“Go home, Connor. I’m too mad to talk to you rationally.”
Connor walked toward the desk, where his father was currently getting comfortable. He put his palms on the ornate desk he’d once thought he’d end up sitting behind.
“How did he find out?” he demanded.
“Connor, this won’t get us—”
“How did he know?”
“He saw you leaving Maison Noir together.”
Connor sighed. Given their charged mood when they’d left the restaurant, there would have been no misconstruing their relationship. “Cameron provided Emerson with a copy of the strategy document. She knows all about your intentions.”
His father’s eyes suddenly met his. “That is a bold insinuation, Connor.”
“To deliberately cause trouble, Cameron sent my copy of the strategy deck to Emerson. He knew she would read it, and she was rightfully furious. Cameron broke every single company rule when he sent it to her.”
Lines furrowed his father’s forehead. “Don’t be ridiculous, Connor. She probably found it while snooping around your apartment. Or perhaps you left it at her place deliberately.”
Connor shook his head. “Nope. It was sent to the distillery for her attention. And I left that document locked in my office on Friday. Cameron saw us in the restaurant on Friday, and suddenly this document is in her hand Monday morning?”
His father’s fingertips drummed the edge of the table. “Still don’t buy it, Connor. You’re just mad because of what happened yesterday. And as you said, it was locked in your office.”
“Our passes all open each other’s doors, remember? Yours, Cameron’s, and mine. And it will take you two seconds to call security and find out whether Cameron let himself into the office over the weekend, something he normally never does.”
Donovan looked toward Cameron’s office. “I have to admit, this all feels a little pathetic.”
Connor’s rage spilled over. “Pathetic? I’ll tell you what’s pathetic. Cameron’s games. He’s played you, and now he’s attempting to play me. It’s never going to work, the two of us in this company. I’ve outgrown all of this.”
It was true. If he’d wanted backstabbing and intrigue, he’d have gone to Wall Street and made a killing. Instead, he’d followed the path expected of him, and had found the same behavior; he just didn’t get paid enough to tolerate it.
“So, what? You are going to quit and walk away from all this over a woman?” his father spat, suddenly standing. “No son of mine would be that foolish.”
Connor scoffed. “Are you kidding me? This whole thing…this whole stupid issue is because you quit and walked away from Dyer’s Gin Distillery over Rebecca Dyer.”
His father stopped in his tracks. “What did you say?”
There was nothing left to lose. “I know, Dad. How you were in love with Rebecca Dyer, but she was never in love with you.”
“I don’t…that’s not…” His father’s face burned red as he blustered.
“There’s no point arguing. I’ve seen the proof. I know you invested ten thousand dollars because you hoped it would help buy her affection. And I know that you ripped up the check when she tried to pay you back and returned it to her.”
All the life seemed to leave his father’s body, and he slumped to the chair. “I should have cashed that check,” he muttered.
Connor’s anger slipped away, and he sat down, too. “It was never about the money,” Connor said. “Was it?”
His father waved away the question. “It was a long time ago, Connor. The details fail me.”
Of course they didn’t. The man wouldn’t have held on to the grudge for so long if they had. “No. They don’t, Dad. And I get it. I really do. To answer your question, yes, I would walk away from all this for Emerson. Not just a woman, but the woman for me.”
“So, now the Dyers will take my son as well as my money.” It was a statement, not a question.
Connor remained calm and took a breath. He’d fought his father many times, and he knew that his father’s natural response was to deflect. “No, Dad. Emerson isn’t taking anything away. You made the ultimatum, Dad. You took my pass away to make a point that you could take all of this away from me if I didn’t end it with Emerson. And overnight, I realized two things. I don’t care, and it’s actually the right thing for me.”
His father lifted his head. “What do you mean, it’s the right thing for you?”
“Taking that chair you’re sitting in right now was all I’ve ever let myself focus on. You pushed me, steered me, and somewhere