Show Me How to Love (Caldwell Family Book 1) (31 page)

Curtis scoffed. He turned away from Andre with a look of disgust and paced to the edge of the balcony. “You don’t need that woman. She’s not worth being on your arm.”

“The money you made, doesn’t erase the fact that our family started with nothing except the land grandpa won from cheating in a card game.”

Curtis spun toward him. “Where you come from doesn’t matter. It’s where you’re going. And we can go far. You can have any woman and you’re settling for your cousin’s leftovers.”

“You see everything as a rivalry between our families. You can never understand what I feel about Mikayla.”

“We’ll see if she’s worth it when you find her back in Ryan’s arms. I’ll give you your job back only because you’re my son, but you’ll hear from me every day how you almost lost it because of some foolish emotion.”

Andre clenched his fists. At that moment, he knew he would never work for his dad again. “I will pack up my office next week. Goodbye, Dad.”

Panic swept across Curtis’s face. “Where the hell do you think you’re going? What are you going to do? I meant what I said. I’ll ruin your name.”

Andre glared at him. “Ruining my name ruins yours, too. It’ll be proof that you’re so incompetent at running your business you let your son mismanage funds and lead the company astray.”

Cutis’ eyes narrowed into slits. “I’ll ruin you.”

“And lose both sons in the process. Isaac already has my side in this. Let it go. Leave me alone.”

He turned away from the surprise on his dad’s face.

“This isn’t over,” Curtis yelled.

Andre didn’t bother to look back. “It is for me.”

He walked out. Fought the urge to slam the door behind him. He trusted Isaac would keep his word and try to prevent Curtis from blackballing him. Still, he’d fill Steve in on the situation that might arise due to his departure from C.E.S.

Nervous energy jetted along his skin. The future was uncertain. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid of leaving the comfort of C.E.S. Fear always accompanied new ventures. But as he walked away from his dad’s house, free of the ties to him and the company, a sense of liberty settled over him. It quickly turned that fear into determination.

*

It was nearly five when Andre walked through the doors of Caldwell Development. A receptionist greeted him and called his uncle’s secretary to announce his arrival. He glanced around the lobby. He’d never been there before. Except for the receptionist desk and a large fountain of water along one wall, the interior looked like a tastefully decorated living area of a model home instead of the headquarters of a major corporation.

A few minutes later he was lead down a hall lined with offices that opened into another large reception area with three doors, his uncles, Ryan’s and Renee’s names on the doors. He wondered where Mikayla’s office had been.

The receptionist opened the door to the middle office and motioned for him to go inside. His uncle stood behind the desk. His hard face a mask of distrust.

“I never would have expected you to come here,” Phillip said.

Andre crossed the room and stared at the man he’d been taught to hate most of his life. He felt neither hate nor love. Just the freedom of knowing he wasn’t bound to him by a rivalry he didn’t want.

“I have something for you.” He dropped the envelope with the preliminary information Ted had found on Charity on the desk.

Philip nudged the envelope with a finger. “What’s that?”

“Proof that Charity is working with someone in your accounting department to embezzle funds. There’s more coming, but that should be enough to fire her and give Mikayla her job back.”

His Uncle frowned and grabbed the envelope. Tearing it open, he quickly scanned the papers. “Where did you get this?”

“We have our sources.”

Philip stopped examining the papers a knowing look in his eye. “I’ve heard about my brother’s sources. What I don’t know is why you’re giving this to me.”

“I told you, so you can give Mikayla her job back.”

“From what Renee says, you don’t want her working for us. I thought you’d be happy to learn she resigned.”

Andre crossed his arms, wrestled back the guilt that he’d had that exact reaction initially. “It’s not easy knowing the woman, you love, is working with the man she used to date. I know you want them together.”

Philip dropped the paperwork and walked over to his bar. “But…”

“But, I trust Mikayla. And she loves this job.” He followed Philip to the bar and met his Uncle’s gaze with a direct stare. “She doesn’t love Ryan.”

Philip nodded and poured dark liquor from a crystal decanter into two glasses. “I know that. But you’ve got to realize that our family loves her. She’s Renee’s best friend, and for some reason, she helped Ryan get out of that mood he was in the first time he lost Angelica. I admire her work ethic and her determination.”

“Then why didn’t you fight this Charity woman?”

“Because, our company is one of the largest development firms in the Southeast. Our name is everything, and fighting a public battle with Charity would hinder, not help, our brand.” Philip handed a glass to Andre. “I didn’t want to fire Mikayla or demand her resignation. I couldn’t turn it down either.”

Andre swirled the contents of the glass. He didn’t like Philip’s reasoning, but he understood where he was coming from. His dad was the king of handling things behind closed doors instead of fighting the battle in public.

“Now you can make Charity quietly go away.” Andre took a sip of the alcohol. His lip twisted with a sad smile, Phillip drank the same bourbon as Curtis.

Andre placed the glass on the bar. “I’ll leave now.”

“Wait a second,” Philip said. “You’re helping me because you love Mikayla. I know my brother. He’s not going to like it.”

Andre’s shoulders stiffened. “I no longer care what my dad wants or thinks. I resigned this morning. I’m done with this rivalry and living up to his expectations of loyalty.”

Sadness filled Philip’s eyes. “I wish I could say the same.”

“You can if you want too.”

“Curtis will not stop until I concede I was wrong for starting this company or admit his empire is greater than mine. It’s something I can’t do. Our dad may have gotten our land through shifty means, but I turned that cheating hand at cards into something I could be proud of. If it means fighting my brother for the rest of my life to prove it, then so be it.”

Andre shook his head at the stubbornness of old men. “Goodbye, Uncle Philip.”

Philip raised his glass. “If you’re going to be in Mikayla’s life, then I’ll say see you around, Andre.”

With a nod, and a sense this move had somehow pulled him further into the fight than away, Andre turned to leave.

He ran into Renee coming in. Her eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

“Hold up, Renee,” Philip said. “He’s come in peace. Gave us what we need to fire Charity and get Mikayla back.”

She crossed slim arms over her chest and glared at Andre. “I thought you were back with Angelica.”

Andre flinched. “I don’t want Angelica. I’m on my way to tell Mikayla that now.”

“What’s this about?” Philip asked.

Renee held up a hand. “Wait a second, Daddy. I’ll fill you in, soon.” She turned back to Andre. “I had a feeling Curtis was lying. Do you really love her? Is this really not about the stupid rivalry anymore?”

“It was never about the rivalry. But, if it’ll make you feel better, I quit working for C.E.S. today. What does that tell you?”

Renee’s shoulders relaxed. “She’s not at home. She went to her dad’s house, but she’s supposed to meet me at Rowdy’s tonight at seven.”

“I thought you didn’t like us together.”

She shrugged. “Don’t get too excited. I’m only telling you because I want to be there when she rips your balls off.”

The corner of her mouth lifted. Andre smiled back. Hell must be freezing over. He might actually grow to like Renee.

CHAPTER 36

Mikayla stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror at Rowdy’s. Renee would just have to be upset because Makayla didn’t try for cute today. Her hair pulled up in a ponytail, she’d opted for an old Buffalo Bills t-shirt and jeans, and the closest she came to makeup: cherry ChapStick. She had no plans to return to the days when she didn’t know what to do with a curling iron. But she was no longer going to spend endless amounts of time prepping herself to go out in public. The new Mikayla didn’t want that life anymore. It came with too much stuff she didn’t need. Growing up, she’d thought people with more had perfect lives. Now she knew perfection came at a cost. Mikayla wanted simple again.

The loud music from the karaoke stage increased in volume then decreased as women came in and out. The place was packed for a Monday. If she had known tonight was the night for the monthly cash prize to the best singer, she would have suggested they go somewhere else. But the crowd and the noise was good, she guessed. More of a distraction.

She patted around her eyes. Maybe she could have at least put on mascara or dabbed some concealer around her eyes. Lack of sleep and crying all night made her look exhausted. She deleted all of his voice messages, unable to stand hearing his voice or any hollow excuses that were easier for him to say into a phone than to her face.

What was there to explain other than he’d tried to ruin her development idea in Hartsville not once, but twice? His dad made it perfectly clear he expected his son to continue to work for and support the family. To continue to participate in the rivalry, he’d fostered for years.

But the love in her heart wouldn’t go away. And her love wanted an explanation even more than she wanted to forget. Why did he do it? Had he ever planned to walk away from the fight? Had anything they’d felt for each other been real?

Renee texted to say she’d arrived and had a table. Mikayla had only arrived a few minutes ago and headed straight to the bathroom instead of sitting and watching everyone else be happy and carefree. Why the hell did she pick this place?

Mikayla slipped the phone in her pocket and left the bathroom to go meet Renee. She ran into Ryan on the way to the main area. He looked almost as bad as she did. Except, the dusting of a beard on his chin that increased his good looks and his designer clothes were only slightly ruffled.

“I didn’t know you were back in town. I heard about Angelica.”

Bloodshot eyes met hers. “Renee told you?”

“No, Angelica called Andre.”

He leaned against the wall. “She wanted him all along. It was all a ploy to get him back.” Regret and sadness filled Ryan’s eyes. “I hurt you for her. I’m sorry.”

It was the first time she actually believed his apology. Despite herself, she empathized with what Ryan was going through.

“Are you going to be okay?”

He nodded, but he didn’t look very convincing. “I keep waiting to find the woman who looks past my name, and what happens? I end up getting shafted. Twice. By the same woman.”

Mikayla winced. She could have prevented this.

“I should have said something about Angelica. She let me know she wanted Andre.” She turned to face Ryan. A confused frown marred his features.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It wasn’t my place to get in your relationship. I let Renee know figuring she would tell you.”

“As my friend you should have told me.”

Mikayla placed a hand on her hip. “Yeah, and as my friend you should have said something before sleeping with Angelica in a closet.”

His defensive stance withered. Ryan groaned and leaned his head against the wall. “I guess we both need a refresher course on friendship.”

She clasped her hands behind her back. “We made a worse couple.”

Ryan laughed. “We did. Our kisses were okay. I think we would have been decent in the bedroom.” He lifted his head to grin at her.

She shook her head. “I don’t want decent. I want amazing.”

“I agree with that. I had amazing. And more than that. Or at least I thought I did.” He took a deep breath. “So it’s true, she’s back with him?”

“I hoped you could tell me.”

“When I left she was angry Andre hadn’t returned her calls. She’d thrown her plans in my face before talking to him. My only consolation was that I’d come home and find out you and Andre were still together.”

The smallest spark of hope, which she tried to tamp down, flared in Mikayla’s chest. Even if he wasn’t back with Angelica, he’d done other things that were unforgivable. “I haven’t talked to him.” She quickly relayed what happened with Curtis.

“I wouldn’t put too much into what my uncle says,” Ryan said. “The man lies as easily as I breathe. It’s his way of controlling everyone around him. I can’t say I’m thrilled you’re with Andre, but I will say putting your trust in my Uncle is like trusting a rattle snake not to bite you when you have it cornered.”

Hope flared up again. “I don’t know.”

Ryan reached over and took her hand in his. “From the way you’ve fought us to prove what you have is real, I think it’s worth finding out the truth. I do love you, Mikayla, and I want you to be happy.”

She turned her hand to entwine their fingers. Mikayla searched for the animosity she’d felt just a few short months ago after he’d embarrassed her in the mountains. None was there. They’d both been wrong to enter into that relationship. But she did love him, and Renee, as if they were her brother and sister.

“Same here.” She grinned. “Sorry for the knee to the nuts.”

He laughed. “I deserved it.”

“Yes, you did.” She squeezed his hand.

The microphone on the stage squealed. She and Ryan both jumped and covered their ears.

“Sorry, everyone, it’s my first time on stage.”

Mikayla’s jaw dropped. The blood rushed from her head. Was that…Andre’s voice?

“I came here tonight, not to win the cash prize,” Andre cleared his throat. “But to win something far more important. Mikayla, stop talking to Ryan, and come out here.”

Her body turned hot, cold, tingly, and numb all at once. She turned from Ryan and slowly walked down the hall. Across the room, Andre stood on the stage with a microphone in his hand, shifting from foot to foot and looking uncomfortable as hell.