Page 52 of Lost Times

My phone vibrated with a text that I ignored. It was probably Father again. He’d been persistent this morning about contacting me, and after looking at the first message, which had mostly boiled down to asking how my ‘parenting’ role was going, I’d stopped reading them.

He always knew just when to dig his hooks into sensitive spots, and right now, I didn’t have the patience for it.

The clock struck noon, and I straightened, putting on my professional mask and shoving down all thoughts of family, both positive and negative. Walking inside, I nodded at the half a dozen people already sitting.

Five men, one woman, and every one of them carried themselves with the confidence of someone who’d been in their line of work for decades.

Fighting past the flash of nerves that always came before an important meeting, I shook each of their hands and took my seat at the head of the table.

“Thank you all for being here today. Before we get started, introductions are in order. I’m Ludwig Evans.” Each of them took their turn, and I memorized each name with ease.

Scott, John, Frank, Harry, and Georgia. Scott, John, and Frank were all tall, dark-haired, and wore much the same attire I did, the pressed suits well fitted. Harry had gone for a bit more casual route, his jacket resting over the back of his chair with his sleeves rolled up.

He was the oldest of us here, so it didn’t surprise me. One thing I’d realized about people my father’s age in this business, they’d been in the game long enough that if they wanted to do things like that, they could. No one would bat an eye at it, either.

Meanwhile if I did, heads would explode.

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes at the insanity of it all, I kept my smile firmly in place as I took in the last of the room. She was pretty, but a corner of my mind still whispered,Not as pretty as Thalia, though.

I was highly biased, of course.

Putting that to the side, I took my seat and gestured for them to do the same. Once we were settled, though, the last thing I expected was for Harry to speak up.

“It’s good to finally get this meeting done. I’ve been interested since you first pitched the idea, but that father of yours kept road-blocking it.” He rolled his eyes, and from the corner of my gaze I caught John’s lip twitch.

It was Georgia who spoke next, and she nodded. “Yes, I believe I speak for all of us when I say we’ve been anxiously awaiting this.”

My phone dinged and I bit back a cringe. “My apologies, I was just about to turn that off.” When I reached to do so, though, I noticed the notification. It wasn’t a text or a call from my father, it was a live notification.

The group Thalia had set up before was active, though she wasn’t the one streaming.

I didn’t recognize the name of the hosting person, but when the video opened and Jasmine’s face came through, it hit with all the force of a kick to the gut. She was smiling, but it wasn’t nearly as bright as her usual one.

Her friends were around her, and it was painfully obvious they were trying to cheer her up, the sight tugging at my heart.

“Mr. Evans, is something wrong?” Georgia said, yanking me back to the present. I hadn’t realized but I’d been staring at my phone for several minutes now and a hot blush worked over my cheeks. Clearing my throat, I nodded.

“Oh, my apologies. My daughter had a soccer game today that I was supposed to attend. That was a notification about it.” My thumb hovered over the power button on my phone, the feeling of wrongness increasing as I shut it down.

I shouldn’t be here, but there was no going back now. I had five busy people’s schedules tied into this, there was no backing out.

Forcing aside the guilt and unease, I put my phone away, only to freeze when Harry spoke up, his head tipping just a bit to the side.

“If you have something like that, why did your father insist on the meeting being today?”

The world came to a screeching halt around me, my throat went dry, and it took me two swallows before I could speak through the buzz in my ears.

“He insisted it be held today?” I asked, and all five of them exchanged confused glances.

Harry nodded. “Yes, the old codger said it was now or never. It made fitting it into my schedule hell, but I wanted this meeting to happen enough to make it work.” His brow furrowed, “Are you saying you had no idea he’d specifically asked for the meeting to be today?”

I shook my head, numbness sweeping through me in waves as the words sank in. Georgia chipped in with her two cents.

“I managed to shift my schedule to allow for it, but it was an odd request, I have to admit. He saidyouwere the one who demanded that, though. Why would he say that when you didn’t even know?” Her eyes narrowed, and without a doubt, she was not a woman to be crossed.

She apparently didn’t appreciate whatever mechanisms were at work here, and I didn’t blame her one bit. I didn’t like the picture that was being painted either.

A buzz filled my ears, thoughts coming slower as her words sank in.

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