Rock Star Billionaire

"Screw you, Patrick," I said before disconnecting. I put my head in my hands and sobbed silently as I absorbed the fact that I was truly alone in the world. If we didn't have a house to return to, where were we going to go? I cried until I felt there were no more tears. I wiped my eyes, took a deep breath, and looked up to see Riley standing silently in the doorway watching me with wide eyes.

"Riley, I wanted …" I began. She shook her head sadly before turning and running down the hall away from me.

"Riley!" I shouted as I shot out from behind my desk to follow her. "Riley, come back, and let's talk about this!"

But she was gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Jack

"Mr. Yates, you've got a visitor," Norma said through the intercom. "Would you like me to send her in?"

"What the hell?" I muttered as I picked up the phone and dialed Norma's extension. "I don't remember scheduling a meeting this morning, Norma. What is this about? And since when did you start calling me Mr. Yates?"

"I believe this is a last-minute addition to your schedule, darlin'," Norma drawled more heavily than necessary to underscore her irritation with me. "You want me to send her in to chat with you?"

"Fine, send her in," I said in an exasperated tone as I threw up my hands and waited for my new priority to walk through the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Riley walked through. She looked at me from under her lashes and then turned and looked back at Norma who was standing guard, holding the door. Norma shot me a look that told me I'd be dead if I screwed this up, and only when I nodded that the message had been clearly received did she shut the door quietly.

"Riley, hey, c'mon in and have a seat," I said motioning to the chairs across from my desk. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Do you have any soda?" she asked hopefully.

"I think I've got water and maybe some spoiled cream in this little fridge over here, but if you really want a soda, I can ask Norma to go get a couple for us," I offered.

"Nah, it's okay," she said as she dropped down into the chair closest to my desk and looked around. "This office is big, but it's really ugly."

"Yeah, it used to be my Pop's, and he didn't have very good taste, apparently," I said, shrugging. I watched her closely, trying to figure out how to proceed. "I've been trying to figure out what to do with it, but I didn't have any good ideas. What do you think?"

"Are you really asking me what I think, or are you doing that grown-up thing where you ask me just to have something to talk about?" she asked bluntly.

"No, actually, I really want to know your opinion," I said as I stood up and walked around the desk. I sat down across from her in the other chair and rested my elbows on my knees as I spoke. "I always have good ideas when it comes to stuff for other people, but when I have to decide for me, I never quite know what's right, you know?"

"Seems like a personal problem to me," she said picking at the hem of her shirt. I could tell she had something she wanted to say and that she was weighing the consequences of saying it by testing me.

"It probably is," I agreed. I decided that the path of least aggression was the best one to traverse with this child. So I waited.

It was an uncomfortable silence punctuated by Riley's fidgeting. I stayed as still as a statue and silently thanked my brother for teaching me the game despite the fact that I'd hated him intensely when he'd enforced the rules and then called me out when I broke them.

As I waited, my mind wandered. I wondered what was happening with Leah and why she wouldn't talk to me about it. Then my brain moved on to Sloan as I wondered what she had up her sleeve and tried to decide if my choice to cut off the sexual part of our relationship was a smart thing or if she'd...

"Do you miss your dad?" Riley asked cutting into my thoughts.

"That's an interesting question," I said as I rubbed a hand across my eyes and sat back in my chair. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious," she shrugged before adding, "I don't know anyone who’s lost their parent, except you."

"Yeah, I guess you and I are kind of in that same boat, aren't we?" I nodded, wondering how I was supposed to handle this. I knew nothing about what had happened to her mother, and I didn't want to say the wrong thing and open up a can of worms.

"Do you miss him?" she repeated as she stared at me, waiting.

"Well, that's a difficult question to answer," I said as I thought about how to respond.

"You don't, do you?" she said. It wasn't an accusation, just an acknowledgement of the facts.

"No, actually, I don't," I admitted for the first time.

"Was he mean to you? Is that why you don't miss him?" she asked before looking away.