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“I’ve tried so hard to do the right thing.”For everyone.Her dad. Ryder. “It’s just…” She couldn’t say what she really wanted to say.
“This isn’t the life you saw yourself living.”
The sympathy resonating through Don’s statement threatened her composure. She returned her gaze to the ceiling tiles.
“Your father built a solid, reputable company, Nathalie. Your avionics software will ensure Williams a prominent place in the military aviation industry.” Don’s chair squeaked as he rose and came to stand in front of her. “We have a talented group of employees, and we survived Ben’s loss. If you decide one day it’s time for you to leave, we’ll survive that, too.”
Well, heck, she wouldn’t cry, though her smile might have been watery. She was the president of Williams Advanced Avionics, after all.
Even if she didn’t want to be.
“Speaking of my software, I’ve got to get back to work.”
“Who are you?”
Ryder studied the man in the hoodie and shades in the blurry photograph currently displayed on his laptop monitor.
Danny got alongside the Explorer last night long enough to snap a photo before losing the vehicle. Nathan had done his best to sharpen and enlarge the image, but there was no way to ID the man. The only thing Ryder could say for sure was he was a fair-skinned Caucasian male.
Still. Something niggled at him.
The line of the jaw, the fleshy chin with a divot, the shape of the nose beneath the polarized shades. They seemed…familiar.
“Who are you?” he asked again, his fingers tapping a restless beat on the wooden surface of the small conference table in Nathalie’s office.
His mobile rang. He kept his gaze focused on the man in the photograph as he brought it to his ear. “Montague.”
“Ryder.”
He shot upright at the sound of his father’s voice. They rarely spoke. “Is everything all right? Mum? The girls?”
“Your mother and sisters are fine.” An uncharacteristic note of tension colored Philip Montague’s tone. “I saw Oliver Winfield at the club this morning. He told me you’d begged off escorting Grace to the golf tournament on Sunday.”
Ryder’s neck tightened. “It couldn’t be helped, as I explained to Grace. I’m on a job.”
“Please tell me this job does not involve Nathalie Williams. Grace mentioned seeing you with her.”
“I’m not sure how this is your concern.” For Christ’s sake, he and Nathalie hadn’t been together for eight years. Why did his father care?
“I’m concerned because the last time you were around that woman, you abandoned your family and went off and joined the military,” his father snapped. A deep sigh gusted over the phone. “She’s part of your past. She should stay there. For both of your sakes.”
Nathalie had been the catalyst for his break from his previous life, but she wasn’t the only reason. His father refused to accept that his only son had no desire to fulfill the role preordained for him since birth. Ryder’s time in the army changed him, gave him the strength to carve out his own path.
“Nathalie is a client, and that’s the extent of our relationship.” The words felt wrong, somehow, coming off his tongue.
“Then send one of your men to guard her.”
Ryder’s temper flared. “I’m perfectly capable of deciding how to run my division. Because you seem to need constant reminding, I don’t work for you. Say hi to Mum, Becca, and Sadie for me.” He hung up on his father’s sputtered reply.
When his mobile rang again immediately, he snarled into the phone. “Hello.”
There was a moment of silence before the person on the other end responded. “Everything all right, pal?”
Lachlan. Fuck.
Ryder shoved his personal issues inside a mental box and focused on his job. “Sorry, I’m studying this photograph Danny took of the man who tailed me last night.”
“Lucas Caldwell is on my arse about making sure Nathalie’s protected,” Lachlan said. “Nathan’s hit a dead end trying to backtrace the trackers that were on your and Nathalie’s vehicles. So far, there have been no further attempts to hack into Williams’s office computers.”