Heartbreak You (Heartbreak Duet 2)

“Oh, come on…” he lifts his hand and rubs his jaw, “… can’t a father just want to see his son more than twice a year?”

“Usually, yes… but you are no regular father, now are you, Cole,” I say, using his first name—a request he made when I was growing up. He didn’t want to be seen to have any weaknesses, and as far as he was concerned, I was one of them.

“I heard about you.”

“You are checking up on me?” I ask, shaking my head.

He rubs his jaw and glances around the room. “You should know better than to parade a woman around more than once,” he whispers. My back straightens, and he looks at me with some sort of sense of pride which gets my back up instantly. “Get rid of her before someone does it for you,” he snaps, then he sits back straight as if he didn’t just throw a threat right at my feet.

“She’s pregnant, and it isn’t mine. The woman was Benji’s,” I say, referring to Lucy.

Cole shakes his head. “I know all about her. No. She’s no issue, and don’t try to lie. Do you want to jeopardize everything you have built?” he asks through gritted teeth. “You have everything I wanted and more, don’t fuck this up over one woman. I made that mistake with your mother and look how that turned out.”

“My mother?” I ask.

He never talks about her.

To me, she’s a ghost.

“Yes, she was an issue that was resolved.”

Everything inside me goes still at his words.

“What did you do?” He smiles, says nothing, but I know straight away. “You told me she left.”

“Oh, she did leave, just not the way you thought.”

“You killed my mother?”

“Keep your voice down.”

“You killed her? My mother?” I ask in disbelief. I don’t remember her, but that’s not the point. He had no right to take her from me.

“She was becoming a distraction I couldn’t afford to have.”

“You’re an asshole. If you ever threaten those around me again, I will have you fucking killed.” I stand, and he reaches for my arm.

“Blonde, pretty little thing, isn’t she? Has she worked out what kind of man you are? How you used to kill at the drop of a hat? How you have a dark side… much darker than mine. I named you Atlas for a reason… I wanted you to have the world, to hold it up in your very own hands.”

“But, you’re a greedy fucker and would have killed me to get everything I have.” He smirks and doesn’t deny it as he drops my hand. “And stay the fuck away from her.”

“No can do. You work better without a distraction, and I plan to remove that distraction from you. Because, one day, I will get out of here, and you need to keep growing. You still have the world to conquer, Atlas, and a pretty little blonde will only get in the damn way.” He stands. “It’s already done. Soon your distraction will be gone, and you can become the man I want you to be, the man I should have become.”

He turns, walking away without another word.

Chapter Fourteen

Theadora

Going into work for the first time since I left has me nervous. I used to always be the first one to arrive, but today, I’m meant to be meeting Sydney to hand over the keys and finalize everything. I spot Marissa as soon as I walk in, and her eyes go wide as she runs over, throwing her arms around my body as soon as she reaches me.

“You really did it?” she asks. I smirk as she pulls away. “I’m so excited.”

I look past her to my old office and head off in that direction. When I push the door open, I find Atlas is inside with Sydney standing next to him while he’s signing forms.

They both look up, he stops, puts his pen down, and offers me a small smile.

“We are just finishing up a few things,” Sydney says, then looks at a seat. “Sit.”

Taking note of the room, I walk over and sit. The office hasn’t changed much since I left. The only thing that’s different is it’s not littered with all my knick-knacks anymore.

Looking back to where they are both standing, I see him watching me. He doesn’t even move his intense stare when Sydney says his name.

“We are done here, right?” Atlas asks.

She nods.

“You can leave now, Sydney. Go back to the office.”

She packs her paperwork into a neat pile and makes her way to the door, not even bothering to look at me when she leaves.

Atlas relaxes back in his chair, smirking at me.

“Why are you here?” I ask.

“Do you not want the keys?”

“Yes.”

He rocks back and forth in the director-style chair. “Well, I came to give them to you, of course.” He stands, pushing the seat out of the way. “You could, at least, say thank you.”