Page 39
After successfully dodging his siblings and father for the day, he had no choice but to meet them in the lobby so they could travel over together and meet Ruben and their mother at the restaurant.
Riley was sitting in one of the plush leather seats by the reception desk, tapping away on her phone. She cast him one offhand look as he got off the elevator as acknowledgment before turning her eyes back to whatever it was she found more interesting right now.
Their dad was on the phone with his back to him, thank heaven for small mercies, while Raina was canoodling with Troy, who had finally calmed down from the conniption Rowan had sent him into.
Rowan felt awkward standing there with nothing to do and too much that he would never say bubbling under the surface.
It always felt like this, had done ever since he’d realized he didn’t want the future that had been set before him. The legacy that all his siblings had passed down the line, one by one, until it had landed on him. The last one.
He was their father’s pride and joy. The one who was going to take over and run the company exactly as he had envisioned it.
Sometimes being the youngest wasn’t the easiest.
Rowan was his father’s last chance and he was painfully aware of the expectations heaped on his shoulders.
He couldn’t let them fall.
“Rowan! There you are,” his father said.
Rowan blinked back into focus and forced a smile. Rupert Rangecroft was as tall as the rest of them, his short, bright red hair peppered with white. For a fifty-plus-year-old he was still remarkably spry, though dragons lived longer than their human counterparts, so that wasn’t surprising. Rowan and his siblings all got their seriousness of expression from him, his features all prominent and strong, making him appear intimidating to anyone who ran across him. But in personality he was affable, if very demanding.
“Dad.”
“I replied to your email about the project, but you didn’t respond,” he said, a hint of censure in his words.
“Sorry, I was swamped with work,” Rowan said.
“He had to hand half his workload to me,” Raina lied with faux anger. “You didn’t put me on the team just to be the whipping boy, did you, Dad?”
He chuckled. “Of course not, Raina. I’m glad to hear things are moving ahead, even with the complications. I was worried there for a moment.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. I have it all handled.” Rowan squirmed inside.
“I’d expect nothing less.” His dad laughed, light and with no idea of the weight he kept piling on.
“Do we have to talk shop all day? I thought we just clocked out?” Riley drawled, not looking away from her phone screen.
“You’re right, Riles. We should leave work at the office. Let’s go meet your brother and mother,” their dad said, checking his watch.
They hailed a cab and all piled in, Rowan keeping quiet for most of the journey, dreading what was to come.
As he stared out of the window, he inexplicably thought of Milo, wondering where he was and what he was doing. If he were here then none of the attention would be on Rowan. He would draw focus and Rowan would be able to breathe.
He found himself wishing he was.
Notes:
Milo, come save our Rowan. He doesn’t want to people anymore :(
12
Milo
“You know, Milo,” Ray said, raising his glass to the rest of the table, “in all the years I’ve known you, this is the first idea you’ve had that actually has a chance of succeeding.”
Everyone else raised their glasses, but Milo scowled.
“That’s rude,” he said. “I befriended you, didn’t I? Are you calling yourself a bad idea?”
