Page 6 of Suddenly Mine

“What do you mean, you’re sick?” Christian’s heart was thumping. “What’s wrong?”

As if replying, the old man started to cough, a rasping, hacking noise that sounded painful. Margot walked around the table and held the oxygen mask to his mouth until it had subsided. Christian was so shocked he felt like his legs were about to give way beneath him, but he didn’t sit down. He forced himself to keep standing so that he wouldn’t look weak — something his dad had always taught him to do.

Not that his dad was standing now.

“Your father has been getting worse,” said Margot while his dad collected his breath. “The doctors say he needs to start taking things easy. He needs to stop working.”

“Which is why I brought you here,” he growled, his blue eyes as fierce as they had always been. “I’m giving you one last shot.”

“One last shot at what?” Christian asked. “I told you, I don’t want any part of the business.”

“You’re happier working in the mud?” his dad shot back. “Building flea-infested toilets?”

Christian nodded, feeling the frustrations rise in him. One of the reasons he’d left for good was because his dad had never made an effort to understand him. Money was the only thing that had ever mattered to Lewis Carroll, but Christian had never seen the attraction. He’d taken after his late mother. She’d always told him you couldn’t eat gold. When Christian had witnessed the terrible conditions of the factory workers duringa buyer’s trip to the Philippines and decided to stay to help them, his dad had seen it as a betrayal of him, the family, the business and everything he believed in. How many arguments just like this had he had with the old man before he left five years ago? And now here they were again, at each other’s throats just minutes after meeting.

“I’m happy where I am,” he said. “I’m sorry you’re not well, Dad. I really am. And I’ll do what I can to help. But I’ve made my choice. This business isn’t for me.”

“You didn’t seem to mind when I was giving you all my money,” said his dad.

“That’s not fair, and you know it,” Christian said. “I helped you turn the store around when it looked like everything was going down the drain. I helped you franchise. I earned that money.”

It was true. He’d worked insanely hard for four years to save Carroll’s during its darkest days after the recession. It had been his idea to open up new stores across the world — London, Paris, Shanghai — and that’s where the real money had come from. Without him, Carroll’s would have closed its doors years ago. Not that his dad seemed to remember any of that.

“You came,” his dad said. “That shows you’re at least willing to hear me out.”

“Sure,” Christian said. “Whatever you need.”

“I need you back here.” Christian started to protest, but his dad held up a hand. “Margot’s right. I need to take a step back or this is gonna kill me. But I need help. The company is in trouble, son. It’s on the edge.”

“It looks healthy enough down there,” said Christian. “I’ve never seen it so busy.”

“Plenty of people,” said the old man, wheezing as he drew in a breath. “But nobody is buying. At least not enough to keep theship afloat. Something’s gone wrong, and I don’t know what it is. I need somebody to fix it, somebody I can trust.”

“What about Margot?” Christian glanced at her and saw the anger in her expression. She wanted this job, he knew, and as much as he hated the thought of giving her anything, he knew she was a better choice. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to be sucked back into the family business.

“Margot is doing an amazing job,” his dad said. “She’ll continue to run the company. But I need family. I need a Carroll. And you’re the only one I’ve got.”

“I’ve got my own business, Dad,” he said. “FutureWorlds. I’ve got a life out there. I can’t just up and leave it.”

“You upped and left this one,” the old man said. “Besides, why waste your time on a non-profit venture when you could be more than comfortable here?”

Christian sighed. Trying to argue with his father was a lost cause. The old man was still as sharp as a tack, and just as painful.

“Look, I don’t want to argue,” said his dad. “I figure we’ve done enough of that. I just . . . I need you, Christian. I’m old, I’m sick. I don’t even know how much time I have left. Do this for me, just for a little while. Take a look at the company from the inside, find out what’s going on.”

“He doesn’t even know the company anymore,” said Margot.

“Christian has known this company since the day he was born,” said the old man. “But you’ve been gone so long nobody will remember you. You’re in the perfect place to get to the heart of whatever is going on.”

Christian sighed. All he wanted to do was climb on a plane and head back to his home in the Philippines. But his dad was sick,reallysick. This situation was obviously stressful for him, and there was a danger it could seriously hurt him. He wasn’tbeing asked to take the company over or anything, just to investigate. He’d saved Carroll’s before — he could do it again.

Besides, Margot was right. You didn’t say no to Lewis Carroll.

Reluctantly, he nodded.

“Okay, sure,” he said. “I’ll stay, and I’ll see what I can do. But only for as long as it takes to fix whatever has broken.”

Margot muttered something beneath her breath, her eyes as dangerous as a snake’s.