The Devil's Storm Read online

  “You’re kidding, right? Adrian’s got more inside knowledge than anyone, not to mention he’s seen every project that’s gone through engineering for the past, what, ten years?”

  “Lee, you know Adrian wouldn’t do anything to hurt the company.”

  “I also knew I could trust him with my life, and then he ran off with my wife, so there’s that,” Lee pointed out.

  His mother looked to his father, who shrugged. “What do you want me to say? He’s not wrong.”

  Maggie Beth gave an exhausted sigh. “Is this seriously going to affect the rest of our lives?”

  Lee’s face screwed up in angry astonishment. “Well, yeah, Mom. I guess it is. What did you think? That we’d all just end up forgiving each other? That I’d just sit and watch Maddie and Adrian be happy together every Thanksgiving and Christmas? I mean, how much more naïve could you get?”

  “There’s no need for that,” his father scolded. “I understand you’ve lost all trust in Adrian. There’s no reason you should trust him, at least with personal matters.”

  “Although I would hope that one day you boys might forgive each other,” his mother squeaked.

  “Hell will freeze over first,” Lee muttered.

  His father cleared his throat as Maggie Beth’s face fell and blanched. “Look, son. You know I’m pretty stringent on our business practices, and the last thing I want is to put what we’ve worked for at risk.”

  Lee raised a brow. “But?”

  “But I think letting Adrian work as an engineer at some peon

  company that does government contracts isn’t going to hurt our

  business.”

  “I strongly disagree.”

  “He only wanted to be an engineer anyway,” his mother

  interrupted. “We’re the ones that insisted he take a bigger role in running the company.”

  “Yeah, he said that, but all of a sudden these big leadership capabilities pop out while I’m on leave, to the point where the board wants him appointed to CEO. Apparently, he wanted my wife and my job.”

  Richard rolled his eyes. “Now you’re just being dramatic. You know he didn’t want your damned job.”

  “I don’t know anything anymore!” Lee asserted, throwing his hands up. “All I know is that I’m living and have a company to run. I feel like I’m just hanging out in limbo waiting for things to make sense again.”

  His mother’s entire countenance faded. “Oh, Lee…I know this has got to be so difficult. Lord knows it’s been a rough year. Rough two or three years, really.”

  Lee said nothing. His outburst was the most emotional he’d allowed himself to get since the day Madeleine left. In fact, Emily was the only one who had seen him anything close to upset. Jesus Christ, it hurt though. He knew if he kept damming it all up inside him, one day it would all come spewing out.

  He didn’t want to talk to his parents about this. Especially his father. Richard Atwood knew two whole emotional states—neutral and anger. Lee knew all too well he was just following in his footsteps.

  “Lee—I know things are hard right now, but they won’t always be. You’ll move on when the time is right and you’ll be happy again.”

  Lee shook his head. “I’m not moving on. This is it. I did a shit job of being a husband the first time around, why would I ever subject another woman to that? Besides, I just think that… you know what, never mind—”

  “No, go on. You need to talk about it,” Maggie Beth urged. “You can’t keep going around acting like everything is fine when it’s clearly not.”

  “I don’t know… Maddie was just kinda my one and only.”

  “Ha! Obviously not,” his father had interjected. “If that had been true, she’d still be here.”

  Lee set his jaw and glared at Richard, but before he could say anything, his doorbell rang. “Who could that be?” he wondered aloud. “I’ve had more visitors tonight than I have in the entire six months I’ve been here.”

  “You’re not expecting anyone?” Richard asked.

  “Nope.” Lee started out to check the door.

  His mother blanched. “Lee, you be careful going to that door. Don’t you have a security system? One of those fancy apps that shows you who’s lurking around your house?”

  “Mom, I’ve not even unpacked kitchen utensils.”

  “Nevermind,” she answered in a huff.

  When he peered across the entry through the glass-paned door, Lee sighed relief. “Hey,” he said with a hint of a smile when he opened the door to see Emily standing there with a long, black garment bag draped across her arm.

  “Hey. Aren’t you watching the game?”

  Lee rolled his eyes. “Was. Mom and Dad came over.”

  “Oh, is this a bad time? I can go; I just wanted to show you my dress for the gala.”

  “Um, okay, but I’m gonna wear a black tux, either way, you know.”

  “Emily?”

  Lee turned to see his mother standing behind him in the foyer. “Jesus Christ woman, you’re sneaky. No wonder we never got away with anything!”

  “Hi, Maggie Beth,” Emily started shyly.

  “I promise I didn’t raise him to be so rude. Lee, for God’s sake, invite her in,” Maggie Beth complained.

  Lee turned back to Emily. “I am so sorry, Emily. Would you like to come in?” he asked sarcastically. She gave him a knowing smile. “Well, I could pop in for a second…”

  His mother looked delighted as she joined Emily’s side. “So are you two attending an event together?”

  “Um, yeah, the Arts Meets Tech exhibit is opening next weekend, and since Atwood Technologies is sponsoring it, going to the gala together just…made sense.” Emily stated it more as a question than an answer, but Maggie Beth looked pleased as punch smiling like the Cheshire cat. From behind Emily, Lee gave his mother a stern shake of his head, but Maggie Beth wasn’t giving up

  so easily.

  “Well come grab a seat and fill us in. How have you been?” she continued, practically grabbing Emily by the arm and dragging her into Lee’s living room. She looked back at Lee, brown eyes wide and begging for help. He snickered and followed them to the living

  room before his father intercepted him.

  “Lee, you didn’t show me the terrace. I want to see that view you’ve been bragging about,” Richard muttered.

  He was in trouble now. Damn it, Emily.

  He didn’t need to see her stupid dress. Why would he need to see her dress? It wasn’t like this was an 80’s high-school prom where he’d have to get a matching cummerbund and bring her a corsage. She knew dress attire for events like this. Was she wanting him to approve of it or something?

  Without a word (Lee knew better than to say anything at this point) Lee led his father up the stairs and to the master bedroom where the terrace did show a gorgeous view of the Atlanta skyline at night. He hoped his father also wouldn’t notice the stack of Madeleine McCollum novels on the floor next to his bed. He’d never read all of them when they were married, and he’d repeatedly devoured each one since she left him. It was the closest he could possibly get to her now.

  When they were alone outside, Richard dove straight into full interrogation mode.

  “What the hell are you thinking?”

  Lee screwed up his face in genuine confusion. “About what? Emily?”

  “What else would I be talking about?” Richard challenged. “You can’t be serious. Her? Of all the women you could have?”

  “I don’t want to date anyone, much less Emily!” Lee protested. “We’re just going to the gala together. Frankly, I need someone to get Maisy off my back at events, and Emily doesn’t mind telling her off.”

  At mentioning of Maisy Stewart, Richard harrumphed. “Well, I guess you could make worse choices than Emily.”

  “And besides, we’re going to the gala together. That’s it. I told you I wasn’t ready to move on and I’m not. I meant it.”

  “When are you and Adrian going to
learn?” Richard asked. “You’re a young man with every luxury and opportunity at his fingertips, and there are women out there who will take advantage of you—"

  “Oh, you mean just like Maddie—”

  “I’ve still got my suspicions about her. And now that she’s sank her teeth into Adrian, too, my opinion of her isn’t getting any better.”

  Lee gave a cocky smirk, the same one he used in a meeting when he was more or less about to tell people to go to hell in the most professional way possible. Richard knew what this meant before Lee could even respond. His father opened his mouth, ready with a preemptive comment, but Lee beat him to the chase. “Oh, well that makes sense. You know I’m pretty damned pissed about it, but she left me for Adrian, fully knowing that he was cutting himself off from every dime—”

  “You know your trust funds alone—”

  “Our trust funds pale compared to what we make running Atwood Technologies.”

  “To other people, it’s still damn good income.”

  “Maybe, but Madeleine’s not other people anymore. She paid cash for a six-million-dollar house. The woman’s been sensible with her money,” Lee countered. Damn, he was proud of her for that, even if it did give her the ability to leave him.

  “Yeah, well it’s easy to stash your cash when someone’s footing the bill for everything,” his father said, rolling his eyes.

  “It’s also easy to take your husband for everything he’s worth, which she refused to do. Maddie’s a class act. She wouldn’t have left me if she didn’t really love him, and as much as hurts to say that, I’d rather admit it than hear you talk trash about my damned wife.”

  Richard narrowed his eyes. “Ex-wife.”

  “Whatever,” Lee muttered, walking away from his father.

  “She thought she was pregnant, you know. Just a few days ago. Adrian had to buy a pregnancy test. It was negative, thank God, but imagine if it hadn’t been.”

  Lee stopped and turned back to his father. He’d have to pretend every word didn’t sting like bullets shot straight into his core. “Why are you telling me this? What’s your angle?”

  “She’s trying to trap Adrian in, doing whatever it takes to keep him around, and if you think that bitch downstairs is any different from Madeleine—”

  “I’d really like for you to leave now.”

  “Lee, use your brain instead of your dick for once. I know it’s difficult for you, but you’re putting yourself at risk here. Find a good girl, one who’s on your level and will actually love you. You know, instead of settling since she couldn’t land your brother.”

  Inside, Lee was raging. Between the pain of the news that Madeleine’s possible pregnancy and his father’s crassness, Lee felt

  there was a dam inside that was about to break.

  But he damn sure wasn’t going to waste it on his father.

  “I’ll take that into consideration. Now, before we get back downstairs, I want you to make up a real good excuse why you need to go, and I want you to leave as soon as possible.”

  “We’re not finished discussing this,” his father warned as they headed back downstairs.

  “We certainly are,” Lee stated cooly.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve—”

  Lee turned at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m not fighting with you. We will simply have to agree to disagree.”

  “Maggie Beth, we need to go,” Richard called out across the house as he locked eyes with his son. Their relationship had been tense ever since Adrian had left. Or had it started before then? He’d treated him differently ever since that night he’d passed out drunk during his birthday/retirement party. Lee understood to an extent, but he had been painfully sober for two years, and celibate for even longer than that. It was all in an effort to be a better man—the man he should have been for Madeleine all along. Richard Atwood, however, was clearly unimpressed with the strides Lee had made.

  “Maggie Beth!” Richard called again, hand on the front door handle, poised to make a quick getaway.

  “Just a darn minute, Richard. For goodness’ sake, I’m helping Emily with her dress!”

  Richard sighed and cursed, releasing the door handle.

  “Oh, Emily, it’s gorgeous,” Lee heard his mother declare from a guest bedroom down the hall. “Dear Lord, you’re gonna have to carry a ball bat to beat men off!”

  Lee raised a brow. His mother had always loved Emily, but that was certainly high praise coming from Maggie Beth Atwood.

  His mother came out first, a sly smile spreading across her lips and a mischievous glint in her eyes. Her expression reminded him so much of Adrian. Lee supposed that’s where his brother had gotten that expression to begin with. Lee narrowed his eyes at her, but when Emily came out of the room, he realized why his mother had said she would be beating men away from her.

  Holy fuck.

  Lee was pretty sure his mouth dropped when he saw her, dressed in a strappy, crimson, satin evening gown with a neckline that plunged right down to the center of her rib cage. A high slit exposed the inside of her gorgeous, long thighs. At that moment, Lee had to admit that view made him curious about the parts of her body that were still covered. Maybe if he could just pour on the charm—

  No way, Lee chided himself. Not her. Definitely not her. You don’t even like her and the last thing you need is to sleep around with yet another woman you can’t even stand.

  “You’re wearing that?” Lee blurted.

  Emily’s eyes grew wide and her mouth fell in obvious disappointment. Lee knew all too well he should have kept his mouth shut, but was he seriously going to have to sit next to her all night when she was wearing a dress that made her so look so…

  Fuckable, his mind decided. No. Nice. She looks nice. If she says anything, she looks nice. Nice nice nice nice nice—

  “You can go alone if you’d rather,” Emily shot right back. “I’m sure Maisy wouldn’t mind.”

  “That’s not what I—I meant to say—it was the wrong tone—”

  Maggie Beth patted her son on the shoulder on her way out the door. “You can stop talking now,” she whispered.

  Lee felt his cheeks burning, He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so embarrassed.

  “Lee, the next time I visit, I fully expect you to be settled in,” Maggie Beth warned. “I mean it. Let’s go, Richard. I’m exhausted. Emily, I’ve missed seeing you. You need to stick around.”

  Emily gave a nervous laugh. “Bye, Maggie Beth,” she managed.

  His mother walked right out the door, but his father lingered for a bit in the doorway. “Goodbye, Lee. Be smart.”

  “I’ll make a solid attempt,” Lee muttered. Richard gave him an indignant look, but finally, shut the door and left.

  Unfortunately, that left him alone with Emily.

  He turned back to her, stomach already fluttering. She was

  standing there with her hands on her hips, giving him a very stern

  expression. “Lee Atwood, what the hell was that?”

  “Emily, I didn’t mean it that way. You look very nice,” he recited from his mental practice.

  “You hate it.”

  Lee laughed. “That’s not the problem.”

  “Then what’s wrong?” Emily demanded. “You obviously have some problem with it.”

  Lee pinched the bridge of his nose, diverting his eyes away from her. “Yeah, I did have a problem with it, but it’s not you or the dress. It’s more like you in the dress is causing the problem. It’s not even a problem, it’s really me that’s the problem. And I should follow my mother’s advice right now and stop talking because it’s only making this worse.”

  Emily narrowed her eyes at him. “Are your drinking again?”

  “What? No! Why would you even ask that?”

  “Because you’re acting weird. And with all that you’ve been through—”

  “With all that I’ve been through I’ve realized I needed to get my shit together, and I’m not going back,”
Lee insisted.

  “So… the dress is fine? Because the last thing I would want is to embarrass the guy funding our exhibit and gala.”

  A long gaze gave his eyes a tour of Emily, from her dark, shoulder-length hair, to the deep valley between her breasts, then down her thighs to his floor. The words fell right from his mouth, which he was already imagining pressing against her skin. “You’re gonna need the ball bat for me more than anyone.”

  She gave a self-satisfied smile, as if that was exactly the answer she was looking for. Was she doing this on purpose? Surely his father was wrong. “Is that the whole reason you came over with the dress? Fishing for compliments?” he asked with a laugh, trying to cover his growing concern for why she had shown up at his house.

  “Of course not,” she smiled. Damn, she was cute. Emily was no Madeleine by any means, but he was enjoying looking at her. Why hadn’t he ever noticed her? Or was this a year and a half without sex talking? Hadn’t she been annoying before? There had to be a good reason he never thought she was good enough for Adrian, but whatever the reason, it wasn’t coming to mind at the moment.

  But then the practical side came out. Three things were obvious:

  1. She was flirting. Majorly.

  2. He hadn’t lost his touch (maybe). If he wanted, he could have her in his bed in… what, an hour at most?

  3. As much as he needed to give into the blatant tension here, one thing kept him from acting — Brecklyne. Because if he wasn’t careful, that’s what he’d end up with — another supposed relationship where he tried to ease his problems with sex instead of actually solving them. And he meant what he told Emily — he needed to get his shit together. He had it together. It was mended with off-brand Scotch tape at this point, but it was together nonetheless.

  “I better get out of this thing before I mess it up somehow. Would you, um…mind unbuttoning this for me?”

  At that point, Emily turned her back toward him. The dress cut into another deep v down her spine, tiny scarlet buttons in the small of her back.

  Oh, she was trying hard.

  Well, she wouldn’t win. At least not today.