A Year Later
Ryan wondered if today would be the day Bradford Silverton finally lost his temper.
Seated in front his father's massive mahogany desk, Ryan watched the play of expressions on the older man's face and decided this was definitely not the day he would witness the impossible.
It was not Bradford's style to resort to a shouting match, or relinquish control enough to allow for unnecessary things like yelling or even loud laughter.
Ryan knew the old man was pissed from the moment he'd walked into his private study and his father had ignored him for a full ten minutes, his attention riveted on the contents of the computer screen.
This was deliberate, giving his victim enough time to stew, before he outlined their transgression; all delivered in a calm, but cold tone by which point, not a hint of anger was present.
Only disappointment. The soul crushing kind.
It was a tactic that worked effectively with his employees, and - up until they'd hit early adulthood - his two children.
Growing up, Ryan had lived in dread of being summoned to his father's study. He'd hated the feeling of being vulnerable, the guilt that ate at him, sometimes even when he'd done nothing wrong, his mind would conjure up something to make him feel guilty about until his father deigned to acknowledge him and put him out of his misery.
It wasn't until he and Hailey had gone away to college that the twins realized the sort of mind games their father had played on them.
Now, he considered himself immune to the old man's tricks. On a normal day, Ryan would use the time to quickly check his social media accounts, play solitaire or chat with any available buddy, knowing his nonchalance served to irritate his father.
Today was not a normal day.
He'd fucked up.
Big time.
The kind of fuck up that led to losing important clients and a shit ton of money.
So Ryan sat, and stewed.
Bradford let him fret for another minute, and leaned back in his chair, eyes running over his son. "So, Caine pulled the contract."
The supposedly bland statement was an ax splitting his conscience in two.
"I can get him back." Ryan replied. "I will talk to Caine and convince him it was a mistake to drop us."
Irritation flashed across his father's expression so quickly Ryan would have missed it if he hadn't been watching closely.
"The mistake was yours, Ryan." Bradford's tone remained unwavering even. "Your carelessness is the reason we lost a two million dollar contract. Don't try to put this on the client."
"I agree. My word choice was wrong." Ryan leaned forward to perch on the edge of his chair, elbows resting on spread knees. "I take full responsibility."
He'd spent the past day mentally beating himself up for the screw up. He should have handled the resort project himself, rather than delegating it to his staff. The building had fallen horribly behind schedule, had gone over budget trying to solve issues that could have been prevented with careful management.
He had placed too heavy a burden on his team, had relied on them too much to pick up his slack over the past year while he struggled with personal issues and ultimately, things had fallen apart.
Not that he blamed them. The Caine Hotels and Resort project was bigger and more demanding than anyone had envisioned, and without a good leader at the helm to guide the decision making, shit had hit the fan.
A truckload of shit.
Bradford's gaze slid from Ryan's face to his clothes and back again. His lips thinned.
"Perhaps it would have been wise if I had insisted on giving you some time to get over the...incident," The latter word was said with distaste. "But, your mother and Hailey convinced me otherwise. I see now it would have served everyone's best interests if you had taken time off."
Anger curled in Ryan's gut at his father's use of the word 'incident' to describe the moment his life had turned over on its head. As if the innocuous word could fully capture the devastating moment he'd walked in on his fiancée in bed - their bed - with another man two weeks to their wedding.
The catastrophe; the huge truckload of shit; the big fucking disaster, those were better words than 'incident'.
The old man remained convinced Ryan was somehow to blame for the failed wedding. Probably because he had been too embarrassed to share the full details of what had actually happened with anyone, save Hailey.
As far as his parents knew, he and Nicky had a huge fight and decided to call the whole thing off. The fact that Ryan made no effort at reconciliation still annoyed the old man to this day.
He bit his tongue to still a caustic remark. This wasn't about his past, and getting into an argument would not do him any favors. Now was the time to focus on getting Caine back and he needed to remain calm if he had a shot at convincing his father to give him the go ahead.
"Perhaps it would have helped." He shrugged. "But what's done is done, and right now, our focus is on getting Caine to give Silvercorp a second chance."
"I suppose you already have a plan on how to do that?"
Ryan recognized the opening for what it was and took it. Retrieving the tablet he'd tossed on the table earlier, he flicked it on and stood, crossing to stand beside Bradford. "I've been doing a review of the project files and I found some problem areas that can be fixed."
He outlined his plan, taking care to explain what had gone wrong and the solution he'd spent the better part of last night brainstorming. Since receiving the news, he'd pulled an all nighter, knowing full well Bradford would summon him and he'd been determined to show up with answers.
"All that's left is your approval and then I will fly to Boston, apologize to Caine in person and present my offer."
Bradford turned in his swivel chair to stare out the huge bay window as Ryan returned to his seat as quietly as possible, knowing full well his father was deeply pondering the issue. Seconds ticked by, the silence finally broken as with a loud sigh, his father turned to face him, pinning him with an impassive gaze that told nothing of his thoughts.
"It's a good plan," Bradford said. "Expensive. But good."
"I'll handle the expenses out of my own pocket." It was the least he could do since he'd been the one to screw it up. His former apartment block had sold for a tidy sum, plus he'd made several lucrative investments over the years, and he would pour the money into this project.
Grey eyes so like his own, pierced him with a stare. "I see."
"So, do I have your approval?"
"Before I get to that," Bradford selected a file from the pile close to his elbow and flipped it open. "I've come to a decision that it's time to make some much needed adjustments to the Projects and Development division."
His division
A sick feeling pooled in the pit of Ryan's stomach. What was his father talking about? The division was fine, the team worked well together and save for the past couple of months, had produced excellent results. They were a well-oiled chain with one weak link...
"What kind of adjustments?" The words passed through a dry mouth.
"Structural. Nothing major, but the overall performance of your division has been less than impressive. I believe that's because some members of staff have become complacent and no longer pull their weight." Bradford replied. "In light of that, there will be cutbacks and reshuffling based on an upcoming employee appraisal, which you will personally handle."
Damn. This whole thing was spiraling into a tornado. Because of his failure, innocent people stood to lose their jobs. Could this get any worse?
Apparently, it could.