. The evidence of her affair lay before him, stark and undeniable, yet he couldn’t shake the gnawing doubt that clouded his thoughts. What was he missing?

He strode purposefully towards his desk and rifled through the images and documents he’d received from Bruce. He hadn’t pegged her for a gold digger, considering her family already had considerable wealth, but he had to admit that he was wondering about it now. Did she really think she could string both men along without being caught?

Fury surged through him like wildfire, igniting his veins with an uncontrollable rage. How could she betray him like this? How could he have been too naïve to pick up on her duplicity?

After pacing around for what felt like ten minutes, he sagged into his chair, exhausted, the rage within him dissipating, leaving behind a hollow emptiness that gnawed at his insides. He couldn’t stand himself like this, adrift, lost in a sea of uncertainty, his once iron-clad confidence shaken to its core.

Ryan’s eyes searched around his office, beckoning the familiar warm neutral tones to soothe him. He breathed deeply and smoothed his hair back, leaning into his custom-made leather desk chair. He was in control here; he called the shots. Miami was his city. He could do this. He’d been through more difficult times.

The phone on his desk rang, and he flipped the receiver to his ear, “Yes, Theresa?”

“Armand is on line one, he says you are expecting his call?”

“Put him through, thanks,” the line clicked a moment and then the faint muffled sounds of the streets of Miami came through, indicating the call was live, “Armand, what do you have for me?”

“No sign of the college boy, yet,” Armand said, cutting straight to the chase.

“Good,” Ryan’s heart thundered in his chest, maybe she’d already called it off. “What else can you tell me?”

“She’s been with her friend Mandy mostly, they went to the apartment, went for coffee, and are now furniture shopping,” Armand replied.

More relief surged through him, everything Nadia had texted him seemed to check out. Mind you, she knew that he had security detail on her so it could be that she wasn’t stupid enough to try something right now.

“Very good, thank-you Armand. Keep up the surveillance and let me know if anything changes,” Ryan said before clicking off the line.

He rose from his seat and continued to pace, trapped in the prison of his own thoughts, vacillating between feeling cool and controlled and consumed by an all-encompassing rage. In the end, he’d have to make a choice. Whether it was to confront her and end things once and for all or to bury his pain and carry on as if nothing had changed.

He squared his shoulders at his reflection in the floor to ceiling glass windows that lined his office. Quitting wasn’t an option for Ryan McKellen, nor would he allow her transgression to go unaddressed. Bruce would be calling any minute with a more in-depth report on the young man that dared to call Nadia his. By now he had to have seen the photos in the Newspapers of Ryan and Nadia together. Either he wasn’t interested in pursuing her any longer, or he had been told to lay low for a while. It didn’t matter because the moment he made a move for Nadia, Ryan would be right there waiting for him.

---