Tycoon Takedown (12 page)

She closed the door behind her quietly and took the elevator down to the lobby. Once outside, she hailed a taxi. “LaGuardia Airport please.”

Her mind was blank except for one clear thought:
I need to see Jace.

By the time she arrived at the airport, she was outwardly composed, even if inwardly she felt as if the world had crashed down around her. People in line were smiling and laughing and she wanted to scream, “Don’t you know that nothing will ever be okay again?” She went straight to the ticket counter.

“You’re lucky,” the ticket agent said, “we have seats available on our next flight out in thirty minutes.”

Yeah, that’s me.

Lucky.

Melanie bought a ticket and headed to security. After clearing the security line, she walked blindly to the designated gate just in time to board. She buckled herself in with cold hands and stared out the window.

“I should sit in coach more often,” a deep male voice commented appreciatively as he sat down beside her.

She turned to look into the friendly face of a man who appeared to be in his midtwenties. He was conservatively dressed in a casual suit and his hair was expertly cut, which made her imagine that many women would have found him attractive.
You picked the wrong woman to try to hit on, buddy.
Melanie turned away from him coldly.

Undeterred, the man continued to address her. “Are you headed home?”

Home?
The word seared through her.

I don’t know where that is anymore.

With Charles in New York?

Hiding out on a horse ranch in Texas? Is that any kind of home?

I was so busy worrying about me and how people might judge me, I didn’t think of Jace. I just hid him away.

Until it was too late.

Tears streaming down her face, she turned back to the man beside her and shook her head wordlessly. He froze at her display of emotion and almost comically scrambled to stand and move to another seat.

Melanie turned back toward the window. She heard the rustle of another passenger behind her but didn’t turn to see who it was. She tightened her seatbelt and closed her eyes, crying softly against the cool side of the plane.

A hand touched her shoulder and Melanie looked up into the concerned eyes of a stewardess. “Are you okay, ma’am? A few of the passengers are worried about you.”

Melanie accepted a tissue from the woman and blew her nose loudly.
I’m very far from being okay, but I have to get myself under control. I can’t be like this when I see Jace.
“Sorry,” Melanie said with a fortifying sniff. “I just found out someone I knew passed away.”

“Oh my God,” the woman said. “No wonder you’re crying. Can I get you some water? Anything?”

Melanie shook her head and the stewardess reluctantly returned to the front of the plane for takeoff. Once in the air, Melanie kept her face to the window, trying to distance herself from reality.

That’s the thing about reality.

You can’t wish it away.

There is no rewind.

No game reset.

It’s the result of choices made, and I keep choosing poorly.

But I can do better.

I will do better.

“I’m sorry, but you look familiar. Do I know you?”

Melanie opened her eyes and looked over two empty seats to a blonde woman across the aisle. Although she seemed pleasant enough, Melanie didn’t recognize her. “No.”

“You’re not the Takedown Cowgirl, are you?” the woman asked.

In confusion, Melanie shook her head. “Who?”

The woman tapped the man next to her. “Doesn’t she look like the woman in the video that’s all over the news? The one who everyone thought was shooting a scene for a movie, but she was really getting mugged?”

Melanie closed her eyes.
Please. No.

She opened her eyes, but they were still staring at her.

“She does,” the man answered and gave Melanie a thumbs-up. “You kicked some serious ass that day. Kudos.”

A teenage girl in the seat behind them stood from her seat. “Who is she?”

The blonde woman said, “I think it’s the Takedown Cowgirl. Seriously.”

“Oh my God, I have to see.”

The lanky girl squeezed over the person in the aisle seat and made her way to sit one seat away from Melanie. “It
is
you! You are my fucking hero. No one will believe I met you. I need a selfie with you.” Without waiting for permission, she turned away and leaned back, including Melanie in the background of a picture she took with her phone.

“I can’t wait to land and send this,” the girl said. She turned back and looked Melanie over with a critical eye. “Did he dump you? That hot guy who kissed you on the video? Is that why you’re crying? My mom says you staged the whole thing, but my friends and I don’t think you did. Did you?”

The girl appeared to be about fourteen. Melanie prayed for strength and calm. “Look at the expression on my face. Do you think I’m in the mood to talk to anyone?”

“No, you look pissed. But what are you gonna do? Knock me down? Hog-tie me?” The girl laughed. “Because that would be fucking awesome. It would go viral. Just make sure someone tapes it.”

“Kara, get back to your seat,” a stern female voice said.

“In a minute.”

“No, you’re about to lose your cell phone if you don’t leave that lady alone.”

“Fine.” The girl flounced back to her seat.

Melanie let out a breath of relief when the seat beside her was once again filled, this time with a thin woman with gray hair cut in curls that framed her face. Her Texan drawl was a welcome sound even if her presence wasn’t. “Please excuse my granddaughter—her mother spoils her rotten. That’s why she’s coming to live with me for a while. Someone has to rein her in. Time mucking stalls should turn her around.”

“I am not going to touch equine feces. Not in this lifetime,” her granddaughter called back from across the plane.

The older woman chuckled. “Sex-ed classes should stop using dolls and eggs to represent what it’s like to parent. They should send everyone home with a teenager who swears and steals money out of their purse. That’s real birth control incentive.”

Melanie found herself sympathetically smiling. “Sounds like a handful.”

The woman shrugged. “She’ll be fine. I’ll ride it out. Their brains come back—although it takes a while sometimes. And she’s a good kid. I just have to help her remember that.”

Gripping her hands tightly in her lap, Melanie said, “She’s lucky to have you.”

The woman studied her face for a moment quietly, then asked, “Where are your parents?”

“In Telson, on the ranch I grew up on,” Melanie said sadly. “They did their best to rein
me
in, but I bucked them right off and bolted.”

“They good people?”

“Yes,” Melanie answered simply.

The woman put her hand on one of Melanie’s and patted it. “Maybe you should go see them when you land. You look like you need someone to talk to.”

“I can’t,” Melanie said, her voice thick with emotion. “Things haven’t been good between us. I said terrible things to them. And I never apologized. Never.”

“Do you have a child?” she asked gently.

Melanie nodded. “Jace. He just started kindergarten.”

“What could you forgive him?”

“Anything,” Melanie said in a whisper.

“Then go on home to them, sweetie.” With that, the woman returned to her seat, leaving Melanie to think about what sh
e’d
said.

Charles strode from room to room in his apartment. Melanie had taken all her things with her. No note. No good-bye. Just gone.

He called her hotel, but she hadn’t checked back in.

Stomach churning with emotions he didn’t want to begin to try to label, he showered and dressed in a suit.

Well isn’t that a punch in the stomac
h . . .
The first woman I ask to live with me takes off like I offered her the mumps.

I could have probably worded the invitation better.

But I said she could bring her son.

What more does she want?

He thought back to how sh
e’d
looked, blindfolded and tied to his bed. H
e’d
never tied a woman up before and was chastising himself for not researching a little before attempting it. It had been a spontaneous decision and one that he regretted now. He and Melanie had made a sort of pact to escape their normal lives together. H
e’d
wanted to show her that she could trust him in and out of their fantasy time. Had he gone too far?

He called her cell phone, but it rang through to voice mail. He didn’t leave a message.

He was angry.

He was sorry.

He couldn’t understand how she could leave without at least saying good-bye. He called for his car to be brought around and slammed the door of his apartment as he left. He phoned his assistant to tell her the
y’d
be working through the weekend. He needed to clear his head.

He drove to his office, grinding the gears of his Mercedes-Benz along the way.
I refuse to chase her. I was perfectly happy before I met her. By next week I won’t even remember her name.

Charles walked past June without greeting her and slammed the door to his office. A moment later the phone on his desk rang on her line. He hit the speakerphone button impatiently. “What is it?”

“You told me to hold all of your calls and I have, but there are some that are urgent and one I think you need to know about. I was up all night wondering if I should have called you instead of waiting to see you today.”

“I would hope by now yo
u’d
have the sense to know if you should have.”

There was a long and awkward silence on the line. In a thick voice, she finally answered, “Sorry, Mr. Dery. These calls fell outside of what you normally receive.”

Charles paced in front of his desk, running both hands over his face roughly. He wasn’t known for being open to topics that weren’t work related, but he also wasn’t normally an ass to his staff. “June, I’m in a foul mood this morning. Who called?” It was as close to an apology as he had within him, but it proved to be enough.

Sounding more like her normally upbeat self, June said, “Almost every morning news show out there and some cable channels. The
y’d
like to interview you and a woman they are calling the Takedown Cowgirl.”

“Has Javits called yet?”

“Your lawyer? Twice yesterday. He said he tried to reach you on your cell, too. He found what you were looking for.”

It took Charles a moment to remember that h
e’d
asked his lawyer to hunt down the boy who had mugged Melanie. “I’ve been busy,” Charles growled, then pulled his temper back under control when he saw her eyes widen. It wasn’t her fault Melanie had left without saying good-bye. Nor was it her fault that this news illustrated how impossible putting Melanie out of his head would be.

“Call Javits. Put him through as soon as you have him on the line.”

“Absolutely, Mr. Dery. You should also call Rawlings. He said he expected something from you yesterday.”

Shit.

“I’ll call him now. Thank you, June.”

H
e’d
like to blame Melanie for causing him to drop the ball, but it was his fault. H
e’d
lost focus. H
e’d
chosen to put everything aside for her.

Lesson learned.

He went to sit behind his desk and slumped in his chair.
I’ve worked too hard for too long to throw it all away on a woman.

He turned on his computer, quickly finished the proposal h
e’d
promised Rawlings, and sent it to him. H
e’d
give him an hour to look it over, then contact him.

He looked down at his cell phone on his desk with disgust, hating how much he wanted to call Melanie.

I don’t need distractions right now.

I need to get my head back in the game
.

Chapter Twelve

I
t was early afternoon when Melanie arrived in a taxi at her parents’ house unannounced. She tipped the driver, took her luggage, and walked up the stairs of the home sh
e’d
grown up in. It was a large ranch that the
y’d
built onto as her parents had raised their four daughters. It wasn’t a home that would impress the people sh
e’d
met in New York, but her father had built most of it himself and had paid it off long ago.

So many memories she loved—and some she hated—came flooding back each time she stood on this porch. Her first kiss. Prom photos. Hot summer evenings spent with her sisters drinking lemonade and sharing secrets. It was also where everything had blown up with her parents.

She put the luggage off to one side of the porch, gathered her courage, and stepped inside. Her father had retired when the factory h
e’d
worked at for years relocated southward.

“Mom? Dad?” she called out. “Anyone home?”

The door hadn’t been locked, but that wasn’t unusual. They lived by different rules out on her parents’ farm. The place was never unattended since there was always a ranch hand around. However, security in these parts didn’t rely on electronic monitoring devices. Instead, even a home as nice as her parents’ had its share of shotguns. People didn’t wander onto other people’s property uninvited. Period.

Her parents came out of the back of the house, looking unusually disheveled. Her mother was smoothing her salt-and-pepper hair back into her usually perfectly tied knot.

“Mel, we didn’t know you were coming today. Is Jace outside?”

Melanie looked back and forth between her parents’ flushed faces and decided she didn’t want to know what the
y’d
been up to before she got there. “I probably should have called first,” she said.

“No, no,” her mother protested and straightened the neckline of her dress. She took a second look at her daughter’s expression and was suddenly concerned. “Has something happened?”

Everything Melanie regretted came crashing in on her in one tidal wave of emotion. She began to shake as tears sh
e’d
held in during the flight and the ride to her parents’ house resurfaced. “I don’t know what to do, Mom. I’ve been wrong so many times. I screwed up my life, and now I’ve taken something away from Jace that he deserved to have. How can I look him in the eye when I’m a horrible mom?”

Her mother looked at her father, then back at her.

Melanie hugged herself and shook her head violently. “You were right when you told me I should be ashamed of myself. I am. I don’t know what to d
o . . .
how to be better than I am. I thought I could make things right, but it’s too late.”

Her mother rushed to her side and led her to a chair, taking a seat beside her. “You stop right there, Melanie. I said many things I regret and that was one of them. Jace is a wonderful boy. You’ve been a good mother to him. Just tell me what happened. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it—together.”

“There’s nothing you can do about this one, Mom. It’s done.”

“Are you pregnant again?” her father asked gruffly.

“I wish it was that,” Melanie said without thinking, then regretted the words that wiped all color from her father’s face. She dabbed away her tears in frustration and clarified. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I’m not pregnant. I don’t wish I was pregnant.” She buried her face in her hands. “It’s just that I could find some good in that mistake.”

Her mother put an arm around her shoulders. “We’re here for you, Mel. We always have been. Whatever it is, you can tell us.”

Melanie raised her eyes to meet her father’s. “I never told you about Jace’s father because I was too ashamed to tell you the truth.”

Neither of her parents moved while they waited for her to explain.

“I met him at college. We didn’t even date.”

Her father made a sound deep in his chest, but didn’t say anything. Her mother’s face twisted with compassion, but she also kept her thoughts to herself.

“We were together one time and then we never spoke again.” Melanie choked back fresh tears. “He didn’t care about me. I told myself he wouldn’t care about Jace, either.” Melanie wrung her hands nervously in front of her. “I don’t know, maybe I was also afraid he could take Jace from me. I know it was wrong, but I didn’t think about how it would hurt Jace to not know him. I convinced myself we were better off without Todd.”

Softly, her mother said, “But?”

“But Jace started asking about him. He wanted to know why his father didn’t care about him.”

“Sounds like it’s high time you tell Todd about him, then,” her father said in the same stern voice h
e’d
used to issue curfews to her when she was younger.

“I tried,” Melanie said sadly. “I went to New York because that was the last place that anyone had heard h
e’d
gone. H
e’d
moved there to be closer to his parents.” Melanie closed her eyes as memories from her conversation with Todd’s parents replayed in her head. “But I was too late. He died last year without ever knowing he had a son.” Gathering her courage, Melanie opened her eyes again and faced her father.

Her father said nothing, but his jaw tightened visibly.

Her mother gasped.

Heartfelt questions burst out of Melanie. “What do I tell Jace? How do I not cry and beg him to forgive me the next time he asks about his dad?”

“You—” Her father started to speak in a harsh tone, but her mother cut him off.

“If you’re about to say what I think you are, don’t. She doesn’t need a lecture right now. We waited a long time for her to come home to us. I
will not
lose her again.”

Her father crossed the room and sat on the other side of Melanie. There was a sadness in his eyes that she was all too familiar with because it darkened her own soul. He sat forward with his hands between his knees and said, “No one said parenting was easy, Mel. We all do the best we can and all have to face where we fall short. I’ve never been one to talk matters out. Your mom knows that. It’s why she does most of the talking around here.”

His wife gave him a tolerant smile. “I know you’re leading up to something sweet, but you’re taking your time getting there.”

Melanie quietly digested what h
e’d
said.
They’re doing the best they can, just like me.
Suddenly, they were human to her. Not just people who had raised and disappointed her, but parents struggling to make things right. Their love for each other and understanding of one another was strong, even in the face of this. Her mother wasn’t pointing fingers and blaming her father, but she was making her opinion clear. There was a beauty in the conversation despite how difficult it was to have. And their love for her was there—plain as day.

Her father sat up and looked Melanie in the eye. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, Mel. Jace is a fine boy. You’ve done a good job of raising him. Maybe he wasn’t meant to meet his father. That’s a conversation best left for you and God. When Jace asks, you tell him that his father loved him and would have been with him if he could have been. It’s not the whole truth, but something he’ll understand until he’s old enough to hear more.”

Within the comfort of her mother’s embrace, Melanie dried her eyes. Sh
e’d
spent much of the past five years telling herself she didn’t want to be like her parents, and now she found herself feeling the exact opposite.

Her mother asked, “What about Todd’s parents? Do they know they have a grandchild?”

Melanie shook her head. “I didn’t tell them. They sounded like they were still mourning.”

Her father stood again. “Children aren’t supposed to go first. They’ll be mourning for the rest of their lives, but you need to tell them. I would want to know.”

Melanie’s mother nodded in solemn agreement. “Even though he never met Jace, part of Todd lives on in him. Your father’s right. You have to tell them.”

Melanie stood and held out her arms toward the parent she thought sh
e’d
lost forever. “Dad, I’m sorry for all the awful things I said when I moved out.”

Her father hugged her to his large chest and didn’t say a word.

He didn’t have to.