She comes through my door, closing it behind her a second later.
“I thought you were a ghost! I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
“You think I could stand another day without working? Bah.” I pivot in my chair and smile. “Jordan’s at school so I figured I’d make the most of it.”
She laughs. “Why am I not surprised?”
“How’s the airline pitch going? Ready as it’ll ever be, I trust?”
“The contract is printed and ready for them to sign. We’re confident we can seal the deal at the meeting.” Brina holds up the draft.
I give her a high five.
“Want to look everything over one more time? I sent you the full presentation, but I figured you’d be too busy to dive into it.”
Old Mag would’ve said hell yes and began counting another digit in the company coffers.
New Mag struggles to care about anything except shedding his assistant’s dress.
“Nah. Let’s go for a walk through Millennium Park. It’s actually warm enough right now for a stroll without risking frostbite,” I tell her. “I’ll put my signature on it when we get back so it’s ready for Arrowpoint Airlines.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” She blinks slowly. “Wait. Why are we walking through the park again?”
“It’s lunchtime. I’ll buy you a hot dog. They’ve got this new polar dog popup over there for winter.”
“Polar dog popup? Are they serving polar bear meat?” She puts a hand on her hip. “You don’t strike me as a hot dog kinda guy.”
“I’m not, but it seems like Brina food to me,” I say with a wink.
“And what does that mean?” She holds up her hands. “Forget it. Don’t answer. You’re right. I love Vienna franks.”
It’s the middle of a weekday in winter’s grip. The park isn’t packed like it would be during summer, but it isn’t empty either. We walk past the tourists taking selfies at the Bean, and head for the little food truck by the skeletal trees. I spot an area with no one else around, grab her hand, and move us toward a bench there.
“Before we eat...I need to let you in on something,” I say just as she sits down.
I stand, my nerves zinging.
“Okay? What’s wrong?”
“My father was our last CEO—”
She waves a hand. “I know. Paige cyber-stalked you before I took the job to make sure it was legit and I wasn’t getting punked.”
Of course. I huff out a breath, but it was fair game, wasn’t it?
“Regardless, Jordan’s mother worked for him before he pressured her into bed. Their affair was toward the end of my stint in the Marines, when I only came home to see my mother before she died. When he found out she was pregnant, he fired her, and strong-armed her into signing a NDA. He tied her paltry severance pay to the contract with some child maintenance—something I doubt was even legal. I didn’t find out until much later...” I shake my head. “About eight years ago, I went into my dad’s office. Marissa was cowering in a corner, and my fuck of a dad was shaking a fist at her and screaming.”
I hold my breath while Brina gasps. Her hands reach for mine, stroking my fingers so gently. I watch my breath smoking out into the cold air.
“Mag, I’m sorry.”
“I almost killed him on the spot. He kept saying she shouldn’t have had the ‘nerve’ to come back asking for more after he’d given her a settlement,” I say, my voice colder than the winter air.
“Settlement for what?” Anger rises in her voice. “She was the victim.”
“Yeah. It took me a minute to realize they were talking about a kid. My father had a secret child with his intern while my mom—his wife—fought cancer every day until it chewed her into nothing. And all he wanted to do was hide the truth from me, from the company, to cover his lying ass.”
Her mouth forms an O.
“I couldn’t take it. So I snapped, rushed over, broke his nose right in front of Marissa. She screamed and ran out of the office. I told the bastard to get the fuck out, effective immediately. I dragged him by the arm and got his blood all over my suit. Everyone in the office at the time saw it. I told him to leave HeronComm and leave Chicago, or I’d destroy his company, his house, everything.”
“Jesus. How did you go from that to Marissa’s emergency contact?”
“I followed up with her. I had to make sure she didn’t need anything. I’m glad I did, because she didn’t want to ask my dad for anything. Naturally, she hated him. She only came back to the office to confront him because her house burned down. She barely made it out alive with Jordan, and he couldn’t even help them with fucking rent for his son. The more we talked, the more I realized she’d never been interested in my father. Later, I found out he threatened to fire her if she didn’t give in to his advances. He all but raped her while my mother was at home, dying, and I was off at war.”