Even as those thoughts swirled in his head, he picked up his phone again and called Jacob. “I need you to fly to Boston today and take care of some problems there. Denny will make arrangements to have the jet fueled and the pilot waiting for you by noon.”
“No problem, boss,” Jacob said easily. Mark detected the note of satisfaction in the other man’s voice and knew that he was pleased that Mark was finally utilizing him in the full capacity in which he was hired. “I’ll be in touch when I land.” The call ended as abruptly as it began. Like him, Jacob was a man of few words. He didn’t need hand-holding, and for the first time, Mark was grateful for someone to share the load of responsibilities.
What disturbed him most about delegating was that he wasn’t sure who he was if not a workaholic. Women worked around his schedule—always had, and they never complained. His life revolved around two things—working and fucking. One had never interfered with the other, so why was he trying to fix what wasn’t broken? Why was he in the midst of making more time for a life he didn’t even have? Because you’re going to end up either alone or like your parents.
“Is she messing with your head?” Mark jumped at the sound of Denny’s voice, having been completely lost in thought.
“What’re you talking about?” he asked, looking at the other man in the rearview mirror.
“Crystal has you wound pretty tight. Don’t get me wrong—I think she’s good for you. I’m just wondering how you’re handling it.”
Mark rolled his eyes sarcastically. “I’m not a virgin with his first girlfriend here. I have no idea why you would think I’m having some nervous breakdown over Angel.”
Denny looked around, and then chuckled. “Um—maybe because we arrived at the office about ten minutes ago and you’ve been sitting back there staring into space the whole time.”
Shit. He grimaced inwardly. He’d zoned out so completely that he hadn’t noticed that the car was no longer in motion. “Kiss my ass,” he snapped at his cousin before opening the door. He could say nothing in his defense, and Denny’s laughter said that he knew it. Time to get it together and look like the ruthless businessman that he was. No need for the world to know that he’d been shaken to his foundation by a woman he called Angel. Hashtag fucked, he thought wryly. Thank God the other man couldn’t read minds.
Chapter Twelve
Crystal arrived at her parents’ house with just moments to spare. Apparently, Ella was running even later, because there was no sign of her car there. Grabbing her phone, she texted a quick Where are you? You know how Mom gets when we’re late.
She was on the front walkway when Ella texted back. What are you talking about?
Crystal froze, quickly replying with Mandatory family dinner at the parents. We’re supposed to be here at seven. Did you forget?
When she read her sister’s next message, she wanted to drop, roll, and run. She didn’t contact me, Crys. Oh crap, ambush, run!
She was backing away when the front door flung open and her mother stood on the threshold with her hands on her hips. “Honey, what are you doing out here?” Then, as if she couldn’t resist, she sweetly added, “You’re a little late. I was afraid you’d had an accident or something.” Crystal could feel her phone chiming away with no-doubt-frantic messages from Ella, but it was too late now. She had officially entered the den of the spider, and escaping that particular web before she was released would be damn near impossible. And what was with the endearment? Why was her mother trying to be pleasant? That was even more frightening than the idea of a good verbal lashing.
“Er—where’s Ella?” she asked, as if she didn’t already know.
“Oh, you know how busy she is now, with the new baby.” Her mother waved her hand as if to say, What’re you gonna do? “Plus, Declan doesn’t like to visit, so why force the issue?”
A sense of foreboding washed over her as she thought, This is bad. Her mother had taken only a small dig at Declan instead of her usual rant over her son-in-law. Either she was trying to turn over a new leaf or something was up in a big way. “We can do it another time,” Crystal offered, hoping the desperate tone in her voice wasn’t readily apparent.
Motioning to the still-open door, her mother said, “Oh, nonsense. Come on in.”
Seeing no other choice, she edged around her mother and into the hallway of the house she’d grown up in. Not one for change, her mother was still clinging to the dark paneling on the walls that made the whole space seem small and dark.