Eligible Ex-husband - Marie Johnston Page 0,79

into the same boardroom we were in before. Graham greets me, his expression calm, but curious.

He wastes no time once we’re settled at the large boardroom table. “You wanted to talk about Liam?”

I ask the question that’s risen to the top of the many I have about him. “What was he like?”

Graham’s brows rise. “You’re his brother.”

“He might’ve been my brother, but he was my idol. My hero. An impossible goal to attain, according to my parents. Which I believed. I didn’t really know him.”

“I see.” He settles back, his fingers lightly tapping the table. “He was driven. Wild, but dependable. We went into business together and killed it. So yes, I can see why you’d want to live up to him.”

I don’t know what I hoped to hear. More confirmation that I can’t live up to Liam isn’t it.

Graham continues. “He also had an affair with my fiancée, married her, and then raised my daughter suspecting that she wasn’t his and didn’t tell me. So he was as flawed as the rest of us.”

I blow out a breath. Having it laid out like that drives the point home. Yes, he was flawed. Any ideals of perfection are my own. I focused on the fact that he loved a kid he knew wasn’t his like his own. But ignored that he stole his best friend’s fiancée and daughter.

Just like the time he totaled the car. I kept that secret because he was Liam. Untouchable. But he’d caused a horrible accident that he was lucky didn’t hurt anyone.

Light glints off Graham’s watch and he reclines. He’s less commanding and more conversational. “I can tell you stories and stuff from college, but I don’t think that’s what you’re here for.”

I shake my head. “Remember our last conversation. You were trying to gain control of businesses I was interested in. I thought it was because you had it out for me.”

“Making you pay for your brother’s crimes?” His tone is wry.

“Something like that. But that’s not why.”

“No. Liam talked about you. A lot. And since he’s been gone, I’ve kept an eye on you. You’ve done well, married your college sweetheart, had a family, and built Gainesworth Equity.”

“And you knew I was trying to be just like him?”

He lifts a shoulder. “He thought so. Didn’t want you to end up like him—tied to a bottom-line and separated from his wife when he died too young.”

That hit close to home. He couldn’t help my brother, but he could help me. And when I got divorced, he rightly assumed the reason why and meddled until I came to him.

An old feeling comes roaring back to me, constricting my chest until the next breath is a struggle. After that day Natalie came to my office and told me she wanted a divorce, she left and I was bereft. All I wanted to do was call my brother and ask him what I should do, how I could save my marriage.

But he was gone. So I did what he had done before he died. I worked harder.

Graham crosses his arms, a shrewd expression in place. “So, are you here to talk about a partnership? With my buy-in, you can hire more staff without experiencing a stall in earnings.”

He’s right. I’d still be the boss. And years of reaching for perfection in the work environment wouldn’t be undone overnight.

I’m saying that I’m tired, and I don’t know if I’m willing to do the last few years all over again.

I don’t want that either.

“No. I don’t want to partner with you.” When Graham cocks his head I take a seat across from him. Time to get to the other reason I’m here.

Natalie

Cans of salsa are boiling in the canner and I’m on the bathroom floor. Dad’s out golfing and I couldn’t hold my breakdown in any longer. A flashback to a year ago, when I was in the same place and Mom flitted between me and the girls.

The day passed without hearing from Simon and it’s well into the evening. Still no word.

I wipe my eyes with the back of my wrist. My hands smell like onions and I don’t dare rub my eyes. This stings enough. Mom hovers in the doorway. The girls are downstairs, coloring in the new books Mom got them for cleaning seeds out of all the bell peppers for the salsa.

“I was too hard on him,” I whisper.

She steps inside and perches on the edge of the tub. The room is crowded with just