Rebound (Boomerang #2)(79)

Adam shakes his head. “I’ve got a better idea,” he tells us, and it’s clear he’s already taken in the situation, weighed his options, and settled on a plan. “Keep the shares. They’re going to be worth a fortune. I have a feeling we’ll work well together and that you’ll help me keep my other partner in line.”

“I’ll tie you up for years in litigation,” my father says. “This little exercise of yours is pointless.” He leans forward in his chair, face almost purple with rage. “And you,” he says to Adam. “I can still ruin you. I still know all your secrets. Nothing’s changed there.”

My mom chuckles. “Honestly, Graham. You sound ridiculous,” she says. “For one thing, you still own a substantial stake in his company, which makes it against your best interests to give this boy any more grief.”

“Also,” I say. “We know your secrets, Dad.”

My father shrugs, but he looks trapped and indecisive, something I never thought I’d see. “So what?” he says. “A few indiscretions. Big deal.”

“More than a few,” my mother says.

Adam glances at me, measuring my response. But I know it all now. And none of it matters. What matters is making things right with him. What matters is pulling free of my father and making my own way.

“And some of them, my dear, show extremely poor judgment.” She picks up the envelope again and riffles through it for a moment. Then she shows my father something, another sheet of paper that she keeps carefully turned away from me.

His face grows ashen. “How?”

“I just had to follow the trail of jewelry, Graham,” she says. “One peek at your credit card statements gave me so much to work with. And over the years, it’s given a number of private investigators a lot to work with too. You’d certainly better hope a judge is more generous about your past mistakes than you’ve been with your daughters. And to Adam here.”

She rises. “I’ll leave this with you,” she says, tapping a nail against the envelope filled with documents. “It was more satisfying to present everything in hard copy, but I’m not so old-fashioned. There’s plenty more where that comes from, in digital form.”

I know a good exit line when I hear one, so I rise too. “You shouldn’t have been such a jerk, Dad,” I tell him. “You don’t have to be, you know. You can be in charge without making everyone else feel small.” I take Adam’s hand again and hold it with both of my own. “I learned that from our new partner.”

Back out in the sunshine, Adam catches me in his arms and swings me off my feet. “Holy shit,” he says. “That was amazing.”

He laughs, and it’s boyish and charming, and he’s so clear in his happiness—like sunshine streaming through spotless glass—that it makes tears spring to my eyes. I don’t bother wiping them away. I’ve got nothing to hide.

“You’re amazing,” I tell him. “I love you, you know.” I didn’t expect to say it, but it’s another thing I refuse to hide. No more masks. Just me, whatever that means. Whoever I become.

He sets me down slowly, and the feeling of his body against mine still thrills me every bit as much as it did that night in the Gallianos’ car. “Love you too,” he says lightly, but his eyes tell me even more. We gaze at each other for a long, long moment, the party fading to white noise around us. “Jesus,” he says, as though struck by everything all over again. “We have to tell everyone.”

“That we love each other?”

“About Boomerang.”

He drags me over to a group that includes Philippe, Paolo, Mia, and Ethan. Philippe gives me a hilarious, smarmy look and I punch him in the arm.

“Shut up,” I say, but I can’t stop smiling back.

Ethan takes in Adam and me, standing side by side, Adam’s arm curled around my waist. I catch his eye, and he gives me a subtle nod and tips his beer bottle in my direction.

Adam gives the abbreviated version of the story, and in no time, the news travels around the party. Somehow, magically, the volume on the music cranks, and my father’s associates seem to fade away, though my mother comes out and holds court under the shade of a covered chaise.

“Dance with me,” I say to Adam and hold out my hand.

His eyes light with memory, and he crosses his arms over his chest. “Is that a question?”

“No,” I say. “Come on.”

He grabs me and pulls me up tight against him. “I’ve got a better idea,” he says.

“Oh, you do?”

“Yes,” he tells me, and his grin broadens. “Let’s swim instead.”

“Really? I—” But before I know it, Adam’s hauled me off my feet to swing me over the pool. I shriek, and the two of us plunge into the water. I surface, laughing, and splash him.

With an ecstatic whoop, Brooks plunges in beside us, followed by Paolo, Sadie and Pippa, Mia, Ethan, and others I don’t know yet—but will. I don’t think I’ll be working at Boomerang after all. I want to talk with Missy about a partnership with Horse Rescue, to help her expand the facility and rehabilitate the broken horses that come into her care. It feels exactly right, and I can’t wait to get started. Still, I know all of these people who’ve come into my life will remain there.