Perhaps he should’ve thought about that before throwing down the gauntlet while the guy she’d once wanted to marry was waiting in her kitchen.
As he was ruminating over the genius of that particular strategy, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
“I appreciate it, Jordo,” he said without turning around. “But I’m not in a very talkative mood right now.”
“All right. How about a drink instead?”
Surprised by the voice, Kyle turned around and saw his dad holding two rocks glasses. He offered one to Kyle. “I had them open a bottle of Macallan 21 especially.”
With a slight smile, Kyle took the glass. “Nothing but the best for Grey Rhodes.”
“Nothing but the best for Kyle Rhodes,” Grey corrected him. “The man of the hour.” He took a spot next to Kyle along the wall. “Any particular reason I had to read about the launch of Rhodes Network Consulting in the papers, like everyone else?”
Ah, yes. That. “I meant to call you after the press release went out, but the day just got away from me.” Kyle paused, trying to decide how best to explain. “And before that…this company was something I needed to build on my own. Without any input from the mighty business entrepreneur Grey Rhodes.”
Grey pulled back, seemingly indignant. “It’s your business plan. It’s not like I would’ve shoved unsolicited opinions down your throat.”
Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Do you remember the conversation we had about five minutes ago, about me getting serious with my personal life and Nick needing to make an honest woman out of Jordan?”
Grey conceded that with a smile. “Fine. So I may, perhaps, have a few occasional thoughts that I vocalize when it comes to you and your sister.” He pointed emphatically. “You ever seen Keeping Up with the Kardashians? Well, I have. Caught an episode once, in a hotel room. Gave me nightmares for weeks. God forbid I drop the ball and you two end up like that.”
Kyle fought back a grin at that one. “They ever have an episode where one of the Kardashians hacked into Twitter and went to prison for four months?”
“Still not okay with the jokes from you about that.”
“Sorry.”
Grey looked sideways at Kyle. “Although you did one helluva job turning things around.” He raised his glass in a toast, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously. “To the new face of network security.”
Kyle cocked his head at his father’s choice of words. “That’s going to be the Time cover. You know about that?”
“Sure do. The reporter called me this afternoon, asking for a quote for the story. Mostly, he wanted to know how I feel about the fact that my son is starting his own consulting business.”
“What did you tell him?” Kyle asked.
His father’s expression turned to one of pride. “That I knew nine years ago that you would make an excellent CEO. And that it was a blessing, and a privilege, to walk into my office every day and have you as my right-hand man.” He smiled cheekily. “I also added that I hoped you would continue to recommend Rhodes Corp. products to all your clients, seeing how we protect one in every three computers in America.”
Kyle laughed—of course his father had managed to work that in. “Thanks, Dad.”
They each took a sip of the scotch, and then there was a long pause between them.
Grey leaned in. “You know this is the part of the father-son moment where I’m supposed to ask about this Rylann girl, right?”
Kyle set his drink on the ledge and shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “Yep. And now this is the part where I say thank you but that I think I’ve said all I want to say about her tonight. Which will conveniently be followed by the part where a waitress walks up and asks if we’d like anything else to drink, eliminating all further discussion on that topic.”
Just like that, there was a voice from behind them.
“Excuse me, can I get either of you gentlemen something else to drink?”
His father looked over his shoulder, saw the blond waitress standing behind them, and stared at Kyle in astonishment.
Kyle smiled. “I paid her two hundred bucks to come over as soon as I put my hands in my pockets. I knew you and Jordan couldn’t stay out of my business for long.”
ACROSS TOWN, RYLANN sat next to Jon at a wine bar a couple blocks from her apartment. It was the first chance they’d gotten to talk all day. After Kyle had left her standing on her doorstep earlier that morning, she’d unfortunately had no time to wallow in her sorrows. Instead, she’d gone back inside, told Jon that she would call him later, and left to get ready for her grand jury hearing.
Shortly after arriving at the wine bar, Rylann had taken the lead with the conversation. She explained to Jon, in the gentlest of terms, that their relationship was truly, definitely, absolutely over. He listened this time, and though he looked upset and hurt and even a little frustrated, he finally seemed to accept what she was saying.
“So I blew it, then. For good.” He ran his hand over his mouth. “I guess that’s the price I have to pay for being a selfish ass seven months ago.”
Rylann studied him. “Jon, don’t take this the wrong way, but what’s really going on here? I know I should be flattered that you hopped on a plane to try to win me back, but…can I be honest?”
He smiled wryly. “You always are.”
“This whole thing feels more desperate than genuine. You seem kind of lost.”
He swirled his wineglass, saying nothing at first. “I don’t know. I just feel like there’s something missing. Italy was great for the first couple months, but then the excitement wore off. I guess I thought that if you and I could get back what we used to have, at least that part of my life would feel right again.” He looked at her over the glass. “I am sorry, you know. We had a good thing going, and I ruined it.”
It was tempting to let him take all the blame. And, no doubt, he deserved a lot of it. But as Rylann sat there, looking at the man she’d once genuinely believed she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, she realized, for the first time, that she shared a tiny bit of the responsibility for the demise of their relationship as well. “It wasn’t just you, Jon.”
He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
She sighed. “There was something missing. I don’t think either of us realized it at the time, and frankly, I’m still not sure I can put my finger on it. On the outside we seemed happy, but there had to be something wrong, right? Otherwise, you would’ve never wanted to leave for Italy without me, and I…would’ve tried to make you stay.”
He considered this, then gave her a half smile that was bittersweet. “And we both know how tenacious you can be when you want something.”
She laughed softly, acknowledging that. “Very true.”
They talked for a long time after that, about old times, Italy, and Rylann’s new life in Chicago. Afterward they walked outside and said good-bye on the sidewalk.
“You’re going back to Rome tomorrow, then?” she asked.
Jon nodded. “Temporarily, at least. I took the week off from work, hoping that I’d be spending it with you.” He shrugged. “Maybe now I’ll use the time to figure things out. Decide what I want to do with my life when I grow up.”
“Whatever it is you’re looking for, I hope you find it,” Rylann said in all sincerity. “I want you to be happy.”
“You, too, Ry.” He touched her cheek in good-bye, then climbed into the taxi that would take him back to the hotel he’d checked into for the night.