Page 94 of Takeover

Lindsay isn’t smart enough to back up when I take a menacing step closer to her. She looks up at me, unbothered.

“You’ll be hearing from my lawyers, Lindsay. Approach Tara and Vincent again and I’ll file a restraining order on your ass. Try me.”

She raises both hands and finally takes a step back. “Can we call a truce, Ethan, please? I screwed up a couple of weeks ago, but he’s my son too, and I love him. You might think this punishment is only going to hurt me, but it’s going to hurt him even more.” She puts her hands down, and I mull her words, but when she tries to touch me, I recoil and take several steps back.

She lowers her gaze, and her shoulders sag. She takes a deep breath and looks back into my eyes.

“Why don’t you let me buy you a drink? Let us clear the air.” She runs a hand through her hair and shakes her head before taking another step closer to me.

“You want to buy me a drink? With my money? That stops by the way. You got a settlement. You shouldn’t have blown through five million dollars in a year and a half. You won’t be getting another dime from me.” When Lindsay told me about blowing through the settlement and struggling with living on the six figure trust she gets each year, I started giving her a generous monthly allowance. All for the sake of my son for that one weekend a month when he visits, but all of that is over.

“I forgot how mean you can be, Ethan. I don’t know how I forgot that about you. Or about how sanctimonious you are. I admit it. You’re the better parent. Your Vincent’s constant, and I’m his screw up of a mother, but I am his mother, and it just kills you that you can’t change that. And just wait until he finds out you kept me from him. And he’ll find out because I will take great pleasure in telling him his father is not the hero he thinks he is. He won’t idolize you so much then, will he, you unforgiving asshole. So, you want a fight? I’ll give you one. My reputation is not the only one that will take a hit, Mr. Family Values CEO. I’ll be back to pick up my son on my designated weekend. In the meantime, you can go fuck yourself, Ethan Bradford.” She spins on her heels and walks away, disappearing through the crowd.

Just as I turn to head home, my private phone vibrates. Expecting it to be Tara, I grab it, but it’s a text telling me that my order is ready, and the jeweler will bring it to my office next week. With that text, I forget all about Lindsay and pick up my pace, each step bringing me to the two people that I care about most in the world.

But the warm welcome I was expecting is missing. The penthouse is quiet and empty. Even the housekeeper and cook are gone.

“Vincent! Tara!” I yell out as I walk further and further into the house. “Where are you?”

No one answers. I check all the rooms on the first floor until I come to Tara’s office. When I open the door, she’s behind her desk, typing furiously. I open my mouth to address her, but she holds up a finger, silencing me.

I make a show of grabbing a chair and sitting dramatically in front of her desk. Several minutes later, she finally looks up at me.

“I asked Carla to take Vincent to his swim lesson. She’s dropping him at your sister’s afterwards.”

“Okay,” I tell her. “You want to go out for dinner?”

She puts the back of her hands to her eyes and rubs.

“No, Ethan, I don’t want to go out. I want to talk, and I didn’t want Vincent to hear anything. Is it okay that I asked Carla to do that? Are you going to give me a list of dos and don’ts when it comes to what I’m allowed to do where he’s concerned?” There’s an edge to her voice, a venom I haven’t heard since she burst into my office that cold January day.

“Tara, what are you talking about? Just say it and stop playing these word games.” I lean back in the chair and rub my eyes with the balls of my hands, willing this conversation to be over already.

She stands up and storms out of the office, slamming the door behind her. I let out a deep breath before I follow her to our bedroom.

“What am I talking about? Really? Wow. This is just like the time you forgot you ran off to chase your ex-wife after fucking me against the door.”

“Except this is nothing like that. And I have no idea what you’re talking about, but just so you know, I’m not going to waste any time talking about Lindsay.” I spin on my heels to leave the bedroom, but her words stop me.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me.” My hand hovers over the doorknob as I decide what to do.

It’s a new dynamic being with Tara. She has no issues telling me what to do.

“I don’t do well with orders, Tara,” I say through clenched teeth.

“You don’t do well with communication either,” she says. “At least not lately. Not anymore.”

I finally let go of the doorknob and turn to face her. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and she’s looking up at me, her eyes narrow slits.

“Well, I’m not alone there because we’ve been at this for a few minutes now and I still have no idea what the hell you’re upset about,” I shout back.

“You obviously told Lindsay she couldn’t see Vincent anymore two weeks ago, and you never told me. But you got irritated with me for letting her see him when I had no idea.”

Lindsay’s words about Vincent’s reaction when he asks to see her come to mind, and I take a step back, unnerved at the idea of my son being upset. “It’s not too much to ask that you contact me before you let my son go traipsing all over New York fucking City.”

“Traipsing? He was with his mother and Earl. And maybe you should have picked up the damn phone when I called you.”

“Well, if I didn’t pick up, that doesn’t give you the right to let him go off.”

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