Forgotten Awakenings (Awakenings #2) (24 page)

Callum shrugged his shoulders. “I was scared.”

“Of what?” Derek questioned as he and Sadie sat on the other couch.

“How you’d react,” Callum admitted. “We’ve been partners for a long time.”

“So you thought what? I’d be pissed at you for leaving me?” Derek asked.

Callum nodded.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Derek scoffed, and before Callum could argue, he added, “Am I going to miss you at the office? Fuck yeah, but I would never be pissed that you want to put our children before your career, man. If anything, that just makes me love you more.”

“You mean that?” Callum whimpered.

Derek slid to the floor and crawled over him, placing his hands on either side of his face. “I’ll miss you, babe, but we want you to be happy. Don’t we, Sadie?”

“Of course we do,” she insisted. “But I don’t understand why you felt you couldn’t just tell us how you felt.”

“I don’t know, either.” Callum frowned. “I like being an architect, but I love being a dad.”

“Well, I know I like the idea of Flora being taken care of by one of us better than shipping her off to Lydia every day,” Sadie said. “And while I love her, I can’t handle being stuck at home every day.”

“Me either,” Derek said, placing his hand under Flora’s head.

“Elle.” Callum turned his attention to her. “You haven’t said anything.”

“I’m not sure what to say,” she admitted. “I’m kind of pissed, actually.”

His face crumbled as her words hit him like a brick. “You are?”

She nodded. “I don’t know how many times in the last week I asked you what was bothering you, and you never said a word. Not once. And after all the times you lectured me about being honest with my feeling, letting you help, but did you? No. So, yeah, I’m kind of pissed.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I just . . . The thought of being a disappointment to you guts me.”

“You disappoint me?” she cried, unable to keep the tears from sliding down her face. “You’ve done nothing but love me, Cal. Love me and hold me together and remind me that I’m not worthless. Do you doubt our love that much?”

“No, no, of course I don’t!” he insisted, but she could hear the doubt in his words.

“Then you should have been able to tell us that you wanted to be a stay at home parent. It’s not like we can’t stay afloat financially without your income. Between the three of us, we can still maintain our lifestyle.” Elle placed her hand on the back of Derek’s, threading her fingers between his so they were both cradling Flora’s head. “And I’d much rather our children be cared for by one of their amazing fathers while we’re at work. As much I love your mom, Callum, I think she’d drive Flora to drink at a very early age.”

Sadie, Callum, and Derek burst out laughing.

“I’m serious!” Elle exclaimed, smiling.

“Oh, I know,” Callum scoffed. “I lived with the woman for eighteen years, honey.” He grinned as he looked down at Flora. “You’re really okay with me quitting my job and staying home with her?”

“Yes,” Sadie said, followed by a resounding, “Hell yeah,” from Derek.

All three of them looked at Elle. “Promise to always be one hundred percent honest with us?”

“I do,” he murmured. “I promise, honey.”

“Then you have my full support.” Elle leaned over and pressed her lips against his. “Besides, you being a stay-at-home-dad is sexy as hell. If I weren’t already pregnant, I probably would have been by the end of the night, if you catch my drift.”

“Okay, preggo, let’s go make dinner before they take you right here, right now,” Sadie snickered, standing up and offering Elle her hand. “Two more weeks. Just gotta make it two more weeks.”

Twenty-three

“This bra is fucking killing me,” Sadie muttered under breath, drawing attention to herself. “What? The underwire is poking my boob, and it’s still too small. I knew my boobs would still be bigger after Flora was born, but I didn’t expect them to be this much bigger.”

Elle bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing as she turned in seat and looked back at Sadie. “Need help getting it off? I bet Derek will offer his assistance.”

“Hell yeah!” Derek boasted, but when he reached across Flora’s car seat for Sadie, the baby awoke and started fussing. “Oh, fuck, what do I do?”

“Took me an hour to get her back to sleep this morning,” Sadie grumbled, glaring at him as she tried to sooth the tired infant, but seeing as they were speeding down the highway, she couldn’t exactly snuggle her.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, a frown pulling on his lips.

“It’s okay,” Sadie murmured, looking over at him. “You can pay for it later.”

“How?” he asked, warily.

The grin on her face turned into a smirk. “I’m sure we can come up with something that involves you on your knees with a cock in your ass.”

“And one in your mouth,” Elle teased, turning and facing the front.

She spared a look at Callum, who was gripping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were white. Sighing inwardly, she reached over and covered his hand with hers, causing him to look at her.

“You need to relax.”

“Is that what I need to do?” he scoffed. Feeling hurt, she tried to pull her hand back, but he grabbed it, bringing it up to his lips. “I’m sorry.”

“He’s going to be cool about you quitting,” she said. “All your father wants is for you to be happy.”

“Yeah, I know.” But his words were hollow, filled with uncertainty.

Elle sighed and turned her attention out the window. It would seem no amount of reassurance would soothe away the fears and doubts Callum had about his father’s reaction to his resignation. Samuel would not be upset, that much Elle knew. He had made it clear a long time ago that all he cared about was his son’s happiness, even when it was untraditional.

“I’m sorry.” Elle turned back to Callum. “Logically, I know he’s going to be fine with our decision, but I also know how happy he was when Derek and I came to work for him. Guess I’m just being silly.”

“No, you’re not.” Elle grabbed hold of his hand, tangling her fingers in with his. “You know, you’re going to have all the moms at the park lusting after you. Maybe we need to get you a tattoo or something. You know, make it clear you’re not available.”

“Oh, like in
The Scarlet Letter
, but instead of an ‘
A
’ for being a cheating bastard, we could tattoo an ‘
M
’ on his chest to show that he’s married,” Sadie cackled.

“Um, I’m thinking a big hell no,” Callum scoffed, but smiled. “I can’t think of any situation arising at the park that would cause me to need to take my shirt off.”

“Hmm, good point,” she mused. “We could tattoo your forehead.”

“No!” Callum yelled, laughing. “You are not putting a mark on me!”

“We don’t need to.” Derek leaned forward, sliding his hand around Callum’s shoulder, his fingers resting in the middle of his chest. “You know who your ass belongs to, don’t you, babe?”

Callum nodded, a moan trickling from between his lips. “I do, lover, and it always will.”

Though he tried to keep his nerves under better control, by the time they arrived at the office Callum was almost in the midst of a full blown panic attack. The four of them road the elevator to the tenth floor in silence, and when the doors opened, they were surprised to find Samuel leaning against Greta’s desk.

He smiled as he turned toward them, his eyes landing on Callum first before shifting to Derek then Elle, and finally landing on Sadie and Flora.

“There’s Flora,” he cooed, pushing his way through the rest of them so he could almost rip the baby from her arms. He cradled her against his chest, and Elle had to admit the sight was sexy. A grown man snuggling with a newborn, what could be hotter?

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming in today?” Samuel asked, wrapping his arm around Sadie and giving her a sideway hug. “How are you feeling?”

She smiled. “I’m good. Could use a few more hours of sleep every night, but I’m hanging on.”

“Couldn’t we all,” he scoffed.

Callum cleared his throat, shifting his eyes to Elle before saying, “Dad, got a couple minutes to talk?”

“Sure.” 

Samuel led the four of them down the hallway and into his office. While he settled behind his desk with a sleeping Flora curled up on his chest, the four of them squeezed together on the black, leather sofa along the back wall.

He pressed his lips against the top of Flora’s head before turning his attention to Callum. “You look like you’re about to shit yourself.”

“Dad,” Callum groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“What? You do.” Samuel smiled. “Just say it, son.”

Callum shifted his attention up to his father. “I give you a lot of grief, but I’ve really loved working here with you.”

“But you don’t want to anymore, do you?” Samuel asked.

Shaking his head, Callum said, “I want to stay home with Flora, with all of our children.”

Samuel smiled. “I had a feeling.”

“You did?” Callum asked.

“Your head hasn’t been in the game, son.”

“Yeah, yeah; I know,” he muttered.

Samuel cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, startling Flora, who started crying. His eyes widened as he looked at Sadie, who laughed and relieved him of the crying infant.

“She’s not used to be jostled around so much,” Sadie teased.

Samuel smiled and leaned forward, placing his hands on his desk. “I had planned on waiting a few more days, but since we’re making announcements, I have one to make, too.”

“Is everything all right?” Callum asked.

“Oh, yeah, it’s nothing bad, I promise.” He shifted his attention to Elle. “First, I’ve decided to submit an offer to buy out the Asciari Brothers, and merge them in with the company, as you suggested.”

“You did?” Elle bit her lip, feeling her lovers’ eyes shift to her. “Why?”

“Because you’re right: it is smart business,” he said. “But that leaves me in a bit of an awkward situation.”

“How?” Derek asked, confusing marring his features.

“Lydia and I have been doing a lot of talking lately about, well, the company, and I think it might be time for me to consider taking a step back.”

“You’re retiring?” Elle voiced the question she knew all of them were thinking.

“No, I can’t imagine myself being content to lounge around the house all day. More like I’m considering dropping back to part time, maybe hand over the reins to someone else. I’ve been running this company for thirty-years, and now, I feel like it’s someone else’s turn to be the boss. Of course, it would seem natural for me to ask Callum to take over.”

Callum shifted uneasily on the sofa.

“But — and this has nothing to do with your decision to resign, son — you’re not the right man of the job. Not that you wouldn’t be brilliant; you just don’t have the passion the person in charge needs,” Samuel explained, his eyes shifting from each of them, landing on Elle last. “I think you should run the company.”

Elle’s eyes widened. “Me?”

Samuel nodded. “You.”

“But . . .” Elle trailed off as she scrambled to her feet. “No.”

“No?” The word was echoed by each of them, though her eyes were focused on Samuel.

Tears flooded her eyes and her lips trembled as she spoke. “No, I will not run your company, and it’s not fair for you to dangle it in front of me, either.”

“I’m not dangling anything,” he argued. “I’m giving it to you.”

“No!” Elle snarled, crossing the room and throwing open the door to his office. She stopped and looked back at him. “I’m sorry, but no.”

Elle managed to keep her tears from falling until she was safely in her office. The moment the door was closed, however, the dam broke and she found herself crumbling into the closest chair and sobbing.

Elle wasn’t naïve, she knew what people would think when they heard she had been given the company. She was barely twenty-seven years old, she’d only been working at the company for a year. In any other company across the country, she’d be lucky if she was more than a junior associate. Even though Samuel had given her an entire division to run, why would he think she’d be the best person to take over?

“Can I come in?”

Elle looked toward the door of the office, unsurprised to see Samuel leaning against the doorjamb. In her emotional breakdown, she hadn’t heard the door open. Sighing, she waved him into the room.

Samuel closed the door behind him and settled in the chair on the other side of her desk. “I didn’t think offering you a promotion would upset you.”

“A promotion? You didn’t offer me a promotion, you offered me your company,” Elle scoffed. “You have people who have been working here for years, pouring their hearts into every project you give them, yet, you want me to be their boss.”

“I do,” he admitted. “This wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, Elle. I’ve spent the last few months considering my options, reviewing the personal files of every senior level associate we have here, but do you know why I picked you?”

“Because I’m your daughter-in-law.”

Samuel raised an eyebrow while tilting his head to the side. “You think because you married my son, I’d just give you my company?”

Elle hesitated before nodding.

“Oh, sweetheart, I love you like your my own, but I don’t make business decisions based on my personal relationship with anyone. Clearly, the first person I considered was Callum, but he doesn’t have the drive, the push to take this company to the next level. And, besides, he wants to stay home with Flora and the new baby, which is where he should be.”

“Okay, what about Derek, then?” Elle asked. “He’s been here longer than me.”

Samuel nodded. “You’re right, he has, and he’s an amazing architect, but he’s never taken the lead on a project, Elle. I could wait a few years and hope that he’s ready, but I don’t see why I should when you’re ready now.”

“But I’m not,” she argued.

“Yes, you are!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. “And do you know how I know you are?”

“No,” she said.

He smiled. “Because yesterday, you walked into my office and proposed an addition to my company that would not only make us more successful, but would offer the Asciari Brothers and their employees a level of protection they don’t have right now. Your proposal was well thought out, you did your research, and you came to me prepared.”

“I’m sure others have come to you, as well,” she bit back.

“They have, and some of their proposals were damn good, others not so much.” Samuel shifted in his chair, leaning forward so that he was bracing himself on his elbows. “You’re ready for this, Elle.”

“Do you have any idea what people are going to think about me?” she asked, falling back in her chair.

“That you’re an incredibly talented architect and a smart business woman?” he suggested.

Elle snorted. “Don’t play dumb, Samuel. You and I live in the real world. The others — they see the world through rose-colored glasses, but not us.”

“Well, now, I am curious,” he murmured. “Tell me, what are people going to say about you?”

“That I’m a whore,” she said, frankly, and when his eyes widened, she went on to say, “That I slept my way into the company. First with Callum and Derek, and then probably with you. They’ll look at everything I’ve accomplished during my career and wonder whose cock I sucked to get here.”

Samuel whistled under his breath. “You really don’t see yourself clearly, do you?”

“Oh, I see myself just fine,” she quipped. “You read the newspapers after Trixie shot me, and again after she was arrested. You’ve heard the theories about me, about why she came after me. I’m a gold-digger, a home-wrecker, remember? I slutted my way into this company and stole the man of her dreams. What makes you think people won’t believe every claim of unethical behavior if you give me your damn company?”

Instead of replying, Samuel stood up and walked out of her office, confirming Elle’s feelings. Or so she thought. A couple minutes later, he walked back into her office and laid a manila folder on top of her desk.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Open it and find out,” he said.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she flipped open the file. A gasp stuck in her throat as she picked up the letter that lay inside. Across the top were the words: 
Gruger Architecture Prize
.

“Read it out loud,” Samuel ordered.

“Dear Mr. Davis, the Gruger Architecture Prize is awarded annually to honor a living
architect
or architects whose work demonstrates a combination of the qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, and which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity. This year, we have added Ms. Elle Reid our list of nominees. Ms. Reid’s work is nothing short of astonishing, and we are pleased to recognize her efforts. The Jury normally undertakes deliberations early in the calendar year and the winner is announced in the spring. Sincerely, Vanda Gruger.”