Terms and Conditions(Dreamland Billionaires #2)(107)

“Then he was never worthy of you in the first place.”





42




DECLAN





My father and I continue to compete for Mr. Yakura’s attention. Rather than go with Iris’s advice, I choose to fight back harder, proving I’m the best candidate to bring Dreamland Tokyo to life. My father meets my every stride. He makes promises I’m not even sure he can uphold, although he appears mighty confident in the manner. I can tell it’s getting messy. Mr. and Mrs. Yakura try to keep their smiles wide and their eyes bright, but I can only imagine how exhausting all this is.

Iris warned me to end it, but I didn’t listen.

No. I trampled all over her instead because I was too pissed to think clearly. After working so damn hard to earn her trust, I threw it away at the first sign of adversity. There is no one to blame but me. Not my anger. Not my father. And definitely not Iris, although I’m sure I made her feel that way.

A dark cloud of emotion follows me through the rest of our walkthrough. I can’t shake the feeling that I made a huge mistake by continuing on with the rest of my day despite Iris’s advice. The more time that passes, the less I’m sure my choice to stay was the right one. My doubt has nothing to do with my father stealing Mr. Yakura’s time, but more so to do with the idea of me hurting Iris and letting her walk away. The urge is stronger than ever to leave them all behind so I can go find Iris.

I can’t stop thinking of the things I told her when I was angry. It was one thing to call her a distraction, but it’s a completely different issue to doubt her ability to do her job. I know she is capable of everything and more, yet I tore her down like she was worth nothing. I’m not proud of the way I told her how the plan she made was shitty. But nothing feels worse than telling her she failed. I chose my words out of anger without truly thinking of the impact they could have.

It’s not until we make our way back to the entrance of the park that Mr. Yakura pulls me aside. My father’s eyes track us even as we step out of earshot.

“Declan. Is everything okay?” He looks up at me with a big smile as bright as his ridiculous neon shirt.

“I’m fine.”

“I couldn’t help noticing how you’ve been much quieter since Iris left. While I appreciate you spending the day with us, we would rather you be with your wife if she isn’t feeling well.”

If you even have a wife to go back to.

“She wanted me to see this through.” At least I think so.

His smile falters. “I expected as much. She was rather persuasive on the phone when she was setting up this entire trip for us. I almost felt bad for inviting your father along, knowing the two of you aren’t on the best of terms.”

Wait, what? “Repeat that.”

“I was the one who invited your father to join us here. Why else did you think he would show up?”

“When did you do that?”

Mr. Yakura tilts his head. “The same day Iris called to schedule everything with my assistant. I wanted to make sure everyone could make it here for the announcement. It’s a shame Iris won’t be here though. I know how hard she worked on putting all this together and I hate the idea of leaving here without telling her that this decision had nothing to do with her.”

With the way my stomach rolls, I’m about one confession from throwing up. Iris had nothing to do with my father coming here. Sure, she set up an automatic email telling people I would be visiting Dreamland, but my father knew about the trip way before she created that.

Fuck.

I made a colossal mistake. One done out of anger and irrationality, all because I thought I could blame everyone else for my failure except me.

“Why would you do that?”

“I was curious about how you and your father worked together. Turns out my theories were right.”

Fuck him and fuck my father. If Mr. Yakura wants to work with him, then fine. If he wants to work with me, great, although I’m not too certain I even want to work with him anymore. Not with the way he played me. I’d rather work with honest people who aren’t out to manipulate me.

He holds his hands up. “I can tell this news upsets you. I promise I didn’t mean for you to take any offense. My intention was solely to better understand the family dynamics before I made a decision to work with either of you.”

“And let me guess—you don’t want to.”

His lips press together. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but your relationship with your father is complex. I can tell there is a lot of animosity between the two of you, although both of you try to pretend it doesn’t exist. It became more apparent once Iris left.”

If you had listened to her instead of shooting her down…

I take a few deep breaths to slow down my thoughts.

You’re a fucking idiot, Declan. A stupid idiot who drove away the one person in your corner because you wanted to prove you had what it took to finish a deal.

“Did you even come here with the intention of signing a contract?”

“I did come with an open mind. My wife and I were both rooting for you, but I see there is still a lot you need to overcome. You’re young, Declan. Young and ambitious and passionate enough to have what it takes to be a leader one day. No one is discounting that, although I’m sure it might feel like that because of my decision.”