Chapter 19: His Father's Voice

Ronan's POV

I plugged the drive into the table's console and the speakers woke up.

I had listened to it once, in a car, with Claire's hand over her mouth.

I had not been ready for it then, and I wasn't ready now.

"This is a recording my father made three weeks before he died," I said. "I'm going to play the last four minutes."

Honora said something sharp to her lawyer.

I pressed the key.

A hospital room filled the boardroom.

The hiss of oxygen, a monitor, and a chair being drawn close to a bed.

"Is Ronan here?" said my father.

It was a hoarse voice, hardly his, and every director at the table looked up.

"He's in surgery," said Honora. "He chose it again today, Alistair."

"He wouldn't."

"He always chooses the work. I'm the one who stays. Sign the page."

"I want to see my son."

"You will sign the page, or the boy doesn't come through that door."

Someone down the table muttered a curse.

"Honora." My father's voice shook. "It's the amendment. I can't read it."

"You don't need to read it. It protects your company from a boy who doesn't know what a marriage is for."

"Let me call him."

"I'll call him after you've signed."

Pages rustled.

A pen scratched, once, twice.

"Good," she said. "Now sleep. When you're gone I'll look after your son's reputation very carefully, and you needn't worry about the rest."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Examined by the OB-GYN CEO from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.