Chapter 20
Vince had barely made it into his office when Caroline and Nate barged in. Caroline’s hair, normally neat and contained was wild. If she’d slept the night before, then it had been restless. Her gaze snapped to his and the next thing he knew, she was in his face. “What the actual fuck did you do?”
Whoa. In the five years that she’d been a part of the firm, he’d never heard her swear. “What do you mean?”
“She means we’ve both been inundated with calls for the past thirty minutes.” Nate crossed his arms and glared down at him. “You punched a dude?”
Vine groaned. He’d hoped he was going to have longer than that to give everyone a heads up. “He was trespassing and insulted my guest.”
“That wouldn’t be your little sugar girl, would it?” Caroline ran her hands across her hair, smoothing it back. “Because the media has caught wind that there’s something going on at your place and that it had to do with a girl.”
“Media?” There’d been no one at his house when they’d left that morning, but that didn’t mean his privacy would stay that way. “I’m not going to be able to go home now.”
“I’ve already called the cleaners to come in and open up the condo. It will be ready for you when you want to head over.” Caroline rolled her eyes. “And I’ve already had a heads up call that Simon Berry wants to talk to you this morning.”
Acid in his stomach churned as Vince leaned back in his chair. “Great. If he’s finally swinging over to my side of things and wants to buy GreenPro, a scandal is the last thing I need.”
Nate and Caroline shared a look, before Nate moved and leaned his arms on the back of Caroline’s chair. “We’re here to help you with whatever you need. But I think, and I’m sure Caroline will agree, that you need to cut ties with Marissa.”
Logically, it made sense that they’d make that suggestion. While his initial dealings with Marissa had to do with ensuring he had a cleaner image for the New York trip, having their relationship around long-term would no doubt eventually be discovered by Simon and potentially ruin his business.
Logically, he should cut ties, give her some money for her debts so she’s not struggling. She’d be able to pay off her debts, get a better place to live, and move on with her education and her life.
But he’d be fucking damned if he’d let that happen.
“No.” Vince turned to the computer and logged into his e-mail. “You can leave.”
He didn’t need to be looking at them to know they were both shocked.
Caroline laughed, but it sounded sadder than anything. “You know what, I’ve put up with your moods and bullshit for years now. Even when you decided to intervene with your dad and take his place with Marissa, I went above and beyond to make sure she was happy. I didn’t agree with it, and I was all for her being in your life if she made you happy. But this is interfering with our company now and—”
“My company.” He looked at her then. “My company and my decisions.”
Caroline stood, her face flushed and hesitated in front of his desk. “Of course, sir.” She shook her head. “I’ll be at my desk when you need me.” She then turned and strode from the office.
Shit, he’d never intended to hurt her. Caroline had always been there for him, gave him the reality check he always seemed to need. He’d have to apologize to her later, but for the moment, he needed time to figure out how to make everything work. Nate was still there, and that was also a conversation he didn’t want to have. “I’m serious, Nate. You need to leave.”
“I know last night I was encouraging you to reach out to her, but I now think that it was a mistake.”
Vince was on his feet and around the desk before his brain registered what he was doing. “Marissa is many things, but she’s not a mistake.”
“I’ve never seen you be rude to Caroline before. You’re an asshole all the time to me, but not to her. She doesn’t deserve it, especially when she’s right.”
The anger that had been propelling him for the last few minutes fizzled. “I’ll make it up to her. But I’m not giving up on Marissa, not when she has no one else to help her.”
“Are you prepared to lose out on this deal? Because if Simon hasn’t heard about your little run-in and the media attention by now, he will soon. And once that happens, it will prove to him that you’re no better than your dad, and he’ll bail.”
“Then I lose the sale.” He never wanted to sell to Simon in the first place. “I’ll find a way to talk Dad into going down another path, to sell the company to someone better suited. Sooner or later he’ll realize it’s the best option.”
“You’ve been saying that for years. If you haven’t managed to convince your dad by now, it’s not going to happen. ETS is the best and currently only option to take GreenPro off our books.”
Nate wasn’t normally one to care about Vince’s little side projects. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Nate shoved his hands into his pockets. “I was having lunch with a friend, who has a business partner who was speaking with Peter.”
Vince couldn’t unclench his teeth to say anything.
“He told me that there’s another company, a start-up who have a similar product. They’ve been in talks with several cities to launch a pilot project to prove their facilities can convert pet waste into energy. I’ve heard that Simon has sent out feelers to them. If you don’t lock him down now, not only will you not sell GreenPro, you’ll lose the edge on the industry. Simon will take that company public and you’ll get left behind.”
All of the potential he saw for GreenPro to make an impact would be lost.
“Shit.” Vince was never one to succumb to the pressure of a deal gone wrong. He’d learned to fight his way through the problems, and more often than not, he’d come out on top. But time was against him, as was Simon Berry. If he didn’t move quickly, then everything he’d put into GreenPro would be lost. “I need to get him on the phone.”
“I agree. But you also need to deal with Marissa.”
“She’s at her mom’s place. I’m sure she’ll be fine there and no one will bug her.”
Nate shook his head. “Fine. I’ll leave you to it.”
But as he left, Vince got the impression that Nate didn’t believe him. Well, fuck him. Marissa had problems, but together they’d work it out. He’d help her as soon as he dealt with Simon.
He took a breath, picked up the phone and prayed he’d be able to pull this off.
* * * *
The coffee mug was warm between Marissa’s hands. Unlike the sinfully amazing coffee she’d had at Vince’s this morning, she was currently drinking the hours-old, grocery store brand coffee her mom favored. There was something disconcerting about sitting at the kitchen table while her mom hummed as she made cookies. Sure, she was at a safe place, and she loved her mom more than anything, but this small apartment wasn’t home.
Her mom had sold the house she’d grown up in a few years back, when it was clear Marissa had finally moved out for good, and moved here. It was perfect for her, close to work and transit, and small enough for her to manage on her own.
Marissa would love to have a place like this, but it was becoming more and more unlikely the longer her financial troubles continued. Maybe she could convince Vince to let her move in with him. It wasn’t as though he didn’t have the room. Yeah right. Despite what had passed between them last night, she knew that the disparity in their background would make any sort of real relationship difficult at best.
No, she’d have to be prepared to walk away from Vince. Even if she was now beginning to think it would break her heart.
“That’s some serious thinking you’re doing over there.” Her mom came over to the table with a plate full of still-warm chocolate chip cookies. “These will help.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what’s going on? And don’t say nothing because you don’t show up here on a Tuesday morning. Ever.”
Shit, she was going to have to ask Naomi for today’s notes. “I didn’t want to bother you with everything.”
Her mom shook her head as she reached out and covered Marissa’s hand with hers. “Baby, I’ve tried to tell you this before. You’re never a bother. I know you’ve had problems in the past, but we worked through them together. Whatever is going on, we’ll get through this too.”
It was strange how a few choice words from someone who loved her could slip silently through all the emotional barriers that Marissa had erected. Tears blurred her vision, before the sob popped from her. She couldn’t hold the tide back, and instead let it slam into her. Marissa put her head on the table and cried.
“Oh baby. Oh my God, what’s wrong?” Her mom stroked the back of her head and pressed kisses to her hair. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No, I don’t think it will be Mom.”
“Look at me.” She waited until Marissa complied before reaching over to wipe at her tears. “You can’t take the weight of the world on by yourself. No one can. You need to share the burden, even if I can’t do much to help practically, I can at least be here for you.”
For the past three years Marissa had done her best to keep her problems from her mom. Not because she thought her mom wouldn’t be supportive, but because she’d wanted so desperately to prove to herself that she could handle everything herself. The pain had grown hard, like a ball of lead that lived in a corner of her chest. The more she’d avoided talking to her mom, the more that weight had grown.
Marissa sat up, wiped her face, and took a cookie from the plate. “I’m in financial trouble.”
“You mentioned that you needed money for your meal card. I was wondering what was going on.”
“Andrew. Andrew is what was going on.” She took a deep breath and let the words she’d been holding back come spilling forward.
The look of concern on her mom’s face morphed to horror, then fury by the time Marissa had told her everything that had been going on for the last six months. “I spoke with Shelia on my way over here. She’s getting everything cleaned up, but because of the sheer number of things she has in her house, the process is going to take far longer than normal. I’m going to have to find a place to live in the meantime.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me what he’d done? I could have helped you. God, Marissa, I gave him your new phone number.”
“I know. But I also know that you don’t have extra money yourself. And don’t try and tell me that you do. You work hard enough to pay for your own things. I know you don’t have extra for me.”
“That’s my decision to make. Not yours.”
“Mom—”
“Don’t mom me. You made assumptions about me. You’re my daughter, my only one. Knowing that you were hurting, struggling and you didn’t feel you could come to me for help…” It was now her mom’s turn to wipe tears from her face. “That kills me, baby.”
Marissa moved her chair across the floor so she now sat beside her mom. “I’m so sorry. But I didn’t want to be a burden to you anymore. I was so much trouble to you when I was younger, and you never really liked Andrew to begin with. I didn’t want my bad judgment to cause you problems.”
“Your problems will always be my problems. That’s probably not the healthiest mentality for me to have, but that’s how I’m built.”
“Well, I thought I’d come up with a solution and that I wouldn’t have to tell you any of this.” She shoved the last of her cookie into her mouth, immediately regretting what she’d said. Because there was only one logical response to what she’d said.
Her mom frowned. “What did you do?”
Yup. And now, Marissa was going to have to tell her. She shifted, wanting to move away, but knowing there was no point. The truth would have to come out one way or the other. “So, there’s this website.”
“Marissa, what did you do?”
She closed her eyes. “I signed up for a sugar daddy site. But only millionaires. Though Vince is a multimillionaire, practically a billionaire, and he gets all particular when I don’t say that correctly. My friend Naomi was the one who got me on it because she’s there too and it’s not even all about sex. So yeah.”
When she opened her eyes, her heart sank at the look of horror on her mom’s face. “You’re prostituting yourself.”
“No. Vince in fact didn’t want anything from me other than to go on some work dates with him. He didn’t want a relationship, but he needed some arm candy.” She shrugged. “He bought me some dresses. And what’s wrong with that? We’re both consenting adults who negotiated exactly what we wanted from the arrangement before we did anything.”
Well, mostly. Things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan since they’d come back from New York.
Her mom stood up. “I need to go for a walk.”
The little flicker of hope that she’d accept what Marissa had chosen to do was snuffed out. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I just…” She grabbed her sweater. “I’ll be back.”
Marissa sat alone in her mom’s apartment, staring after the closed door. Her mom hadn’t taken her purse, which meant she wouldn’t be gone for long. Marissa had always known she was a crap daughter, but this certainly confirmed things. In the span of half an hour, she’d made her mom cry, feel as though she wasn’t wanted, and be horrified by her actions. Wonderful.
The kitchen counters were covered with the dirty bowls her mom had used for baking. It would give her something to do while she waited for her mom to come back. She filled the sink with hot water and soap, enjoying the way the bubbles filled the sink and scent of fake lemon filled the space around her. She’d gotten through most of the bowls when there was a knock on the door.
Marissa wiped her hands on the dish towel and went over to the door. She opened it without looking through the peep hole, or else she wouldn’t have gone near it.
There, standing as smugly handsome as ever, was Andrew.
“Hey, baby. I think we need to talk.”