my own personal nightmare. The reports coming out of Brian Lewis’s factory made my stomach turn. The fact that Andes hadn’t been aware of his illegal disposal didn’t excuse it or make up for the long-term damage that had been inflicted on the environment.
We should have known.
What had happened was the very antithesis of the foundation of my company. Having the smallest footprint possible was my biggest pride.
But the old proverb is absolutely true. Pride does indeed goeth before the fucking fall.
Marisol had been talking nonstop since I’d climbed into the car with her this morning. Since she was in charge of the West Coast supply chain, she was shouldering part of the blame for missing what Brian had been doing and had been actively working on damage control alongside me.
The car pulled up in front of Andes’ headquarters. I got out first, then took Marisol’s hand to help her out. We were on our way into the office for yet another set of interviews with EPA officials.
Marisol’s hands were flying as she went over what was going to be happening in the next few days. “Mark in field relations will be visiting the—”
I wasn’t listening. Elise rounded the corner of the building, heading toward the entrance. As if she sensed me approaching, she turned her head, and our eyes locked.
She stopped walking. I caught up to her a moment later.
“Elise.”
Her lips flattened. “Weston.”
Not a warm greeting. Not that I deserved it.
But god, I craved even a minute of Elise’s warmth after more than a week of nothing but misery.
“Would it be possible to talk?” she asked.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her yes, but I glanced at Marisol first. She held up her wrist and tapped her watch then flicked her hardened gaze to Elise.
“I’m sorry, but I have a meeting—”
Elise shook her head. “It’s about work and will only take a minute.”
Relief settled in my chest. She’d given me a reason to say yes. Work I could make space for. Everything else had to wait. I couldn’t let myself even stop to think if there would be anything waiting for me at the end.
“I can give you that. Follow us up to eight.”
Elise stood as far apart from me as she could in the elevator. Marisol did the opposite, to my ever-growing annoyance. Silence waged war in the small space. When we finally arrived on the eighth floor, I couldn’t get out fast enough.
I opened my office door, allowing Elise inside. Marisol tried to follow. When I stood in her way, her mouth fell open in shock.
“You’re not letting me in?”
“No. Go work in the conference room,” I bit out. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Her perfect brows arched. “If she wants to talk about Andes, I don’t see why—”
“No.” I closed the door and turned the lock.
Elise was standing next to the chairs in front of my desk. I took longer than I should have drinking her in, but I was hungry for her. I’d lost track of how long it had been since we were in the same room. It felt like weeks but couldn’t have been more than a few days.
Elise launched into what she had to say without preamble. “I remembered something one of the guys I’d interviewed said. I’m not sure it will help, but I thought you should know in case it does. Cameron Gilles mentioned the field team used to come around all the time, but he hadn’t seen them in a long time and didn’t miss them.”
I had to close my eyes to process what she was telling me. “Cameron Gilles? Who is that?”
“He works at Brian Lewis’s factory. He’s one of the men who took me rock climbing.”
“And while you were rock climbing with Cameron, he told you he hadn’t seen the field team in a long time?”
“He did. It was an offhand comment while we were joking about other things, but I went back to my notes to make sure, and that was what he said.”
I folded my arms over my chest, anger simmering in my blood. “And this is the first time you thought to tell me?”
“Yes, it is.”
My hands tightened into fists. “Christ, Elise, if you would have told me this a month ago, all this—”
“I’m sorry, Weston, but out of context, I couldn’t have known how important it was. It only makes sense now, which is why I’m in your office.”
Though what she was saying was completely rational, I had to work to rein in my temper. There she was, looking beautiful and sad and so fucking far away. If I could have crossed the room, I would have shaken her or held her or fucked her. Maybe all three. But then what? Andes was hanging by a thread. What I wanted didn’t come into play. Not now.
“Is that it?”
She blinked, her shoulders falling. “I guess it is.”
She started for the door, and I stepped aside, holding my breath. If I caught her scent, I feared I’d give in and lose sight of what I had to be doing.
At the last second, she whirled around to face me. “I heard you telling Renata not to allow me into your office.”
I flinched at her admission. I hadn’t done that to be cruel. I’d done it out of necessity. “I’m sorry you heard that. But you have to understand—”
She held her hand up, and it was dangerously close to touching me. “And then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, I knocked on your door Saturday morning. Miles answered, and he was the one to tell me you’d gone to California. You left the state and didn’t bother telling me.” Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to save my company, Elise. I thought you knew that.”
“No, Weston. What are you doing with me?” She huffed a breath. “I’m not even a consideration, am I?”
Phones were ringing on the other side of the door. Voices of people coming to work, attempting to rectify the disaster happening to my company. My plate was full, and I’d just been given one more thing to add to it.
I was cracking, being pulled in so many directions, my head was spinning.
And the woman I loved, the woman I’d made promises to, was in front of me, rightfully hurt, needing me.
I was fucking up, like I always did, and there was nothing to be done. There was no trading one disaster for another. Right here, right now, I had to choose which one to tend to.
“I can’t do this with you. We’ll talk when I’m out from under this, but it can’t be now. People are waiting for me so—”
Her fingers grazed along the arm of my jacket. “I was waiting for you.”
There was finality in her gentle words. Past tense. A death knell delivered like a basket of kittens. It would have killed me if I had let it, and I couldn’t do that.
“I told you before we started I was no good at this. I warned you, didn’t I?” My anger resurfaced, but even I didn’t know where it was directed. It was just…there. Thick and suffocating.
“I guess you did. I’m sorry I didn’t listen.” She backed up until she hit the door, then she fumbled with the knob. “And don’t worry about talking once this is over. I think we’ve said all we needed to. I hope it all works out. Andes is a good company.”
She was gone in the next second, and the sense of wrongness hit me like a ton of bricks. I almost chased her, but I had no idea what I’d say if I caught her.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I yanked it out to check the notification. Elise’s picture lit up my lock screen.
Fuck.
Black coated my vision, and I hurled the phone against the wall, the loud crack like music to my fucking ears. The urge to pummel my fists through the drywall nearly overtook me. My body listed forward, my hands ready to pound something into oblivion.
Why did she have to do this?
Why couldn’t she have given me the time to take care of what I needed to?
I shoved my fingers through my hair. There was no time for this. Andes was too big. I’d built it into something too massive to let my personal feelings affect my work.
One minute.
That was what I gave myself to pull it together.
When the minute passed, I strode into the conference room and glanced around at my team of lawyers, board members, and Marisol.
Attention was on me, as always.
“I think it’s time we discuss our California field team.”
