Of course, the one day that Iris takes off is the day everything turns to shit.
“We have a problem,” Rowan says the moment I pick up my ringing phone.
“What’s wrong?” I readjust my tie in the mirror.
“Yakura just showed up at my office.”
“Fuck.” I grab my wallet off the dresser and stuff my feet into my shoes.
“It gets better. Guess who came with him?”
“No.”
“Father is waiting in the lobby with him. Get over here. Now.”
I don’t have a chance to panic as I rush out the door of my hotel room. I’m quick to pull up Iris’s number and call her.
It goes to voicemail, so I dial again. She picks up on the fourth ring which is unlike her.
“Hey!” She laughs at someone talking in the background. “Give me a second.”
Someone boos, and it sounds an awful lot like Zahra. I’m hit with a twinge of guilt. Am I really going to drag her away from Zahra so she can come help me pick up after my father’s mess? It’s not her fault he keeps screwing around with our plans. And to be honest, I don’t want her anywhere near him. Not because I don’t think she could control herself, but more so because I don’t want him to use her to get to me. He has already hurt her enough.
“Miss me already?”
I open my mouth to tell her about what is happening, but I stop myself. I think back to our honeymoon and her reaction to being forced into working on her day off.
I’ve spent three years of my life making sure you’re taken care of, even if it meant sacrificing my happiness to do so.
No, I can’t make her leave now. She has already sacrificed enough for me, and it’s not her fault my father won’t stop his attack against me.
I take a deep breath and accept my choice. “I was calling to check in on you. How is it?” I press the elevator button and wait.
“It’s like the Chicago Botanic Garden on steroids. They have fifteen greenhouses. I already got lost twice!”
She sounds so damn excited, and it solidifies my plan. I can’t rip her away from her day. Not when the only option I have is to throw her into a family feud she doesn’t deserve. It’s the last thing I want for her. My father has no limits when it comes to Iris, and I refuse to subject her to that kind of abuse after everything she has been through in her life.
“Sounds like we need to invest in that ankle monitor.”
“I wish you could be here.” The wistfulness in her voice makes me feel even shittier about today.
“I do too.” If I didn’t have a mountain of responsibilities, I could take the day off and spend it with her. A normal man would.
Except you’re not a normal man.
It’s better to get used to this kind of feeling now because it’s only going to get worse once I become CEO.
Zahra calls out Iris’s name.
“Zahra is asking if we are still on later for dinner with your brother?”
“Only because you manipulated me with sex to get it.”
“You weren’t complaining last night.”
“I’m saving it all for later.”
She laughs. “Be good to your brother today.”
“I’m making no promises.”
“Declan…”
“Fine. But only because you told me to.”
The elevator dings and the two doors slide open in front of me. “Shit. I gotta go.”
“Me too. We’re visiting the Flower Festival floats next. I’ll send you pictures!”
Her excitement is contagious, and I smile to myself knowing my decision is the right one. There is no way in hell I’m stealing her away from that opportunity. I might not be a normal husband, but that doesn’t make me a stupid one. At least I hope not.
“Have fun,” I say before the call cuts out.
It feels good knowing at least one of us will have a good day today. Even if that someone isn’t me.
Mr. Yakura showing up a couple days earlier is a problem I can handle.
My father deciding to come along so he can make amends is a whole different issue. One I’m wary of from the get-go. While I might not know every part of his plan, I’m smart enough to put the pieces together. It doesn’t require much effort given the way I walk in on my father speaking to Yakura about moving up the timeline.
The bastard wants to steal my deal.
Rowan shoots me a look that says, you need to fix this.
“Mr. Yakura.”
The older man looks over at me with a smile. His white hair is perfectly styled, and his usual suit is replaced with a bright Hawaiian shirt and khakis.
“Declan. Just the man I was hoping to see.”
I hold out my hand and he shakes it. “What a surprise.”
He grins. “I was just telling your father here how I was too excited to wait any longer.”
“Where is your wife?”
He waves me off. “I didn’t want to bore her with the little details, so she and I will be exploring the park together tomorrow. She’s the whole reason I agreed to this meeting in the first place. It’s not like she would ever let me turn down a trip to Dreamland.”
I’ll have to have Iris send her a special gift of some kind to express my thanks.
“We can get you VIP passes,” my father speaks out.
I shoot daggers at him, and he ignores it with a smile.
Yakura raises a brow at my father. It’s the smallest gesture, but it fills me with newfound confidence.
They’re still not on good terms. No matter what kind of timeline my father wants, Yakura isn’t biting.
It looks like my deal isn’t lost yet.
I release a genuine smile. “So, are we ready to get going?”
Yakura waves his hand toward the front door. “After you.”
Rowan and I share a look that tells him to keep my father occupied by any means necessary. He nods, and I roll my shoulders back.
At least I have one person on my team today because I already know I’m going to need him.
My father doesn’t let me get away with being the leader for long. After I show Yakura Story Street and the entrance to Princess Cara’s castle, my father steps in with something I wasn’t even aware of.
“I’d love to show you a hidden part of the castle if you are up for some steps.”
Rowan looks over at me and shakes his head.
Shit.
“I’m sure it can wait until after we circle around the park.”
My father’s smile brightens. “Might as well knock it out of the way while we are here.”
Yakura seems wary of my father but nods.
Rowan pinches the bridge of his nose.
Fuck.
My father navigates the group toward a hidden entrance of the castle. He motions for Rowan to use his keycard to open the door, and my brother complies while shooting me an apologetic look.
My father and Yakura walk up the steps first, so I hang back with Rowan as he shuts the door. I don’t want to leave my father alone with Yakura longer than necessary, but I need to be fully informed before I can plan my attack.
“What is he doing?” I whisper as my father and Yakura disappear around the first corner of the stairs.
“Showing him the hidden tower.”
“What hidden tower?”
Rowan’s eyes dart toward the empty steps. “The one Grandpa had built for Grandma before she passed. Since she never got to see it, he never showed it to anyone else.”
Yakura is a sucker for sad stories. All my father needs to do is capitalize on the story of how his mother never had a chance to see the park become what it is. Yakura will eat it all up given his passion for developing a park he can enjoy with his family while he is still alive.
You’re fucked. “And you never thought to mention this story during the countless conversations we had about this place?”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“Obviously you were wrong, which seems to be a trend lately,” I snap.
I told myself I wouldn’t bring up his decision to move to Dreamland anymore, but I can’t help it. Anger makes me stupid and vile.
A nasty personality trait you picked up from the one man you can’t stand.
Rowan frowns. “Don’t lash out at me because you’re pissed.”
“Pissed doesn’t begin to cover how I feel right now. You had one job to do. To think you gave up everything for this position and you can’t even do it right. What a fucking disgrace.”
It’s a shitty shot at him and his choice to stay here. I’m not proud of letting my anger get the best of me, but I can’t find it in me to stop. Not when I might lose out to my father of all people.
“Fuck you and fuck your walkthrough.” My brother slams his keycard against my chest before leaving out the door we came through. “Find your own way around the park, asshole.”
I tell myself that it is fine and how I don’t need him. That if I can’t secure a deal with Yakura by myself, then I don’t deserve the position of CEO to begin with. Those thoughts are the ones that push me to take two steps at a time.
It’s time I prove to myself that I have what it takes to usurp my father. It might not be an even playing field, but that will only make my victory all the better.
I let my father have his moment. Just like I anticipated, Yakura is moved by the story of my grandmother and her untimely passing before Dreamland ever opened its gates. My victory is slipping past my fingers with each of my father’s tugs on Yakura’s heartstrings. He is good at telling people what they want to hear. While I picked up on the skill after watching him pull the same trick on every person in his path, his mastery over people’s emotions is unmatched.
My father gloats as we make our way out of the castle. I’m grateful he waits to rub it in my face until Yakura excuses himself to use the restroom.
“You thought you could plan this impromptu trip without me finding out?”
“It’s not your deal.”
“I’m the CEO. Everything about the company is mine.”
I keep my balled-up fists hidden away in my pockets. “Except this one won’t start until I’m CEO.”
“Not if I can help it.” His smile is genuine, which is all the more infuriating. He thrives off my shortcomings.
“You didn’t even want this deal.”
“I didn’t until you thought you could blackmail me and get away with it. I’ll thoroughly enjoy ripping this project away from your fingertips, only to show you what a pathetic excuse for a CEO you would make.”
I was a fool for thinking I could make it through this process without Iris. There is no way I can manage my father’s manipulative strategies and Yakura’s needs at the same time.
I’m quick to pull out my phone, but I hesitate over the call button.
Are you really going to ruin her day yet again?
I don’t have much of a choice. Without her, I might lose the deal.
But if you steal her away again, you might end up losing all the progress you’ve made.
Screw it. If there is one person I can count on to fix this, it’s her.
“Calling your wife for help?”
I completely ignore him as I hold my ringing phone up to my ear.
He chuckles to himself. “You’re a pathetic excuse of a man if you need your wife to help save the day.”
He tries to goad me, but I refuse to go for it. I’m no less of a man because I admit I need Iris’s help. She is the one who understands Yakura best, and I’d be foolish to think otherwise. Even if it means stealing her away again.
She answers on the second ring. “Hey. I was just thinking of you while checking out a—”
“I need you.”
“What’s wrong?”
I instantly feel guilty for the worry in her voice. “Yakura and my father stopped by ahead of schedule.”
“Oh.” Somehow one word carries more disappointment than an entire speech.
I consider telling her to forget about it, but she doesn’t let me get a sentence out.
“Send me your location and I’ll find you.”
