Page 63 of Shadowed Obsession

I want to ask him if Mom sent him to make nice, but I already know the answer.

“What are you doing here? Where’s Ma?” I opt to ask instead.

“Getting straight to it, huh?” He chuckles, stepping back to say, “Your mother stayed back. It’s just me. I told her you’d be disappointed.”

We stand there for a moment, and I finally find the nerve to ask, “She sent you down here, didn’t she?”

“I know that look, Dee. Believe it or not, I’m not here to give you a hard time. I was in town to sign off on some things, and hoped I could take you to lunch before I flew back. Are you free this afternoon?”

He avoids answering, but I know.

Mom can’t force him to be the father she wants to be. That’s probably why she sent his ass here alone to grovel.

“I can be,” I sigh, trying to go through my mental checklist to make room for someone who couldn’t even call in advance. “I’m playing catch up today, but I’ll have Brian move some things around.”

After hinting at my workload, I maneuver him toward my office door, my hand on his upper back. He nods, stepping out in time for me to catch some of my staff averting their gazes.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget who my father is.

Elgin Klarke is no ordinary man, nor is he the face you wish to see before closing your eyes for the final time. Or in my case in my office.

To me, he’s my grumpy dad who’s still so in love with my mom that it feeds the hopeless romantic in me. He hates everyone but herandus, and he’s proud of it.

My parents are polar opposites in every sense of the word. My mom is to blame for my gentle heart. I attribute my mother’s calm demeanor to spending so much time around plants.

Plants absorb energy, release it back into the world, and breathe life into us. My mother is no different, a true breath offresh air and balance for dealing with a personality as strong as Dad’s.

Not to mention she could salvageanything, nursing it back to health with love and attention. Even her smile could mend the cracks in a broken heart.

So it makes sense that not only is she able to rein in the powerful Klarke patriarch, she also has the power to get his ass on a flight to make nice with his daughter.

I shut my office door behind him and mutter, “Thanks a lot, Mom,” under my breath.

12:15 p.m. | 60 minutes before ‘the sixth incident’

The waiter brings us our meals, and I wait until he’s out of earshot before addressing the elephant in the room.

We don’t discuss the family business around civilians.

“Alright. Let’s talk shop and get it out of the way.”

He unravels his napkin, eyes fixated on me as he sits up straighter. “Deirdre, we don’t talk shop over meals, and that isn’t why I asked you to join me.”

I resisted the urge to call my mother and ask her why she sent him here with his tail tucked between his legs, but now I want to tell her to come and get her husband.

Instead, I twirl my fork in the pasta and opt to play nice. “What did you want to talk about?”

“How are you adjusting here?” he asks while slicing into his filet mignon.

Sorry, Dad. We’re talking shop during this meal whether you like it or not.

I sigh. “I’m doing okay. I’ve always loved this area. Here, I feel important and optimistic in a way I don’t back home. My input has value with this team. I don’t share many updates on this venture, because if there isn’t a win to share, it’s not worth celebrating.”To you all, is the part I can’t say out loud.

He chews slowly; eyes that were once staring at his steak trek up to meet mine. And when he parts his lips, he slides his speared steak into his mouth, rather than engaging in this conversation.

Don’t say anything, Dad. It’s not like we were having a serious conversation.

I huff. “Tell me why you trusted me to lead Divin through an expansion in another country, but won’t support me doing it here? The success of the cognac launch hadnothingto do with Lawrence. I volunteered to spearhead that project to get away from him.”

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