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Amara waved a hand, cutting me off. “It’s not important, Mom. What is important is that I’m calling for a vote.”
Ice ran through my veins. She wouldn’t, would she?
“Mar—”
“All those in favor of removing Calvin Ryder as Chief Financial Officer of Delatou, Inc.—”
“Please don’t do this.”
“—effectively immediately—”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“—raise your right hand.”
Six hands rose into the air instantaneously, the hammer on the final nail in my coffin.
“This is bullshit.”
“You had to know your actions would catch up with you eventually,” Amara said with no amount of sympathy in her voice.
No, my girl was ice cold.
Even in those early days, when I’d openly scorned and disdained her, there had always been some heat in her gaze, in her tone. Now, there was nothing, not a single trace of the woman I’d fallen for showing within the harsh lines of her face.
“Mar?” Brie asked quietly.
“Can Calvin and I have the room?” she said suddenly.
“Are you sure?” Chloe asked, sitting forward and leveling Amara with a concerned gaze.
“Yeah,” Amara said, her shoulders sagging a bit. “It’ll be better this way.”
Though the members of her family shared unreadable glances, they all rose from their chairs and moved toward the door, Leon passing by Amara and pressing a kiss to her temple.
“We’re right outside, sweets.” Amara only nodded.
As he followed his wife and daughters out, Leon paused at my side, his glare heated.
“I had one rule, Ryder. What was it?”
“Stay away from your daughters,” I mumbled.
“You’re lucky she fired you before I had the chance to do worse.”
What could possibly be worse than this? I’d lost my job. I’d lost my girl. My paltry ten shares in the company wouldn’t do shit for me now beyond making me a nuisance to this family. In fact, I should leave here right now and have legal draw up a contract to sell my stock back to Leon and Lena.
A chill racked my body. It didn’t bear thinking about, especially not when I once again faced Amara. Her jaw was clenched, hands white knuckled where they gripped the edge of the table.
But it was more than rage—there was pain in her gaze too.
Amara leaned forward on the table, leveling me with a dark glare, and my entire world narrowed to her pupils, to the swirls of honey around her irises, the eyes I’d been fully prepared to stare into and find love shining back at me every day for the rest of my life.
And then she pulled the trigger.
“I’m pregnant.”
All the air was instantly sucked from the room, the force of the admission jolting me back into my chair with a dullthud.
