Casus Belli (Riders of Tyr #8 - MC Romance)

Sound Mind

Imani

I am sitting in Rachel's meeting room and I am staring at the view behind her desk. And I feel numb. I have been feeling numb for four days now. It doesn't matter that I knew this was coming. It doesn't matter that I thought I was prepared for it. I was not. You are never prepared to lose a parent.

The last thing I want right now is to be here and deal with this. But I have to. My father sacrificed so much to be here, to be an inspiration, to create this company from nothing. There are a lot of people depending on his vision. And I need to carry the torch. That is all I have left of him.

The door opens and I turn. Rachel walks in and I rise from my seat. She opens her arms and I go for her embrace. I have seen her at the funeral but now it's the two of us.

My father gave Rachel a chance when she was still an associate here at the firm, the only woman of color to walk through those doors and not to serve coffee and clean after hours. With his help and her abilities, she rose to where she is now.

"My girl," Rachel tightens her embrace.

I take in her strength and positive energy. Perhaps there is a reason I decided to study law and the reason was that woman comforting me.

"Have a seat, dear," Rachel says but I feel someone else has walked into the room.

I look over her shoulder and I gasp. There is no way! I am 100% certain that the toll of these past two years finally crashed me. I have been through so much that I must be going insane. A mental breakdown from the overexertion, the grief, and all that I had to deal with. Cause he strolls in as if he owns the place. Vincent.

"Imani, you do know, Mr. Thompson, right?"

Rachel's voice sounds as if coming from a thousand miles away. My mind refuses to register the fact that Vincent is here, a few feet away. And yet, it's him. There is no way that there is another man like him in the world.

I haven't seen him for... how long has it been? 12 years.12 years! He is older, his stubble and short hair peppered with gray and he has thin lines around his eyes and mouth. The face of a man that smiles and laughs a lot. Vincent was always kind of a clown. That's why Dad took him in. He made him laugh.

There is another thing that hasn't changed. He is still unbelievably sexy. Now even more than the 28-year old man I knew. The one that my 20-year old saw and was immediately smitten. Now, he is truly a man. He is bigger and walks with self-esteem, sure of himself and his strength. He has a faint smile of him lips which means that the dimples on his cheeks deepen and his eyes narrow as he looks at me.

Christ almighty. My mind might still have its doubts on whether Vincent really walked into the room but my body has verified that a real male has entered the premises and reacts by coming to life.

Snap out of it! I order myself and at once, the reality of it all washes over me like a much-needed cold bath.

"What is he doing here?" I demand of Rachel straightening my back. "I am pretty sure he was very well compensated when he left my father's service."

If words were poisonous, I poured all of it into these words, refusing to look at him.

"If you would just take a seat, Imani," Rachel implores.

"Whatever, Mr. Thompson, has come to claim, is based on false pretenses. I am assuring you-"

Behind Rachel I see Vincent walk as if nothing has happened, go to the small table with the spirits, pour himself some whiskey, and then make himself comfortable in a chair. The nerve of that man!