“You were?” I wouldn’t associate her positive energy with someone who struggled to trust anyone.
“Oh yeah. I went through a rough breakup with someone I thought I was going to marry one day. Turns out he was cheating on me with one of the Dreamland princesses.”
“Ouch.” I wince.
Her smile falters. “At the time, it felt like my world was ending. But now I realize it was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
“Because you found Rowan?”
She shakes her head. “Because I found myself.”
“I feel like I’m going to need a lot more than a mimosa for this kind of conversation.”
She laughs. “Too deep for a Sunday morning?”
I nod. “Way too deep.”
We break out into a fit of laughter. We move on to safer topics that have nothing to do with my relationship with Declan. I’m grateful he planned today’s family gathering, solely because I got to spend more time with Zahra and hear another person’s opinion on my marriage. While Cal means well, he isn’t exactly a guru when it comes to relationships. Hence his resistance to contacting Alana despite him needing to for his inheritance.
Speak of the devil, he throws open my bedroom door with a dramatic flare. “I hate to interrupt this bonding session but the race is about to start and Declan’s getting antsy.”
“He’s just annoyed he has to talk to you for twenty minutes straight.”
“Watching him fumble through small talk that has nothing to do with work or our inheritances is far more entertaining than I thought.”
I lock arms with Zahra. “Let’s go put Declan out of his misery.”
Cal scoffs. “I know you’re biased because you’re his wife, but the man has been miserable ever since the day he was born.”
Zahra winks. “I have a feeling that’s about to change.”
1 ? Noun, Dutch: The warm feeling of being surrounded by loved ones. The state or fact of being cozy.
36
DECLAN
I t only takes one email to ruin my whole year.
“Iris!”
She comes running into my office with my brother on her tail.
“What?”
I don’t even bother asking what he is doing here. Knowing him, it has everything to do with avoiding his responsibilities.
“Did you see Yakura’s latest email?” I slam my finger against the mouse, shutting the email browser before I have a stroke.
“No. What happened?”
My entire face feels like it’s on fire. “He received a call from my father.”
“Fuck.” Cal wipes his face.
My thought exactly. “Yakura’s threatening to pull out of the project.”
She drops into the chair across from me. “Why?”
“He didn’t go into any specific details, but his sentence about how our goals don’t seem to align was as good of a hint as any.”
It doesn’t take a genius to understand what happened. With my father’s personality and his desperation to remain CEO, I have no doubt he went out of his way to make my project seem inadequate. Because in the end, the Kane Company bottom line doesn’t matter so long as he remains in power, even if it means ruining a deal that could make us billions.
He wants to make me look weak and inexperienced compared to him, and this is the best shot he has at destroying whatever credibility I have with the board thus far. The executives know how hard I have been working on this project. If it falls through, the blowback could be detrimental to my transition.
“We can fix this. I’ll reach out to Yakura.” Iris rolls her shoulders and tips her chin up. She has a unique ability to command the situation and ease the growing tension in my shoulders.
“And say what? ‘Sorry my dad’s a dick. He didn’t mean it,’” Cal offers.
Her brows scrunch together. “Of course not. What do you take me for?
An amateur?”
“Then how do you plan on winning him over?”
Iris turns toward me. “We show him how our goals align.”
“Do we even know what those are?” Cal’s head swings back and forth between Iris and me.
My face is as blank as my thoughts. I thought Yakura’s goal was to build a park worthy of his land, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“I have an idea but I don’t know if it’s a good one…” Iris’s voice trails off.
“This doesn’t sound promising.” Cal grimaces.
I shoot Cal a look that tells him to keep his mouth shut. “Go ahead.”