Page 42 of Love.V2 (Occupational Hazards #2)

Dylan

Tess’s airy voice trickled through the speaker of my office phone, followed by a beep. Voicemail again.

After a few texts and a brief round of phone tag yesterday morning, she’d gone radio silent, just like when I was in Japan and she’d left. Only this time, I was keenly aware of every minute that passed without her.

I’d tried to call her a few hours ago on the way back from the hospital, but my phone had died. Thank God I knew her number by heart. Not that it was doing me any good.

I left a stumbling, slightly incoherent message telling her I hoped the Botto presentation had gone well.

I almost asked her to call me back, but I could already see Ron, the head of the board, striding down Worther’s hallway.

My free time was up. I was about to get sucked back into the nightmare I’d been living in since yesterday morning.

“Anyway, I’m sorry I have to go…I love you…Please just…” Please just what? Trust that I wasn’t choosing work over her again, even though I clearly was? “Just let me explain after all is said and done. It’s almost over, okay?”

I waited for a beat, as if she would respond, then remembered I was just talking to her message system and fumbled to hang up the phone.

I chugged the dregs of the cold hospital coffee I’d been nursing for the last hour, rubbing gritty eyes as I ducked out of my old office and headed back down the hall to Henry’s.

My gut clenched.

Henry .

My larger-than-life mentor, the billionaire media mogul, had looked so small in that hospital bed.

Beth, his wife, had looked even smaller, like a shell.

I’d blinked down at him, unconscious and hooked to a million and one machines, and let the words “blockage” and “cardiac arrest” and “heart attack” wash over me.

I kept walking down the hall, even though the memory of that private hospital room made me want to turn on my heel and call Tess again.

Get on a plane and fly as fast as I could to Chicago.

Grip her shoulders and shake her and tell her I never wanted this.

I didn’t want to be that man, working my body to the breaking point just for… for what? Work?

Fuck. I wanted Tess. Hopefully, I could remedy that soon. As long as everything wrapped up in the next few minutes, I could be on a flight back to Chicago tonight.

“If we push the UK director into the global ops position, we can keep Tindell where he is in California.”

Ron was talking at me before I’d fully stepped into the room.

Gina, another board member, Danny, and Ramón, Worther’s Chief People Officer, all sprawled around Henry’s office.

We’d been camped out here on and off since I’d landed the day before.

Had it been yesterday? Day and night lost meaning when we were frantically trying to put out fires before they started .

I blinked, trying to re-orient myself to the conversation we’d been having before I’d left earlier. To see Henry. Who might never stand in this room again.

“I thought we already decided Lochlan was the best choice for CEO.” At least, that had been the plan before I’d left for the hospital, and I was banking on it staying the plan.

“And we already told you, Lochlan announced his retirement for next year. We can’t announce a temporary CEO after all this instability. It’ll make us look even worse,” Ron blustered, lowering his bulk into a chair around Henry’s conference table.

“It’s not corporate instability, it’s a cardiac event,” I argued back, sick to death of Ron and pretty much everyone else except Danny.

How had I ever thought I could spend hours and hours a day navigating these people and all the politics and the endless decisions and responsibilities they’d thrown in my lap over the last thirty-six hours?

Life had been a whirlwind from the second my plane touched down, fielding calls from clients who hadn’t heard from Henry, dropping into meetings I was only half tuned into, endless calls and video conferences with the board and the Worther network’s CEOs as we all scrambled.

“I call it instability when he didn’t have the decency to name who he wanted as the next CEO,” Gina muttered, scowling at Henry’s desk like the man himself would magically appear there so she could give him a piece of her mind.

“Well, technically he did.” Ron stared at me from across the table.

I sighed. I was exhausted and sad and had spent the whole day barely comprehending all the meetings I’d been shoved into.

Nothing to see here. Just Henry’s right-hand man sitting in on this meeting instead of the CEO.

Don’t think too hard about the fact you haven’t seen him around here in months… Everything’s fine.

Ron scowled when I rubbed again at my eyes. “Forgive me if you think this is tedious, Morris. Some of us are trying to clean up the shitstorm you caused.”

I scrubbed my hands down my face. Leave it to Henry, stubborn ass that he was, to refuse to do any succession planning while I was in Chicago. He’d been so sure I’d come back. “I told you all when I got here, I’m not Worther’s CEO.”

“Henry seemed to think you were. I don’t see what the issue is. Everyone expects it. Just take the fucking job and let’s move on,” Ron jabbed a stubby finger in my direction.

Bile rose in my throat, panic at being forced into the position I’d given my blood, sweat, and tears for. I didn’t want it now. “It’s not that simple.”

“It is, actually,” Ramón chimed in, steepling his hands in front of his face.

“We have another day, maybe, before word of Henry’s condition gets public.

We have to make an announcement before that happens, look like we are in control.

If we announce Dylan as CEO, the way Henry planned, it shows consistency within the organization, and it’s an expected choice.

A stable choice. Our stocks will tank if it looks like we weren’t prepared for this. ”

“No one is ever prepared for a massive heart attack, Ramón. I think they’d forgive us.”

“We’re a global corporation with no one at the helm,” Gina chimed in this time, tearing her eyes away from Henry’s desk. “Everyone knows you’re supposed to be the next in line. What happens when we announce we haven’t just lost one leader, but two all at once?”

Every eye in the room focused on me. I could feel the weight of it crushing my chest. This is what happened when you became the fix-it guy. People expected you to fix stuff.

Seconds passed, then more. Danny sighed when I didn’t respond. “Surely the shareholders will understand if we take more than twenty-four hours to restructure our entire organization after an emergency medical event.”

Ron sputtered. “That’s just it!” His hand slammed onto the table, the sound ringing in my ears.

“We are a multi-billion dollar enterprise. How is it going to look if the death of a single man topples the whole organization? No. We announce the news on our own terms, with a clear plan in place. Keep everyone calm. Let them know we have it handled.”

“We do have it handled,” Danny argued. “Normal operations don’t stop just because the CEO is incapacitated.”

I kept my mouth shut. Sitting down had been a bad idea. My head was swimming. Too much stress, not enough sleep. Had Tess slept last night? Where? At my hotel?

I would have given my right hand to transport myself to Chicago and burrow into her questionably rickety mattress and not come out for days.

“So, we just tell everyone, ‘Hey, Henry’s about to kick it. We don’t know what’s going to happen next, but we’re sure everything will be fine?

’” Ramón was already shaking his head. “Then the questions start. Who’s signing off on paychecks?

What if an emergency happens again? How do I know this won’t affect the company long-term?

How long do you think we can keep that up before we start losing clients? ”

The door swung open. I blinked.

Tess stood on the threshold, cheeks pink. I blinked again. I was hallucinating. The lack of sleep and the shock of Henry’s hospitalization had done something to my brain.

“Hey.” She walked into the office, nodding at the others in the room. They gaped. Her hand on my face didn’t feel like a hallucination. “Dylan? Are you okay?”

I stared up at her, feeling like every muscle in my body was made of stone. “Henry’s in the hospital.”

Tess knelt next to my chair, rubbing soothing circles on my arm. “I know. Are you alright? Have you slept?”

“Excuse me, ma’am, this is a closed-door meeting. Highly confidential,” Ron snapped. Neither of us looked in his direction.

“Not really,” I mumbled. Her fingers felt good on my skin.

“Eaten?”

My head felt like it was full of sand when I shook it.

A frown marred her brow. “Alright. I think you should go home.”

I sighed, leaning closer. Home sounded divine. I didn’t even know where home was anymore, but I knew she’d take me there.

“He’s not going anywhere until we know exactly who we’re going to announce as CEO and the impact that will have on the rest of the organization and the price of our stocks.”

Tess turned to stare at Gina for a long moment. The other woman eventually shut her mouth and sat back in her chair. It was a wild, uncharacteristic display of dominance, and I wanted to pinch myself. I wanted to see it again.

Tess rose to her feet, taking in the state of the office. “All this can wait.”

Everyone in the room but Danny started talking at once, jumping at the chance to tell her exactly why this couldn’t wait. Tess held up a hand and waited for them to stop.

Who was this woman?

“We are not the government. We’re not the U.N.

People’s livelihoods depend on us, yes, but not their lives.

Stocks might go down.” Tess shrugged. Ron gripped his chest like he was feeling his own palpitations.

“It’s just money. We can make more. Henry is in the hospital, and the first thing you think about is stocks.

Don’t you want to go home and hug Diane?

Because Henry might never get the chance to hold his wife again. ”

Tess narrowed her eyes at Ron, who seemed to finally realize who Tess was and that she was well-acquainted with him and his wife. Tess had been on my arm for every company function for the last decade.

His mouth snapped shut.

“But what will we tell the shareholders? What’s the statement for the press release?” Ramon fidgeted when Tess turned to look at him.

“I think Tess said it perfectly.” Danny sat forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the table.

“Henry is ill. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. We’re using this time to appreciate the work he put into building this incredible organization, and remembering how precious life is, and we hope others will do the same.

If we need to put a name forward in the interim, just to calm people down, use mine. ”

Ramón pursed his lips. “We’ll need someone from PR to workshop it, but it’s not bad. We’ll still need …”

I didn’t hear the rest. Tess was pulling me to my feet. I looked back once, but Danny waved us out. I could still hear their bickering voices all the way down the hall.

“How…” I trailed off, noticing Tess pulling my luggage behind her, the bag I had packed in a frenzy and only cracked open this morning for a new shirt after a few fitful hours of sleep on my old office couch. “What are you doing here?”

She hummed as we entered the elevator. “Call it a rescue.”

“I’ll call it whatever you want.” I felt loose. When the elevator dropped to one of the garage floors, I nearly tilted forward. Tess wrapped her hand around my bicep as we walked, finally easing me into the front seat of a silver rental car.

“I’m so sorry,” I babbled as soon as she was behind the wheel. “They want to keep everything quiet until we have a plan in place, or until they knew more about Henry’s condition. I couldn’t tell you.”

“I know. I convinced Danny to spill the beans before he flew down here.” Tess smiled, lacing her fingers through mine as she maneuvered the parking garage like a pro. She had worked here for as long as I had, but it had been years since we’d driven to work together. What a tragic waste.

“You’re incredible.” She snorted at my praise, but I continued.

“I’ve been trying to get out of that room for hours, and you managed it in under ten minutes.

How do you keep getting more amazing? I hated it in there, every minute.

And everyone’s looking at me to solve all these problems, and I hardly even work there anymore. ”

I could sense myself talking, but something in my mind disconnected. I sounded slurred. Finally, I fell silent, only rousing when familiar streets rolled by.

“Where’re we goin’?” I asked, head lolling on the seat to look at her. She was beautiful.

“Home.”

I frowned. “Where home? I sold the condo.”

The car jerked, and I rolled to the side before she righted the wheel. “You sold the condo?” she demanded.

“Of course I did. Months ago. Your half is in an investment account whenever you want it.”

“Why?”

I snorted. “You weren’t there. And it was so cold. Why didn’t I realize how cold it was?” I raised my hands in front of me like I was trying to craft my thoughts into a tangible pattern, then gave up and let them fall into my lap. “You need life. Color. Plants. We should get a dog.”

She put the blinker on and stared at me in the glow of a red light. “I’m allergic.”

“Cat, then.”

“Poop you have to scoop by hand? No, thank you.”

I laughed. She was funny. I loved her. “Fine. A baby, maybe. I’ll put a baby in you. I’d love your baby so much, Tess. I want to clone you.”

My eyes drifted closed. Today had been too much. I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore .

“Dylan. Where were you staying? Before Chicago? After you sold the condo?”

“M’ dad’s…” I murmured.

Her soft, sighed curse was the last thing I heard before I drifted off, her fingers still clutched in mine.