I stepped out into the hallway, headed to the meeting, and shot Michelle a do you know what’s going on look and my secretary simply shrugged. Business was business, however, and regardless of our personal differences––differences that had kept me up every night since Frank had died tossing and turning––I was going to make sure he understood that there would not be any more “meetings” without him running it by me first. I was acting CEO and this was bullshit.
When the room came into view, my steps faltered because what I saw confirmed my worst suspicions. Through the glass-paned wall, I could see the entire board of directors seated at the conference table, Scott standing at the head of it. Any hope I had disappeared, and my stomach sank. Hastings was right. There wouldn’t be any heartfelt reconciliation. He didn’t want to discuss business, or our marriage. Whatever it was––it wasn’t good.
I entered, grasping my cell phone with an iron grip, my diamond wedding band painfully digging into my skin. Anything was preferable to feeling the collective stares of all the people in the room. Well, all with the exception of the one I still loved.
Scott spared me only the briefest of glances before his attention returned to the board members seated around the table. He looked the part. Nobody would’ve mistaken him for a spoiled playboy. And it wasn’t just the expensive suit, or the neatly parted and swept-back hair. It was his demeanor. He looked hard, formidable. He looked like vengeance incarnate. Everything Frank wanted him to be.
I’d felt his love. Even now, even though he was fighting it tooth and nail, I knew he still loved me the way I loved him. After everything he’d done and said to me, I wanted to wrap my arms around his waist and bury my nose in the warm skin at the base of his throat. I’d never wanted to touch him as badly as I did in that moment, ironically, when he was most out of reach.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” he began without addressing or introducing me. He hadn’t even asked me to take a seat. No acknowledgement of my presence. It was the worst insult he could have leveled at me and he knew it.
He owned the room already. One glance around confirmed it. Nobody was looking my way for guidance. After dedicating my life to this company, having known most of these people for a large part of it, I’d suddenly become not only invisible, but dispensable.
“The five of you on speakerphone, please acknowledge who’s present.” All five board members on the phone spoke up. He pursed his lips before speaking. “Losing my father so unexpectedly has been a tremendous blow for me personally, for my family, and for this company…”
The “unexpected” remark was entirely for my benefit, aimed at shaming me once again.
“Had I been made aware of the state of my father’s health, this transition would’ve gone smoother. Unfortunately, I wasn’t and now we’ve got what we’ve got.”
His gaze dropped for a brief moment to the table, and in turn I held my breath, sensing the imminent danger I was in as acutely as I’d felt it standing before that charging bull back in Wyoming.
“As of today, I’m removing my wife as acting CEO––”
I hadn’t wanted to believe Damon. I needed to believe that Scott still felt something for me, for what we’d had. Respect, whatever. That he would’ve at least given me the benefit of telling me in private rather than to humiliate me in front of the board of directors. In front of the world, really. It was only a matter of time before the Wall Street Journal broke the story. Somebody was probably texting them right now.
And despite him being a raging asshole, I still loved him. The same man who wouldn’t even look at me. The same man that had kissed every square inch of my skin and every silver scar refused to meet my eyes.
“The decision to install her as CEO was made by my father while he was unsound of mind and body––influenced by my wife…It should be noted that I’m seeking a divorce as soon as possible.” He wasn’t pulling any punches. No mercy granted for a woman he once considered a friend and a lover.
I didn’t move a muscle. I couldn’t. It’s like my limbs wouldn’t cooperate. I stood stock-still near the door and took every shot,