The Devil's Storm Page 22

  Lee raised a brow as he glanced over at her. “Um, no. No, I do not. I mean you look pretty damn good to me and I’m gonna leave my comments there before they get me in trouble.”

  “I’m sure Emily would appreciate that.”

  “I’m not altogether sure Emily cares enough just yet. It’s not even been a week.”

  “But it’s going well?” Madeleine asked her voiced tinged with a hopeful tone.

  Lee smiled. “Yeah, I think it is. But...then again, it’s a week. How can you tell?”

  “You can’t. But you’re happy right now. And that’s pretty notable.”

  “Given the last, what? Three years of life? Yeah, it’s notable.”

  Madeleine bit her lip and fidgeted with her hands. She hated to cause him pain, but the hell they put each other through was more than mutual.

  “You know what? Let’s go big and go for the Sundial,” he suggested. “It’s easy to get in for lunch.”

  “Oh, that sounds good. I love their duck.”

  “Then you should have suggested it thirty minutes ago, Madeleine,” he answered sarcastically. “I’m starving over here.”

  Madeleine shook her head. “I’m so glad we got a divorce.”

  Lee laughed. “Me too.”

  “No, seriously, we’re a lot better together not together.”

  He glanced at her, eyes lingering for a moment, then he grinned. “Well, I hear you have a thing for brothers-in-law, and you know, I am about to be yours.”

  “You are the absolute worst.”

  “Just keeping it real around here. Since your man’s making everything fairy-tale perfect, someone’s got to keep you grounded in reality.”

  “I deserve some fairy-tale perfect,” Madeleine asserted.

  “You know what, Maddie? You absolutely do.”

  Lee pulled into the parking garage of the Westin, where the famed, Sundial restaurant perched, giving diners a 360-degree view of the city as the floor itself rotated throughout the course of an hour.

  On the elevator ride up, Lee had to turn his back to avoid the view of ascending the 723 feet to the top of the Westin. “Still makes you sick?” Madeleine asked in a whisper.

  Lee gave a short groan as he leaned against the back railing of the elevator. “Yeah,” he admitted.

  “You work at the top of an even taller building every day,” she reminded him gently.

  “It’s that whole elevator-on-the-outer-rim-of-the-building thing. I don’t have to see it and picture plummeting to my death should something go wrong.”

  Madeleine smiled and left him alone. “Only thirty-four more floors.”

  Lee made a sound like he was going to vomit but he managed to make it for the remaining floors. It hadn’t occurred to Madeleine that their presence together in Atlanta might cause a stir, but it became apparent that it did the very second they stepped off the elevator together in the middle of lunch rush. The Sundial was packed that day, between tourists and Atlanta natives alike.

  As they walked by the host counter to put their names down, a group of women Madeleine vaguely remembered from one event or another looked at them as if in a state of shock. Lee didn’t notice; he never did. But as Madeleine turned around, she saw the women circled up as they waited for the elevator, whispering and staring at them.

  “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” she whispered to Lee as they grabbed a seat in the lounge upstairs while they waited on a table.

  Lee looked over at her. “Worried about Adrian?”

  “Not so much. But we’re um...we’re getting quite a bit of attention if you haven’t noticed.”

  Madeleine spotted two men about Richard’s age staring them down from the bar.

  Lee gave a cocky scoff. “You’ve always been so worried about what everyone else thinks. You’ve got to get over that.”

  “It’s not so much me I’m worried about. In a few more days I get to go back to Savannah where barely anyone knows me and I get to resume my life. You’re the one who’s got to worry about rumors and how it affects your business.”

  Lee sighed as they sat across from each other. He said nothing but stared out into the expansive view of Atlanta. “Maddie, I really couldn’t care less what these people think about it. You and I know what’s going on, and all that matters is the truth. I’m going to enjoy a very unexpected afternoon with my ex-wife, and if I’ve got to put up with a ton of gossip over it, it’s a price I’m more than willing to pay.”

  “As long as you’re okay.”

  “I’m more than okay,” he said with a smile.

  When they were finally seated and had ordered, it was Lee who turned the conversation to wedding plans. Talking about her relationship with Adrian was something Madeleine had tried to avoid, but Lee was either a glutton for punishment or actually cared what was going on in their lives. Madeleine hoped for the latter, but she wasn’t too sure.

  “We don’t really have any plans, honestly,” Madeleine admitted.

  “As much as we’ve talked about getting married we’ve not made the first actual plan. We do know we’ll wait until next fall, and that it will be extremely small.”

  “Do I get an invitation?”

  “Um, do you want one?”

  “Dear God, no. No offense. Wish you both a lifetime of fairy-tale happiness, but I don’t want to see it happen.”

  “Then you’re not invited to my wedding.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  A few moments of silence passed by, but it wasn’t the least bit stressful. They both enjoyed the restaurant’s rotating view of the city, and Madeleine noticed the city gained several new structures since she and Adrian left.

  “Did you say Dad and Adrian were at a meeting?” Lee suddenly asked.

  Madeleine thought about it for a second. She didn’t want to give away too much information since the last time almost cost Adrian his new job. But, if Richard had been in on it, and Lee acquiesced enough for Adrian to be able to work at Harrison Aerospace, what could it hurt? “Yeah. I don’t have a clue what it’s about, but he said it’s business-y.”

  Lee raised a brow. “Business-y?”

  “Business-y,” Madeleine affirmed.

  Lee seemed to consider it. “So, what’s Adrian doing all day since he’s not got a job?” The comment seemed sneering, but she didn’t think much of it.

  “Jewelry-making?” she joked. “He runs. Gets the house historical society-approved. Gives terrible writing advice.”

  Lee laughed. “Look, I’m sorry about the whole Harrison...well, whatever they’re called. Maybe you could pass that along for me. Since we’re obviously not speaking.”

  She shook it off. “Don’t worry about it. It all worked out for the best.”

  “I had to protect my business, that’s all. It’s kind of my job. And as much as I hate to admit it, Adrian’s a major loss for us.”

  “Well that’s actually sweet of you to say,” Madeleine cooed.

  “It’s true,” he murmured, fidgeting with the sugar packets in the container at the end of the table. “Emily told me that Adrian provided the imagination, and you know, she’s right.”

  “He’s a good engineer, Lee. And he would never do anything to harm Atwood Technologies. He needed the chance to get back to doing what he loves.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry."

  “Why do you keep apologizing for it? You did the right thing.”

  Lee looked at her as if she were insane. “What are you talking about?”

  “What are you talking about? Adrian got the job. I’m not sure when he’ll actually start now that the hurricane’s...Oh my God.”

  Lee’s expression suddenly changed. “Yeah, I mean, the hurricane would obviously cause some delay."

  “You blocked it didn’t you? He didn’t actually get that job, did he?”

  He shook his head. “You know, those Harrison guys have been in the industry for a long time and it’s possible they loop-holed something I don’t know about.”
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  Madeleine shrank in her chair. “Lee, you know everything there is to know about running a business. If anyone can think through a loophole or have the guts to throw down every legal injunction possible, it’s you.”

  “Not necessarily. And I don’t know everything,” Lee argued weakly.

  Madeleine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Lee, Adrian’s obviously not told me the truth, so it would be nice if you would.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Now is not the time to be loyal.”

  “It’s not the time to tear down a man that I respect, either.”

  Madeleine scoffed. “Now you respect him?”

  Lee looked to be considering his words. “Maddie, I was furious with him. I always thought we might have worked things out, and in my mind, he was the reason we didn’t.”

  Her eyes were already watering. “But you did it though? You enforced that NCA.”

  “Maddie,” he sighed. “I get you’re angry with him, probably both of us. But if he lied about it, I get it. Our parents raised us if you weren’t working you were no kind of man. Between Granddad, our parents, we heard it all the time. Living off our trust fund wasn’t going to happen."

  “I don’t care about that. He has to know that.”

  “I’m sure he does. But it’s hard letting go of that mentality when it’s been ingrained your entire life. Hell, it’s probably why I’m such a workaholic.”

  Madeleine swallowed, and as much as she knew Lee’s words made sense, that Adrian’s one indiscretion wounded her more than all the times Lee had lied. Maybe her expectations of Adrian were higher, but was that even fair?

  She stood and grabbed her purse. “You’ll have to excuse me a moment.”

  Lee looked as if he wanted to protest, but he didn’t. “Okay.”

  Madeleine trounced off upstairs to the bar and ordered a glass of whiskey she wouldn’t dare drink in front of Lee.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Adrian was running a whole two hours later than he’d intended. He wanted to get back to Madeleine as soon as possible, but when he saw the breathtaking arrangement of purple orchids in the window of a florist, he knew she had to have them.

  Their meeting had gone well, and it was nice seeing David and Ben again, even if they had been less upbeat than when he’d first met them. Adrian supposed watching a lifetime of work disappear at your fingertips with just a few signatures though would do that to you. After all, unless his own child wanted to step up and run the company they were starting, Adrian would suffer the same fate in a few decades.

  At the end of the proceedings, Ben had sighed and shook his hand. “I wish our company would still be in the family, but I feel better knowing that it’s going to be in the hands of a capable young man. I know you’re going to do great things with it, Adrian.”

  It was an honor to hear him say that, and his father actually looked proud. Adrian had to admit it felt good. He’d been the subject of too many disappointments.

  He walked in the office unemployed and walked out as a CEO. An entire company with all the potential in the world had been placed in his hands. The weight of it all made him nervous. Adrian wondered if this was what Lee felt like.

  He popped back out of the florist, holding an elegant but understated arrangement that he knew Madeleine would love. He knew the flowers wouldn’t completely soften the blow of what he considered a little white lie, but he hoped his announcement would excite more than disappoint. After all, it was a huge opportunity, and Adrian couldn’t wait to get started.

  Richard harrumphed when he saw the flowers. “Putting us all to shame, Romeo? You’ll spoil her, you know.”

  He smiled in response. “God, I hope so. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

  “Let’s see, keep your freedom, your sanity, your money?”

  “You know, you should buy Mom some. It wouldn’t hurt you to do something nice for her now and then.”

  His father looked fidgety after that remark as they stepped into his car, the same Mercedes sedan he’d driven for years. Richard did not share Adrian’s affinity for cars, nor did it make sense to him to drive a different one every day. “Your mother…”

  Adrian peered at him. “My mother what?”

  “She hasn’t mentioned anything sort of big to you, has she?”

  “No. Can’t say that she has.”

  “Ah.” Richard said nothing more as he backed out of the parking garage and headed back towards the Four Seasons. “Just wondering.”

  “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

  “Well...yes, but I think I should wait on your mom first.”

  Nerves set in. “This isn’t health-related is it? You’re both okay, right?”

  “Yeah, we’re both perfectly fine. Never better. It’s nothing bad.”

  “Oh...then what is it?”

  A wry grin very uncharacteristic of his father twisted across his face. “Well, let’s just say you’re not the only one getting married.”

  Adrian’s mouth dropped. “And you didn’t tell me?!”

  “Well, you’ve kinda taken precedence since you’ve gotten here, and between you being worried about your house and your own engagement, our news has just taken a backseat. That happens when you have kids, you know. Instead of spoiling Maddie, you’ll be spoiling children of your own soon enough.”

  A smile crept across his face. He was excited to be a father. Maybe if he got lucky, he could convince Madeleine to bump up this wedding so they could get started on that. “I’m happy for y’all,” Adrian said. “You need each other.”

  “We think so too,” Richard smiled.

  His father pulled up to the front entrance of the hotel. “We should go out before y’all leave town,” Richard suggested. “It’s not every day you have two engagements to celebrate.”

  “Yeah, text me later and we’ll figure it out.”

  They told each other goodbye, and Adrian walked into the hotel with flowers in hand. Within a minute, he stepped off at the floor of their suite, and with a deep breath, punched in his key card and entered the room. Inside, it was rather silent, the sounds of traffic audible as the afternoon gridlock began.

  “Maddie?”

  He put his briefcase down in the entry and walked into the living area with flowers in hand. Madeleine walked out of the bedroom, and his shoulders fell when he saw the anger stained across her beautiful face.

  Then Adrian noticed her suitcase stacked against the armchair in the lounge. His heart skipped a beat. “Madeleine, what are you doing?” he asked in a tone that reflected every bit of trepidation mounting inside him.

  Her lips formed a hard line. “I want you to tell me everything. I need to hear your version of it.”

  Adrian’s mouth fell. “I...Wait, what do you mean my version?”

  She looked down to her hands, twisting her fingers back and forth around her engagement ring. He feared she was going to take it off, hand it right back to him after not even twenty-four hours of having it on her finger, but she didn’t. Instead, she took a seat in the armchair next to her suitcase and he followed her lead, sitting on the edge of the sofa across from her on pins and needles.

  “I ran into Lee today at Henry’s office,” she said. Her voice was tight and terse, and she kept her eyes on her nervous, fidgeting hands. “We had lunch.”

  “Oh...wow,” he began, trying to shut down the tinges of anger and jealousy rearing their ugly heads. “Thanks for telling me.”

  “I sent you a text. If you had bothered checking your phone, you would have seen that.”

  Adrian fished his phone out of his pocket to see that she had texted him, and he’d somehow missed it in all the happenings of the afternoon. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I wish I would have seen that.”

  “Would you have objected?”

  He scoffed. “Hell yes, considering how upset he made you last time you spoke.”

  “I can handle Lee.”


  “Since when?”

  She threw him a cold stare that immediately shut him down. Adrian knew when to keep his mouth shut and now was one of those times. Moments later her expression changed, and he knew it

  was time to explain.

  Adrian steeled his nerves. “Okay so...Harrison Aerospace didn’t quite pan out.”

  “Obviously.”

  There it was. The moment he’d been dreading. “Maddie, I’m sorry. I should have told you right off the bat. It’s just that—"

  “Oh, Lee explained it. The whole ‘it’s just the way we grew up’ thing, is that it?”

  “Yeah, actually that’s part of it,” Adrian answered.

  “Like you having a job matters to me.”

  “You know most women prefer to marry a man who actually has a job, right?”

  “Most women value honesty over money. And if they didn’t, I’d question their true intentions. I’m not marrying you for your money. I would hope that’s apparent by now.”

  “It is—"

  “Then what is the problem?”

  “Look, I know it wasn’t exactly right. But we both wanted to get married, and I knew you were expecting a proposal,” he explained, walking towards her and kneeling at her feet. “I’ll admit it was a matter of pride, too. I’ve been sitting in your house for a year, living off a trust fund—"

  “My house? You mean our home, right? Because not one time in a year have you ever referred to it as my house—”

  “Oh, come on, Maddie. Yeah, it’s our home, but you’re the one who’s providing right now. You’re the one with a career actually making your own money.”

  She glared at him. “So this is some male ego thing? You’ve got to be the one who owns everything and makes all the money?”

  “Of course not. Hell, I wouldn’t make more than you even if I had an engineering job. And that doesn’t bother me, but I can’t sit there and let you be our only source of income.”

  Madeleine’s expression softened, but Adrian got the distinct impression that she still didn’t understand, and maybe she never would. “So what changed?” she asked. “If not having a job was holding you back, why did you propose? What has your father cooked up?”