There’s only so much you can do to protect two intelligent nine-year-olds from the wreckage. They’ve heard the fights and felt the long absences for years.
They knew what was coming, and although they seem fine lately, I can’t let anything slide.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, dragging my mind up from the pit of despair.
I shouldn’t turn down the distraction.
But when I pull out my phone, I see the number on the screen and stop cold.
Why the fuck didn’t I block her already?
I frown at the screen, wondering if I should even answer.
Every muscle goes rigid with the urge to break something. Starting with this iPhone, which I’d love to skip over the water until it disappears forever.
Still, curiosity gets me by the throat. I snap and swipe the green icon.
“What?” I snarl.
“Hello, Kane. Do you have a second?” Her voice is pleasant and razor-sharp, just the way it always is. Nothing’s changed, and it takes me right back to failure.
“No.” My voice is stone-cold.
“Aw, come on. Just for old times’ sake.”
“You know I want nothing to do with old times, Mallory. Much less the present.”
“Kane.” My name lashes me in the face as her voice softens. “It’s the Harley-Farview conference,” she hisses. “Look, I knowit’s a lot to ask, but it would besodeeply appreciated if you’d make the briefest appearance to—”
“You’re right. It is a lot, and the answer is no.”
“You… you wouldn’t have to be there physically,” she stammers. “I know you’re out of state. Just a video call will do.”
“To do what? Trick your investors into believing I haven’t dropped this shit show? Because in case you forgot, Ihave.” I inhale sharply, shaking my head. “What the fuck is this, anyway? Calling and asking for a favor?”
“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting you,” she says, placating. “And I know things didn’t end on the best terms, but—”
“No. No more buts, Mallory. How many times do I need to fucking tell you? I’m done with OptiSynth, and you’re done using me for PR puff horseshit.”
She sighs, the rush of static going straight through me like ice.
“I’m not asking for the world. It would just be one little brief—”
“No,” I snap. “Not today. Not tomorrow. Not fucking ever. Not after the shit you pulled.”
“Now listen, we had a sincere difference in vision and—”
Bullshit.
I hang up, swiping with more force than necessary. I miss the days when you could demolish a phone by slamming it back in its cradle.
Breathing roughly, I stare at the trees on the other side of the lake, adrenaline pelting my veins.
Why did I think they wouldn’t have thegallto contact me?
Especially like this, cold-calling out of the blue to ask for a favor they sure as hell know I don’t owe them.
“No,yougo back and shut it!”
