Wildest Hearts
involved in the mess. Is that it?”
“Part of it,” Oliver agreed.
Annie tilted her head to one side. “You had every reason to hate what your father did to your family.”
Oliver watched the elevator doors slide open. “It's true, I hated him for what he did to the family. But there was more involved. I've hated him all these years for what he did to me.”
“To you?”
“Don't you see, Annie?” Oliver got out his key as he walked off the elevator. “Because of Edward Rain, I became the one thing I swore I never would become. A man like my father.”
16
Dumbfounded by Oliver's assessment of himself, Annie stood frozen in the elevator. She gazed after him, mouth open in shock, as he crossed the hall without a backward glance. The elevator doors started to close.
“Oliver, are you crazy?” Annie recovered the powers of speech and movement just in time to leap between the narrow opening left by the closing doors. “You're not anything like your father.”
“How would you know? You never met him.” Oliver shoved his key into the lock and pushed open the door of the penthouse.
“Just because I never met the man doesn't mean I don't know a heck of a lot about him.”
“I'd rather not discuss this, if you don't mind,” Oliver said.
“Well, we're going to discuss it. This is no time for you to go into your faulty communication mode.”
“Forget it, Annie.”
“Oh, no. We're not going to forget it.” Clutching Bolt's manuscript, Annie rushed through the door behind Oliver. She dashed past him into the wide foyer, spun around, and came to a halt directly in front of him. “Stop right there. We're going to talk.”
He looked down at her, eyes filled with a deep, brooding melancholy. “There's nothing to talk about.”
“There most certainly is.” Annie slammed Bolt's manuscript down on the black marble table. Then, hands on her hips, she confronted Oliver. “Your father was the kind of man who would abandon a wife, five children, and all of his responsibilities. You would never do such a thing.”
Oliver rubbed the back of his neck with a weary gesture. “That's not the point.”
“Oh, yes, it is.” Annie reached up and grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt. She stood on tiptoe and put her face very close to his. “It's the most important point there is. Ask any woman. Or any kid whose father has walked out. Ask any creditor who got left holding the bag.”
“Annie…”
“For crying out loud, Oliver, look at you. Look at what you are.”
His mouth curved humorlessly. “I have looked at what I am. I don't like what I see.”
“Then you're blind.” She used her grip on his shirt to try to shake some sense into him. She exerted all of her strength, but Oliver stood like a rock. Frustration leaped within her. “You're a fine man. An admirable man. You've accomplished an incredible amount.”
“I made some money. That's nothing. My father made money, too.”
“The money isn't important. What's important is that you saved your family. Oliver, you held things together when they could easily have crumbled. Your brothers and sisters have all gotten off to a successful start in life because you became the head of the family.”
“Annie, I've got work to do.”
She gave him another shake that had no effect. “You gave everyone in your family what they needed most after your father walked out. You gave them security, a sense of strength. They knew they could count on you. Don't you know how important that is? Okay, so you've got some communication problems. So who doesn't? We can fix that.”
“Excuse me.” Oliver's hands closed around her waist. He lifted her up and set her to one side. Then he walked straight past her down the hall toward his study. He did not look back.
“Don't you dare walk out on me when I'm arguing with you,” Annie yelled at his back.
“You walked out on me earlier, remember?”
“That was different. I told you, I didn't leave you, I just went to visit Bolt.” Annie rushed down the hall. “Oliver, for the last time, you can be irritating, uncommunicative, insensitive, and downright difficult on occasion,but you are not anything like your father .”
Oliver reached the door of his study. “You don't know what you're saying.”
“Oh, yes I do.” Annie had a sudden, horrible fear that their combined destinies were somehow riding on the outcome of this confrontation. Panic seized her. “Oliver, listen to
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