Final Offer (Dreamland Billionaires, #3)(131)

“A heart?” His mocking smirk deserves to be punched.

“A life worth living.” I walk away. The heaviness pressing against my chest lessens with each step in the opposite direction.

“I have a life worth living,” he calls out with an air of desperation bleeding into his voice.

“Then enjoy it while it lasts.”

Once Declan becomes CEO and we all earn our shares of the company, my father will become the one thing he spent his entire life making sure I felt.

Insignificant.





I wait until I get in my car to call Lana. I’m not optimistic about her answering, but I hold my breath.

The pit in my stomach only stretches with each ring. My finger hovers over the red end call button, but I stop myself at the sound of her voice.

“Cal?” Lana’s slight rasp tugs at my chest.

God. I missed the sound of her voice.

“Lana.”

“You’re out,” she says before a door shuts on her end of the call.

“Yeah. Just left this morning.”

“How was it?”

“The closest I ever hope to get to jail.”

Her laugh is soft yet eases the tension in my shoulders better than any massage.

“How are you?” I ask before thinking against it.

“Fine.”

“And how’s our girl?”

The silence following my question is unbearable, but I refrain from filling it. There is nothing I won’t do to show her that I want her and Cami, even if it means reminding her every chance I get.

Lana releases a heavy breath. “She misses you.”

My chest tightens. “How about you?” It’s a stupid question, yet I can’t stop myself from asking it.

“I’ve missed you too.” She whispers it like a dirty confession.

I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear those words from her until she said them.

“I plan on coming home.”

“When?” Her voice has a certain edge to it.

“I’m not sure.” I bite down on my tongue. Until I have my shit sorted out, I don’t want to return because Lana deserves better than that. She deserves the best I have to offer, and a twenty-four-hour sobriety chip isn’t going to cut it.

“Then why call?”

“Because I wanted to let you know that I’m going to find a way to make everything right.” Post-rehab me is motivated by a single goal: show Lana and Cami that I will spend the rest of my life proving how much I love them.

“That’s all?”

“And that I love you,” I add.

She sighs.

My grip on the phone tightens. “Just give me time to fix this, okay?”

Her steady breathing fills the silence.

“Okay,” she says before the line goes dead.





“You’re back!” Iris throws her arms around my neck and cries.

The moment I texted the family chat saying I was back in Chicago, Iris replied that she was on her way with Declan.

I peel her off me and take a good look at her face. “Are you crying?”

“Yes. I can’t help it.” She wipes at her face with frustration. “It just happens.”

I shoot Declan a what the fuck look. He only shrugs as if this happens all the time.

Wait a minute… Declan would never brush off Iris’s tears like that without a good reason— “You’re pregnant.” The words fly out of my mouth.

She nods with a few tears streaming down her face.

“Holy shit. Congratulations!” I pull her back into a hug.

“Since when?” I look over Iris’s head at my brother.

“We found out a week after you left.”

“I wanted to tell you, but you weren’t here.” Iris’s tears soak through my shirt.

“She was very upset about that. Cried for what felt like a day,” Declan mutters.

“This is doing wonders for my ego.”

Iris slaps my chest with a laugh. “I’m emotional.”

“Yeah, an emotional wreck,” I finish for her.

She pushes against my chest, and I release her.

Her nose wrinkles. “You smell like an airplane.”

“Probably because I just landed a few hours ago and haven’t had a chance to shower yet.”

Declan pulls Iris away from me and into his embrace. “How was rehab?”

“Like a party, except no one wants to be there.”

“Sounds like a typical Friday for me.” Declan’s lips twitch.

Iris’s eyes roll.

“Did you get the chip?” Declan asks.

I pull it out of my pocket to show him. “That and a nice conversation with our father.”

Declan’s brows tug together. “Our father?”

“Turns out whatever inheritance he has is contingent on him attending AA meetings too.”

My brother drops on to the leather sofa. “Shit.”

“Yup. My thought exactly.”

“Isn’t that…triggering?” Iris sits down next to Declan and clasps his hand.

I shrug. “I spent thirty days getting over my daddy issues.”

“And?”