Page 39 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Pilot
Understanding dawned in his eyes.“That’s why you were so desperate to take the job, even after I was…” He searched for the right word.
“A complete jerk?”I supplied with a watery smile.
His lips quirked upward.“I was going to say challenging, but your description is more accurate.”
That pulled a small laugh from me.I leaned into him, drawing comfort from his steady presence.
“What was she like?”he asked softly.“Before?”
The question unlocked a flood of memories.“Brilliant.Fierce.She was a mechanical engineer when there weren’t many women in the field.Taught me to never let anyone tell me what I couldn’t do.”I traced patterns on his hand.“She loved to garden.Could fix anything.Had the worst singing voice you’ve ever heard, but didn’t let that stop her from belting out songs while she worked.”
Tanner listened, really listened, as I pieced together the woman my mother had been.I realized I needed this, needed to keep her alive through stories, to have someone else know her as she was, not as the shell she’d become.
“My father died thinking I was a disappointment,” Tanner said suddenly.“Now I learn he was being manipulated by Victoria, but I’ll never get the chance to understand him.Never know if he was proud of me beneath his criticism.”
The raw vulnerability in his admission caught me off guard.This powerful man, who commanded respect with a single look, was sharing his deepest wound with me.
I reached for his hand, our fingers intertwining.“Maybe understanding why he made those choices is its own kind of closure.”
“Maybe.”His thumb traced circles on my palm.“I left after seeing him at the hospital in Huntington Harbor.Couldn’t bear to look at him, run his company, face the legacy he’d built through corruption.I thought I was rejecting his values, but I was running from the pain of never being enough for him.”
Our bond hummed between us, warm and alive with shared vulnerability.Something shifted as we sat there on the porch swing, the mountain air crisp around us.The mating connection that had begun as survival, as primitive instinct during our ordeal, deepened into a true partnership built on understanding each other’s hidden wounds.
“We’re quite the pair,” I said finally, giving him a small smile.“Both haunted by parents we can’t reach anymore.”
He pressed his lips to my temple.“At least we found each other.”
As evening approached, we gravitated to the kitchen.The domesticity of preparing dinner together brought unexpected normalcy after days of chaos.
“You can cook?”I asked, watching with surprise as Tanner moved confidently around the kitchen, pulling ingredients from the refrigerator.
“Don’t sound so shocked.I know how to do more than sear meat over a fire.”A hint of a smile played at his lips.
“I assumed billionaires had personal chefs,” I teased, accepting the cutting board and vegetables he passed me.
“Some do.”He shrugged, his broad shoulders moving fluidly beneath his T-shirt.“I preferred privacy.”
I chopped vegetables while he seasoned steaks with practiced ease.The simple rhythm of cooperation felt intimate in a different way from our physical connection.
“My mother taught me to cook,” I said, the memory surfacing unexpectedly.“She said a modern woman should be able to follow a recipe or fly a plane with equal confidence.”
Tanner’s eyes softened.“She sounds remarkable.”
“She was.”I swallowed hard.“Is, somewhere inside.”
As I set the table with long-unused china and silverware, Tanner’s phone rang.He glanced at the screen, his expression darkening even before he answered.
“Renee,” he acknowledged, his voice shifting into an authoritative tone.“What have you found?”
I could hear only his side of the conversation, but his increasing tension was evident in the stiff set of his shoulders.
“Send me the complete list.Yes, all employee records.No, don’t confront anyone yet.Keep this between us for now.”
When he hung up, his earlier relaxed demeanor had vanished, replaced by the vigilant leader.
“What is it?”I asked, setting down the last plate.
“Renee Taylor.She’s a senior executive at Roberts Mining who’s remained loyal.”He ran a hand through his hair.“She’s been reviewing personnel files, trying to identify Victoria’s plants within the company.”
