CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Dani
Morning came too soon. I woke up with Talen’s arms wrapped protectively around me. I held his hand in one of mine, our fingers interlaced perfectly. This was the exact position we were in when we fell asleep. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes. I wasn’t ready for the day to begin. It was Monday. The day we were scheduled to meet with the dreaded investors. The second we crawled out of bed, everything would change, and I wasn’t ready for that to happen. After last night, I wanted just a few more minutes with Talen.
I squeezed his hand tighter in mine and nestled myself against him. He stirred in his sleep, and I immediately regretted my movement. I froze, silently praying that he wouldn’t wake up. The alarm on his phone hadn’t yet gone off, so I knew we had time. He moved again, but I could tell he wasn’t quite awake. His motions were slow and lazy as he gripped me tighter. I felt him bury his face in my hair, and I smiled again. Everything about our embrace felt right. Safe.
As I laid in his arms, I remembered similar mornings with Perry. Even in the beginning of our relationship, Perry and I never snuggled all night. He would hold me sometimes, right after sex, but as he fell asleep, he always rolled away from me. When I was finally brave enough to ask him why, he just said he slept better unencumbered. At the time, I thought it made sense, but looking back, I realized he was just making an excuse. There was so much wrong with our relationship from day one, and I never realized it. With Talen, things were different. Better. And so much worse.
The knowledge that we wouldn’t have another moment like this made my heart ache painfully. As much as I went along with the idea that last night was truly our last, I’d been hoping it wouldn’t be. I secretly wished that Talen would admit his feelings for me, and we would stay together for a while longer. I never imagined we would stay married, that would have been crazy, but I hoped we could at least date. Getting to know him had been life-altering, and I wasn’t ready to stop. There was so much we still didn’t know about each other, so many secrets left untold. I wanted to know everything about Talen.
I pulled his arm tighter around me, and I placed a soft kiss on his skin. He stirred again, and this time, I could tell he was beginning to wake. He groaned and stretched his legs before he released me and rolled onto his back. I felt empty when he was no longer touching me, but I knew we needed to get up. Just as Talen opened his eyes, his phone alarm chimed loudly. I sighed and pushed myself up, reluctantly scooting to the edge of the bed and letting my body wake up.
“Good morning,” Talen said, kissing my temple.
“Morning,” I said, turning to smile at him. His eyes were on me, and he smiled back with a rumpled look that went straight to my heart. He looked younger in the morning, more innocent. As he climbed out of bed, I couldn’t help but notice the difference. His expression was more open and inviting than ever before. He seemed vulnerable.
“Are you ready for today?” he asked me as he disappeared into the bathroom.
I stayed sitting on his bed to talk to him. It wouldn’t be long before I needed to shower and get ready, but I could sit for a few minutes.
“We’re both ready,” I said, faking a confidence I didn’t truly feel. “It’ll be great.”
“I hope so,” he said from the bathroom.
“Don’t be nervous,” I said. “You’ll be amazing today. I’m sure of it.”
“Thank you.” He poked his head out, giving me a wink. “I couldn’t do this without you.”
“Well, of course not,” I teased. “I am your wife, after all.”
Talen laughed, and I left his room. I walked across the apartment to the guest room bathroom where I took a shower and got ready for the day. By the time I was clean and dressed, Talen was waiting for me in the kitchen. There was a full pot of coffee brewed and a few pieces of toast lying on a plate on the kitchen table.
“For me?”
Talen nodded and gestured toward the toast, then scooped the eggs he’d been scrambling onto my plate. We ate breakfast in silence. With each passing second, I could feel Talen grow more and more tense. He was nervous of what might happen at the meeting, and there was nothing I could say or do to calm his nerves. For his sake, I was ready to get this over with.
When it was time to leave, Talen and I got into his car and raced toward the office. Talen wanted to arrive early, and I didn’t blame him. It was going to be hard enough. The last thing we needed was to be late. Luckily, we weren’t. We arrived a half hour before the meeting was set to start. As we walked quickly toward the elevator, Talen slid his hand in mine and held on tightly, his palm damp with sweat. I wasn’t sure if he held onto me for show or for comfort, but I didn’t care. It felt good to touch him again.
We rode the elevator up to the top floor and came face to face with a crowd of people. Despite being early for the meeting, it seemed like everyone was already there. My stomach flipped as Talen took a deep breath and stepped off the elevator, pulling me along behind him. He glanced at me nervously, and I smiled, silently reassuring him that everything would be fine. We were going to get through this meeting in one piece, together. No matter what the investors or his father threw at us, we were ready. We’d prepared for this moment for a month now. I was beyond confident as Talen cleared his throat and drew everyone’s attention to us.
“Talen!” many voices called out. I counted the men in front of me quickly and found that there were twenty in total, but I knew they weren’t all investors. Some were the higher executives in the company.
“Morning, gentlemen,” Talen said with a wide smile. “I see you’ve all made it on time.”
“Just waiting for you,” one of the men said with a jovial smile. “It’s wonderful to see you.”
“You too,” Talen said just as his father appeared from his office.
“Gentlemen,” he called. “Now that my son has finally arrived, please follow me and Talen into the conference room, we’ll spend some time before the meeting begins.”
There were nods and murmurs as the investors separated from the higher-ups and made their way down the hall. Talen and I followed close behind while everyone else went back to work. Once we were seated, I saw that there were only ten investors, a much smaller number than I initially thought. Of course, these were just the early ones. I wasn’t sure how many others there would be.
“So, Talen,” one of the men said. This man had a hard, assessing edge to him. “It’s been years since we’ve sat down with you. Tell us, what have you been up to?”
“Well,” Talen said with a chuckle. “Other than working nonstop, I recently got married. Gentlemen, this is my wife, Dani. Dani, here are all the important people I’ve been telling you about.”
Everyone laughed as I smiled my hello around the room. Talen told me each of their names, but it was too many to learn right then.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Dani,” one man said.
“You as well,” I said politely.
The rest of our time in Jacob’s small conference room went quickly. The investors asked me and Talen questions about our life together, and we answered as we’d rehearsed. They were all smiling and laughing with us by the end. Even Jacob seemed to be pleased. I could tell that most of the investors respected Talen. The way they joked with him was so familiar and trusting. Talen was clearly a favorite of theirs. Now, by extension, so was I.
“Well,” one man said. “Talen will have to keep us informed about your art, Dani. I for one would love to see your work. I’m a connoisseur of oil paintings myself.”
“I’ll do that, Michael,” Talen said. “Dani’s talent is undeniable.”
“You’re all too kind,” I said playfully. “I swear I’m mediocre at best.”
“Modesty is an admirable trait,” one man said with a twinkle in his eye.
Once the conversation came to a close, Jacob and Talen took the investors to the larger boardroom, and I was instructed to stay behind. But I could see other men milling around in the hallway. I wasn’t sure, but, in total, there looked to be close to fifty or even more.
“My father doesn’t allow non-employees in the boardroom,” Talen whispered to me apologetically.
“I figured,” I whispered back. “I’ll be fine.”
Everyone disappeared into the boardroom, and I went alone to Talen’s office to wait. As I sat there, I thought about how well the introductions went. We planned to take the investors to lunch after the meeting, and I, of course, would be going along. Today, I was Talen’s arm candy, and I thought I was doing a pretty good job so far.
Just as I was silently praising myself, my phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out with a frown. I wasn’t expecting anyone to call me so early on a Monday morning. Madison always slept in, and my mother wasn’t much for phone calls anymore.
The number wasn’t one I recognized.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Dani Brooks?” a calm, professional voice asked.
“Yes,” I said nervously. “Who’s this?”
“This is Jackie Cooke from County Hospital. I’m a nurse in the E.R., and I’m calling to let you know that we have your mother here with us. She was brought in just a few—”
“What happened? How bad?”
The voice grew even calmer. “She’s unconscious at the moment, but stable, breathing on her own. We’ll be conducting a number of tests. Do we have your permission to—”
“Yes. Do whatever tests you need.”
“Very well. Please be safe driving here, Miss Brooks.”
“Thank you. I’m on my way.”
I couldn’t think as I ran out of Talen’s office and into the hallway. I knew where the boardroom was, and I hurled myself toward it as fast as I could. When I made it, I took a deep breath and gently pushed open the door and stuck my head inside. I could feel countless eyes on me, but I searched for Talen’s face. The second he saw me, I motioned for him to come outside. He stood up and hurried toward me.
“What is it?” he asked, stepping into the hallway, and closing the door behind him.
“It’s my mom,” I said and could hear the panic in my voice. “I just got a call from the hospital that she’s been admitted to the E.R. I have to go now and I’m—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence because, just then, Jacob stepped into the hallway. His eyes flashed dangerously as he looked from me to Talen. I’d never seen anyone look so angry.
“Is this a fucking joke?” he hissed. “Talen, what did I tell you about this woman? It is your job to keep her in check. If you can’t do that, then what use are you? I asked you for one thing! Just one thing, and you couldn’t do it! Now, she has humiliated us all in front of the investors because you couldn’t keep her under control.”
I couldn’t believe Jacob’s words. I stared openmouthed as he spoke, waiting for Talen to defend me or himself, or at least the situation. He didn’t. Instead, he stared in stony silence at his father. Jacob didn’t look at me again. He only had eyes for his son. As I watched them, I realized Talen wasn’t going to say anything. I didn’t have time to stand around and wait. My mother was in the emergency room, and I had to go.
Without a word, I turned and stormed away. I didn’t look back, but stepped onto the elevator and watched the doors slide closed in front of me.