Anger lit the green eyes so like Sara Beth’s, though their personalities were miles apart. Something in Alex’s expression must have gotten through, however, because John subsided just as the office door opened and Sara Beth hurried in.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
“Why the hell is everyone asking me that? He isn’t president yet, for Christ’s sake,” John grumbled, pointing at Alex. “You’d think I wasn’t wanted in my own company.”
No, just not in this office. Why do you think we moved so far away?
“Of course you’re wanted.” Sara Beth enveloped John in a warm hug, her generous spirit reaching out to her father in the way only Sara Beth had. Over her shoulder, Alex stared daggers at John, daring him to hurt the woman he held in his arms.
Letting go of her father, Sara Beth stepped immediately to Alex’s side, tucking herself under his arm. Her body trembled against him, squeezing his heart. He’d always hated the way John treated her, the conflict it created. She needed the man’s approval in some deeply hidden part of herself, the same way all people searched, sometimes fruitlessly, for the approval of their parents. That John would never truly grant that approval was a given; Sara Beth accepted it, and so did Alex. It didn’t stop that little-girl part of her from surfacing in John’s presence.
Pleasantries were lost on John; they both knew it, but Sara Beth tried anyway. After learning the weather in California was miserably hot and no one they’d known there was worth remembering, she gave up. With only a slight look of exasperation—which was amazing in itself—Sara Beth offered a tour. “You haven’t seen the new offices yet. Let me show them to you.”
John was already shaking his head. “Alex and I have work to do.” When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. “Nothing to worry your pretty little mind about. Alex can give me a tour while we talk.” A head jerk indicated the door. “You run along, now.”
Alex braced himself against the fury surging inside. It didn’t do any good. John had long ago made his thought process clear: Sara Beth was a means to secure the company with a good man, nothing more. Trying to prove she was anything else was just beating their heads against a wall.
But knowing it didn’t stop Alex from getting angry. Or Sara Beth.
Her beautiful mouth tightened into a thin line of hurt and resentment. “What am I, twelve?”
Hmm, intervene or not? Nothing she said would affect John; the man’s heart seemed to be made of Teflon, if it even existed at all. Sara Beth, on the other hand…
Sara Beth interrupted before he could decide. “You do realize you sent me to a renowned business school—a very expensive renowned business school, by the way—to earn a top-notch degree to help run this company. I know our work as well as Alex does. There’s nothing we don’t discuss, no secrets in how we do things here.”
Alex nodded. That was how they rolled. Not only was it the fair thing to do, but Sara Beth had a great head for business, one he would never neglect to make use of even if she hadn’t been the owner’s daughter.
The pain in her words might kill him, though. Her voice actually cracked as she told John, “I’m the fucking head of your development department. Alex recognizes my value. When will you?”
A crease appeared between John’s eyebrows. “Alex is your husband. He will run this company. There’s a reason you married, remember.”
“Maybe I should quit then,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. “My work here is obviously done. I’ve spread my legs for a man. Whoopie.”
“Are you sure you’re not pregnant? You’re emotional enough to be.” Ignoring Sara Beth’s shocked gasp, he continued. “And if you’re not, maybe home is exactly where you need to be. You’re obviously not spending enough time with those legs spread if you’re not breeding yet.”
“John!” Alex roared, unable to take any more. A single threatening step forward had John eyeing him warily. “Let me make myself perfectly clear. Talk to her like that again, and you can shove this company up your tight ass.”
Rage shimmered through him, only Sara Beth’s tiny, trembling white hand on his chest holding him back from tearing her father to pieces. Yes, he knew people depended on them; they weren’t more important than Sara Beth. He would never allow her to live with those kinds of insults again. It was why he’d married her, why they’d moved. Everything else was secondary.
Without a word, Sara Beth gathered herself, then turned for the door. One hand on the knob, she flung a final look at her father over her shoulder. Pain stared out from her eyes, a pain Alex knew was slowly turning to hatred. Her father didn’t see it, never would, but Alex could. The thought of Cailin, her eyes shadowed this morning, slipped into his mind. How much longer could they all do this?