Page 94 of Playing Pretend

Natalia growls. “You’re going to be sorry.”

I drop my hands, and take a step back. “The only thing I’m sorry for is letting you back into my life, and for thinking you could ever deserve being in Braelynn’s.”

“Fine, but once I go, I’m never coming back.”

I huff. “I’m counting on it.”

After Natalia storms out, I sneak into the nursery and take a seat on the recliner. Braelynn is fast asleep, her little lips pouting, her little hands fisted as she dreams. She’s so perfect, so innocent, and the only thing I can do right.

I think back over the last few months, and how nothing has gone as planned. It was supposed to be simple. Easy. Cut and dry. Black and white. But unfortunately, I couldn’t anticipate what would happen when I put it all into motion, and for someone like me, anticipation is everything. I’ve grown my father’s company to what it is today by anticipating what my competitors are doing, and not doing, and what I could do to stay ahead. It’s what makes me so formidable in the corporate world.

And then I fucked it all up with a plan.

A plan to get Henry Archer back on American soil just to see the fucker rot in hell for screwing my mother. They say that rage is blinding, but what they forget to mention is that nothing is as blinding as vengeance.

I thought I had it all figured out, and when I found Kadence living in her car I’d found the perfect excuse to help her. It was ideal – I was going to use her to lure her father home from his hiding hole in the United Kingdom. I’d spent years gathering information, using every connection and resource I could to dig up all the dirt on Kadence’s father. I was going to nail the bastard on money laundering in the first degree, and make sure he never saw the light of day again.

And it was all going the way I wanted it to.

Until I remembered what it was like to love Kadence.

She was fifteen the first time I noticed her. We were at a party at her parents’ place and she was wearing a light purple gown. Her hair was curled, and she reminded me of a porcelain doll. I was twenty-two with the world at my feet, and didn’t bother taking much seriously. I was all about the parties, the girls, and having fun. But then Kadence caught me staring, her bright green eyes alive with inexperience, and virtue. I knew I was fucked, and not in the way I was accustomed to. She was so off limits to me that she shouldn’t have even been on my radar, but every time I attended a party or event after the first time I saw her, I found myself searching the faces in the crowd until I found hers. The moment I did, I thought about her in ways that would have sent me all the way to Hell, and the more I thought about her, the bigger the flames became.

When she turned seventeen, I couldn’t wait anymore, so when I found her lurking on the terrace at yet another social event, I cornered her and kissed her.

I was never the same after that.

Neither was my life.

So I poured myself into work, took my father’s company to new heights, forgot all about my mother and plotted the downfall of Henry Archer. With a bit of help – namely from my Head of P.R, Macy, and my receptionist, Aaliyah – I strategized.

Too bad I ended up plotting my own downfall in the process.

Braelynn stirs, bringing me back to the present moment. I stand up, and gently lift her from her crib. It only brings back memories of when Kadence used to help me, and how she had a natural way with my daughter that more often than not took my breath away. And Braelynn loved her. When Kadence left for good, Braelynn missed her almost as much I did.

Almost as much as I do.

I look down at Brae, wondering how a man like me could ever be enough for her.

“Well, baby girl, looks like your old man has made a real mess of things, but at least we have each other. Just you and me.”

Deep down I wanted it to be enough, but without the love of a good woman, it wouldn’t be.

Without Kadence it wouldn’t be.

“YOU’RE A FUCKING IDIOT.”

I frown at Aaliyah from behind my computer screen. It’s much too early for her lectures. She’s been yapping like a poodle all week, and it’s starting to grate my balls.

“You might be my friend, Liy, but I’m still your boss.”

“Oh fuck you, Caleb. You and your diplomacy.”

I look up.

“You have one more strike, Aaliyah, and I’ll fire you.”

“Perfect.” She throws her hands up in the air. “Things get tough and you take the easy way out. You’re a damn coward.”