The Devil's Storm Read online

  He took offense to this, and even more when his mother gave a knowing “Mmm-hmm. Sounds exactly like him,” in response.

  “So she’s booking it down the sidewalk, and she’s not even looking where she’s going, because she runs right through the 'Don’t Walk’ light. A car nearly hits her, but she just keeps running. I’m standing there waiting at the traffic light and I realize what her aim is.”

  Madeleine paused. Adrian knew his mother was hooked into the story. “Which was what?”

  “Apparently, she wanted Adrian.”

  “No!”

  “Yes! She’s finally catching up to him, and I’m hanging back at a jog, watching this all go down. All of a sudden, for no explanation whatsoever, she’s down, on the ground, clutching at her ankle. Adrian, of course, hears her wailing in pain and in two seconds flat, he’s on his knees trying to help her.”

  “Men,” his mother snorted.

  “Especially men like Adrian. You know, big-heart, overly trusting. So she’s sitting on the sidewalk, and Adrian’s trying to tend to her ankle, which there’s nothing wrong with, but she’s wincing and hissing at every touch. At this point, I just want to see how this plays out. I grab a seat at the nearest trolley stop and listen in best I can. She’s giving him this long, drawn-out story about how she injured her ankle when she ran track in college before she went to law school — mind you, she said law school about a billion times so he would know she’s a lawyer —”

  His mother snorted at this.

  “Luckily, Adrian’s not dumb. I’m watching as he’s feeling her ankle and his face says it all when he realizes nothing’s wrong with this woman. Then he finally sees me sitting at the trolley stop and he just gives the biggest grin.”

  “Oh Lord,” Maggie Beth started. “What did he do to this poor girl?”

  Madeleine laughed. (God, he loved that laugh.) “He makes a huge deal out of it. First, he tells her he got through two whole semesters of nursing school before dropping out, and the ankle’s definitely broken. Her whole face falls when he says he dropped out, but then she asks if he’ll drive her to the nearest doctor to get it checked out. Adrian…” She stopped to laugh. “Adrian tells her, he’d be happy to, but he had to sell his car to fund his coke habit.”

  “Oh my God! He did not!”

  “He certainly did. Then he takes out his phone and pretends to call 911. She flips out, going on about how unnecessary it is to call an ambulance over an ankle. He tells her he understands it’s excessive, but everyone knows the E.R. will give you the quote ‘good shit’.”

  His mother snorted, then chortled. “What did she do then?”

  “I don’t know if she ever figured out he was playing her the entire time, but she told him she lived close and she thought she could make it home okay. She barely faked a limp down the street, before she took off running again.”

  “I’ll bet she thinks twice about trying to hit on another woman’s…well, what exactly do you and Adrian consider yourselves—”

  Now was the perfect time to intervene, Adrian decided. He rushed down the stairs just as Madeleine began her answer. “Well,

  he’s my boyfriend—”

  “So you two aren’t thinking about—”

  “Good morning,” he said, pecking his mother on the cheek as he zoomed past her. “We got any coffee brewing?”

  “What a ridiculous question,” his mother responded. “I’m awake aren’t I?”

  “Perfect,” he said, eyeing Madeleine as she flipped over eggs made just to his liking. He could tell by her expression his mother’s question about their relationship had made her nervous. Even though he was sure Madeleine would prefer he didn’t, he swept behind her and wrapped both hands around her waist and kissed the side of her neck. “I’ll have you know,” he murmured, just loud enough for his mother to hear, “that blonde writers with some curves I can hold on to are more my type.”

  She turned to him just enough for him to see her expression. “Eavesdropper,” she accused with a grin. Adrian watched as his mother busied herself grabbing another coffee cup and pouring him a cup. When Maggie Beth wasn’t looking, Adrian gave Madeleine’s backside a resounding smack, eliciting a sharp cry. His mother whipped her head around, and the minute she heard his snigger and saw Madeleine’s red cheeks, Adrian was sure she knew exactly what he’d done.

  He felt the corners of his mouth rise as he looked up to his mother, who simply raised a brow at him. Madeleine might have been blushing and trying her best to stifle a giggle, but his motives were deeper than keeping up with their typical playfulness. Adrian felt a need for his mother to see their real side, not the stiff, polite side that Madeleine would wear as an armor. Madeleine was his to love and protect, even if that meant protecting her from his own family.

  But Maggie Beth would not be deterred. “So are you two getting married?”

  Madeleine’s mouth fell, and Adrian saw the gears turning in her mind trying to come up with the most neutral answer possible. The woman should have been working PR for a major corporation or a politician that couldn’t keep himself out of trouble.

  “Nah, we’re just gonna keep shacking up together. Seems to be working just fine,” Adrian announced as his mother handed him a cup of black coffee.

  His mother groaned. “Adrian, be serious.”

  “I am being completely serious.”

  Maggie Beth rolled her eyes and turned to Madeleine. “Do you put up with this all the time?”

  Madeleine shrugged. “Pretty much.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “You raised him. You’ve put up with it longer than I have.”

  “Eh, I guess I’ll take him anyway,” Madeleine answered with a sideways smile.

  Adrian beamed before he took a sip of his coffee. “We’re getting married next fall. No official date yet, but it’s in the works.” Madeleine’s eyes met his, and he felt his heart swell. He couldn’t wait to marry her. This time around, it was right. He didn’t have a single doubt Madeleine was meant to be his wife. As much as he’d cared for Emily, this feeling of certainty just couldn’t compare.

  The room was heavy with silence, but Madeleine wore a sweet smile as if she were thinking the same thoughts.

  His mother cleared her throat. “Fall sounds…lovely… are we thinking a big wedding or something small?”

  “Oh, tiny,” Madeleine started. “Family and maybe a few friends.”

  His mother looked at both of them, eyes watering, her mouth not giving a single clue about how she felt about any of this. Adrian tried but couldn’t read her face. His eyes flicked to Madeleine, as she put his eggs on a plate, but about that time, Richard walked in the kitchen.

  He must have felt the tension. “Everything okay?”

  Maggie Beth’s head snapped up with a soft smile. “Yeah, just talking to these two about their plans.”

  Richard gave a low hum but was also unreadable. The tension was uncomfortable, but he also understood his mother needed time to process, and his father would need much, much more when the time came.

  “Adrian, can I talk to you for a moment? It won’t take long, just some business-related stuff,” he said.

  Adrian felt his stomach sink. Surely his father wasn’t going to bribe him to stay away from Madeleine again. He didn’t want his first visit to his parents to be a disaster. “Sure,” he finally agreed. Madeleine threw him a look of pity as he followed his father from

  the kitchen to his office.

  The last time he’d been in this office, Lee had been the one sitting across the desk, drunk, and trying to convince him that he wasn’t in love with Emily. Adrian wanted to deny it, but Lee was right. If someone had told him that two years would take Emily and Lee out his life and replace them with Madeleine, he would have laughed. How much had changed.

  “So…what kind of business are we discussing?” Adrian asked as he plopped down on a new chenille sofa that had replaced the outdated leather one that had been there his last visit.
Was his mother decorating the house now? Had she moved in with him? Adrian had been so swept up in Madeleine and the hurricane drama that he hadn’t even had asked if his parents were still…dating, he supposed was the word for it.

  “I have a proposition for you.”

  Adrian swallowed as he mentally begged for this not to be a reprise of the past. “Okay.”

  “Innovative design was your baby at Atwood Technologies. And without you, the department’s…suffered, to put it bluntly. Lee’s shutting it down next month.”

  Adrian sighed. “I worried that would happen. The return on investment isn’t tempting enough for him.”

  His father smiled wanly. “Needless to say, your brother’s not going to invest anything for the sake of science.”

  At least his father understood. “What does that have to do with me?”

  “Everything. Harrison Aerospace is a no-go. I've done everything I can to convince him. Lee’s not willing to give up on your NCA. Yes, he’s being vindictive, but not completely unreasonable, either.”

  “Then what can you do?”

  “I’ve already done it. The Harrison brothers are beyond ready to retire. Unfortunately, no one in their family is actually interested in running the company, but they didn’t want to sell to just anyone.” Adrian realized where the conversation was going, and it was already overwhelming. “So I made them an offer, and the sale was contingent on one thing.”

  He didn’t have to even ask his father what that one thing was.

  “They want you to run it.”

  Silence. But this time, Adrian couldn’t decide if he were excited,

  or scared to death. As his mind began to race with the possibilities, he scoffed in response. “You’ve already got two, no, three problems with your plan there.”

  “And those are?”

  “Number one, you’re assuming I’ll accept. I wanted to be an engineer, not a CEO. Two, I don’t see how it makes the situation any better. It’s still an in-state aerospace company. Lee will flip his lid, making things even harder for this family. Three, you’re looking to diversify, but want to what? VP another aerospace company?”

  His father crossed his arms with a smug, satisfied look already spreading across his face. Adrian fought to roll his eyes. His father looked like Lee when he did that, although he supposed it was the other way around. “First, the company would rebrand. Do more than just aerospace engineering. You would run innovative design as its very own, standalone company. Since it is no longer a focus of Atwood Technologies, your company wouldn’t be a competitor. Second, it’s not my company. I’m simply investing in it, so that gives you the freedom to take on any project you see fit. For everything else? You’ll hire a top-notch team of engineers to work on technology that will actually make a difference. That’s your true passion. That’s what will make this company successful.”

  Adrian considered it for a moment. “Why are you doing this? I don’t understand. I mean, you tried to buy me out of Atwood Technologies. You didn’t want me to be a part of this family anymore.”

  His father bowed his head as his face reddened. His father had never seemed more contrite. “I’m sorry. I can’t apologize enough. I’ve regretted nothing more. Now you put us in a difficult spot, but if you ever have more than one child, I hope you never have to choose between them. You end up making the wrong decision no matter what.”

  That much he could understand. It wasn’t like he didn’t know his decision to be with Madeleine wasn’t the honorable, moral one. Adrian also knew it was inexplicably right. “I love Maddie. More than anything. And I’m going to marry her. You know that right? Nothing will change that.”

  His father looked down at his clenched hands as his countenance took another turn. Richard’s mouth formed a hard line, and it took him a moment to find the right words to say. “Adrian, I’m not trying to convince you to change your mind. Even though I wish you would.”

  “But I won’t. You should know that if this goes further. If you thought it would work—”

  His father huffed. “Of course I didn’t think it would work. Trust

  me, I thought about it. But if I were going to invest in a new business to get my son back, I would have picked something closer to home, don’t you think?”

  Adrian’s mouth fell. Seeing things from his father’s perspective was difficult—being caught between both sons, being ashamed of his actions, but feeling the need to defend Lee… Adrian knew the past year had not been easy on his father, but he’d been so eaten up with his own pain and resentment he hadn’t been able to explore the situation from his perspective. “I’m not saying it to deter you from this business venture. I’m just letting you know so you’re not even more disappointed than you already are.”

  Richard shook his head. “I’m more disappointed that my boys will never forgive each other.”

  That hurt to hear. As much as he resented Lee for hurting Madeleine, there was a part of him that missed his brother. But Lee would never forgive him. Adrian was hopeful, but not naïve. He knew he’d lost his brother the second he left Atwood Technologies for the last time. “Maybe it’s not completely impossible.”

  Richard scoffed. “Maybe,” he muttered in a noncommittal tone. “Look, you don’t have to have an answer today about Harrison Aerospace, or whatever it’ll become. Take time and think about it.”

  Adrian pursed his lips and nodded his head. “I’ll do it.”

  His father looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “You’re not going to brood about having to be a CEO?”

  He looked at Richard for a moment, considering what instinct told him was right. Maybe it was another impulsive decision, but like Madeleine, if just felt right. “No, actually, I’m not,” Adrian laughed. “I think it might just be the best idea you’ve ever had. It only comes with two terms.”

  Richard smiled but groaned. “Of course you have terms.”

  “Yep. First, you’re going to tell Lee.”

  “You don’t wanna call him up?” his father scoffed.

  “Not to tell him this. He’s less likely to sue me over it considering

  you made the investment.”

  “Deal. What’s the second term?”

  “We keep this under wraps from Madeleine. At least until the time is right.”

  His father narrowed his eyes and his expression grew stern. “That is not what I expected to hear. Especially out of you.”

  Adrian’s stomach starting to flop in nervousness as he considered that he would have to admit to Madeleine he lied. “I couldn’t tell her the job at Harrison Aerospace fell through. I’ve been living in her house over a year while she works and I’m sitting there doing nothing.”

  “You’ve not had much of a choice, Adrian. Even if you had tried a consulting job—”

  “And Maddie knows that. Hell, I could be a stay-at-home dad and she’d be perfectly content.”

  Richard raised a brow.

  “We-We’re not pregnant before you ask,” Adrian stammered in clarification. “Point being, I’m not proposing before I have a job because I cannot sit there and live off a trust fund and be a deadbeat husband. I wasn’t raised that way.”

  His father crossed his arms across his chest. “Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t want you marrying her. I still don’t think it’s right. But no matter what, you can’t start out a marriage with lies, no matter how harmless you think they are, or if your intentions were good.”

  Adrian felt his throat tighten as blood rushed to his face. “I know,” he murmured.

  “You need to tell her. As soon as possible. I’ll get the ball rolling on paperwork. You’ve got a lot to think about.”

  Chapter Twenty Five

  There wasn’t much that could distract Lee from a good baseball game.

  Unless it was Emily, dressed in short-shorts and a Braves jersey. Typically, he’d be standing and cheering on a good play, or booing a bad call, but today, he enjoyed watching her more than the game. He wasn’t s
ure if it was just the fact that she was cute dressed down, or if he just really liked the view her shorts provided.

  The dog days of summer had set in. The Georgia air mercilessly assaulted everyone who dared venture outside the confines of air-conditioning. Atwood Technologies’ compartment in the Champions Suite was air-conditioned, but not much could be done on the balcony where he and Emily had chosen to sit closer to the action.

  “Have you always been such a big baseball fan?” Lee asked her just as the bottom of the first inning began.

  “Oh, always. Dad played in the minor leagues before he finished his doctorate, and we just grew up watching it on TV or going to games. I played softball from pre-k through college.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Lee said with a smile, realizing he was yet again looking at her instead of the game. “What positions did you play?”

  “Pitcher,” she announced with pride.

  “Remind me to recruit you for the game at our next company picnic.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  “It is, even if we all suck. It’s obvious we all sit at desks all day.”

  “You need me to come coach a few weeks in advance? Whip you into shape?” she joked.

  “I think you’re already whipping me into shape.”

  What kind of comment was that? Lee questioned. Had he meant it like a flirty sexual reference? It was likely; their bedroom habits were very physical. He was glad he’d started going back to the gym. Otherwise, Lee didn’t think he could have kept up with her.

  The way Emily gave a soft, awkward smile before turning her attention back to the field told him that his statement did not come out as flirtatious or sexy but something more. As if whipping him into shape was code for her bringing him back to life.

  He couldn’t deny that was true, although Lee would never tell her. At least not during this week, anyway. This week was for testing the waters, not catching feelings while he was still vulnerable and unable to think straight. He would mull it all over the next week in Seattle, and if they decided they wanted more, he’d still want to take it slow.