Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 284 - 22

Chapter 284: Chapter 22

"The vet’s office is a few miles from here," Liam said as he helped Rayne off the boat at Pineville, a bustling, picturesque little town on the other side of Maranta island. "I’ve called my driver, he’s just a few blocks away from here."

"Oh, that’s—" Rayne began, but her phone rang, and she paused to take it out of her purse and look at the caller’s name. Her heart made a little leap when she saw that the COO of their restaurant was calling. Whenever it had something to do with the restaurant, her anxiety always kicked in, and just like always, she felt it now.

"I need to take this phone call. Give me a minute," she told Liam.

"All right, I’ll take the dog and your suitcase. My driver is here already," Liam said, already walking toward the street where a white car was waiting for them.

Rayne put the phone to her ear and covered her other ear with her hand, but there was so much background noise from street traffic and boat motors that she finally took the phone away from her ear and turned the volume all the way up.

"I couldn’t hear you before Harry, but I can hear you now. Did anything happen at the restaurant that I should know about?" she asked, knowing he was in charge while she was away and would only call her when something important came up.

"I’m sorry to bother you at this moment Rayne, but something important has come up that needs your attention at the restaurant."

Following slowly behind Liam, Rayne listened to Harry go over the days events at the restaurant.

The vegetable supplier had delivered only half their order, and the bartender had refused to serve any more of their limited edition fine wines to an inebriated customer who made a scene and had to be escorted out by their securities, but this morning his attorney called, threatening to sue the restaurant for causing embarrassment to his client who happened to be the son of someone important.

Rayne slid into the backseat of the car and Eric jumped in behind her, so she scooted to the middle of the seat while she gave instructions to Harry, "If the attorney calls back, do not say anything to him, just refer him to our attorney. Which bartender was involved?" She asked, already feeling one of her headache rising again.

When Harry told her the name, she said, "Tell Kim to exercise more patience with the customers. I’ve heard from the rest that he is a little short-tempered. Did you talk to our vegetable supplier and find out why we got only half our order?"

While the car made its slow way along a street, which was lined with shops and crowded with tourists, Rayne listened to the rest of Harry’s litany of problems, and she did her best to help solve them, but most of the time she could only answer his questions with a question of her own as she was still trying to learn how to run a falling business.

By the time Harry was finished, Rayne felt panicked and helpless. "Call me back this afternoon, as soon as you find out what happened to our vegetable order and why our linen stock is suddenly so low," she reminded him before he hung up.

She ended the call and slipped the phone into her purse, then glanced at Liam and found him watching her, his dark brows drawn together in puzzlement.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked self-consciously.

"I’m impressed," he said. "I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation with your COO. I was under the impression that you’re still working at that radio station you told me about. Just now, it sounded as if you’ve taken over the Wallace family business."

Though he knew about Jason being the CEO before everything went downhill for the Wallaces, he hadn’t thought Rayne would want to continue running a struggling business when she could sell it and start over without the burden of keeping it afloat, like any woman might do. But it turned out he was wrong about her yet again.

She wasn’t like her brother or any other spolied, brought up elite young woman.

Rayne drew a shaky breath but managed to keep her voice steady as she said, "I made a promise to my father’s grave to keep his legacy by running the restaurant the way he would. By chance, I could make it big again, just like my great-grandfather had done."

"What about your job at the radio station?"

She smiled. "I quit the job so that I could give the restaurant my best effort. I’ve lived with my family long enough to know how it’s done, but I’m not sure I know how to run the business the way my father did. I’m—" She broke off and looked down at her lap, finally realizing that Eric’s head was resting on her knee, his eyes fixed worriedly on her face as if he could feel her emotions.

Liam quietly finished the sentence she’d been unable to complete. "You’re afraid you’re going to fail."

"I’m terrified," Rayne admitted.

"Then have you considered trying to sell it?"

"I don’t want to. I don’t want to disappoint my father and be like Jason. My father loved and took pride in the family business, and he invested all his life in it. How can I let that go because I’m terrified I might fail..."

Surprised by a sudden desire to tell Liam about her fears, she reached out and stroked Eric’s head, trying to resist the impulse. She’d learned from experience that men don’t care how you feel as long as it doesn’t concern them or their desires.

Max had never listened to her whenever she spilled her fears and feelings. He would either pretend to be listening while being busy with his phone or ignore her completely. She’d learned to always keep her feelings to herself rather than share them with him or anybody.

And she definitely wasn’t going to talk to Liam who had no reason to listen to her about it either. After several moments, she stole a look at Liam, half expecting him to look preoccupied or bored.

Instead, he was watching her intently. "Go on," he urged her to say whatever was on her mind.

She hesitated only for a second before she found herself talking.

"I... I don’t want to sell it, and I’m terrified to run it or hand it to someone else, like my uncles. They would be willing to take over it, but my father would never want that. The thought of the responsibility overwhelmes me every time I think about it. Not once have I ever imagined myself being in the family business until my father passed away. I have to run it. I can’t back out..."

Rather than offering her empty words of encouragement about her ability to do that, which was what Rayne expected him to do, he put his arm around her shoulders and curved his hand around her arm, sliding it slowly up and down in a gesture of comfort.

Rayne willingly leaned against him, letting the movement of his hand soothe away her fear about the future, at least for now.

"I’m sorry about your father’s death," he said after a minute. "Are you still finding it hard to cope with the grief? I saw you had a book about coping with grief yesterday."

Rayne shot him a surprised look as she hadn’t expected him to notice the book. "You don’t miss anything, do you?"

"Not when I’m concentrating on something. Or someone," he added, and shifted his gaze meaningfully to her lips.

Rayne knew he was deliberately flirting with her in an effort to distract her and cheer her up, and she smiled and went along with his plan. "You were concentrating on your shirt yesterday, not on me, because you didn’t even recognize me at first."

"I have a rare gift—I can concentrate on two things at the same time, little red."

"So can I, pretty face," she teased, "which is why I’m aware that your driver has stopped and is waiting for us to get out."