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“You were bribing him to keep seeing me?” Ugh. That was horrible.
“Incentivizing,” Jack corrected. He took her hand in both of his. She tugged it away. “I was wrong to interfere. Then your mother told me you two were, uh, dating.”
Gia winced.
“I wanted to make you happy again,” he continued. “You’ve been unhappy. I only ever wanted you to smile.”
“Well, giving my job away wasn’t the best tactic. I thought he’d earned that position.”
“He did. He’s fantastic in that capacity. I care too much about my company to hire anyone who didn’t make us shine. Honestly, Gia, I thought you’d have given your brothers a run for their money when I announced my retirement. And yet you never wanted CEO.”
“No.” She shook her head. She had ambitions and aspirations but running ThomKnox wasn’t for her.
“And after that, I didn’t think you’d want the vice president position.”
“I don’t know what I want.” But she did. She wanted her ex-husband.
“Jayson cares for you.”
“He does,” she admitted. “But not in the way you were hoping. Not in the way I was hoping.”
Her father hummed and released her hand. “I’ve made my fair share of mistakes in the past—in the recent past. I’ll call him and apologize. I owe him that.”
“Yes, you do.”
“But don’t blame him for taking the tech position back then. I practically forced him into it,” Jack said. “He took it for you.”
“How was taking CTO from me done for me?”
“I told him you didn’t want it. That you’d...asked me to give it to him.”
“Daddy!”
“You were compensated well and I thought you would find your way to a higher rank. I never doubted you. I was trying to make sure Cooper had a place in our family enterprise.”
“And he does.” Jayson was a big part of the reason ThomKnox was so successful.
“How are things between you two now?” Jack asked carefully.
She shook her head. “They didn’t end well. This afternoon there’s a party happening at work, so I’m sure that won’t be awkward at all.”
Her father stood. “This is my fault.”
As tempting as it was to let her father shoulder the blame, she couldn’t.
“No, you only managed to tip the already leaky boat.” She stood from her chair and touched his arm. “I understand why you did what you did. It was noble, in a way. I wish you would have talked to me, though. I wish Jayson would have talked to me. It would have saved a lot of misunderstanding over the years.”
“Would it?” Jack frowned.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I tend to be as stubborn as you are, Daddy.”
“Stubbornness is a good quality when you want to graduate with honors.” He offered a half smile.
“Not so much in marriage,” she said. “Compromising, I hear, is a thing.”
“Stop blaming yourself. You did what you knew how to do. You guarded your life and your choices. I’m sorry I didn’t honor your union and keep my nose out of it. I’m learning, too.” He held out his arms. “Forgive me?”
“Yes.” She embraced him, understanding better why he’d done what he’d done. It seemed Jack had believed in her strength after all. Even though he’d gone about showing it in a way she didn’t agree with.
