I sat behind my desk. “Oh. You know.” If pondering wood grains in office furniture during important meetings was okay, I’d reassure him I was fine.

I wasn’t fine.

His concerned gaze brushed over me. My stubble was morphing into a full-fledged beard, my hair hadn’t seen more than a finger comb in days, and I was wearing the wrinkled suit that I’d worn the day before my world had been upended. I was running out of laundry and dry cleaning hadn’t occurred to me in the last week.

He sat in the chair across from me. “Have you talked to Kate lately?”

“We’ve messaged.”

He cocked his head. “And?”

I let out a gusty breath. Discussing my impending divorce wasn’t going to help me do my job. “And what, Dad? She wants to know when we should meet and sign the papers.”

Dad’s sigh was quiet but so was my office. It was as loud as a tornado. Guilt snaked through me. He didn’t have time for this, for my lack of attention to tasks only I could do. He had to be swamped, both him and Kendall burning the midnight oil, sacrificing sleep and time together while I’d been useless on my couch, watching the whole damn series of Shameless.

Protecting Dad from overdoing it used to be enough motivation to keep me in the office, especially after his heart attack. But this divorce had blindsided me.

“Have you two actually talked?” he asked.

“I’m afraid we’re past that point.”

“You still have time.”

I didn’t respond. First Beck. Now Dad. But neither of them knew my wife.

“Where’s she staying?”

I shrugged and stared at the black screen of my computer. Kendall had requested even visual notifications be silenced when IT set up my new monitor. “I dunno. Her parents’ place maybe. A hotel.”

“Have you asked her?”

“It’s apparently none of my business,” I said bitterly. Unlike me, Kate normally shared what was going on in her life. If she hadn’t told me, she didn’t want me to know.

Dad let out a long breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Goddammit, Aiden. You’ve mastered everything you’ve done in your life. You made state wrestling. Magna cum laude at college. King Oil wouldn’t be where it is if you sucked at your job. You’re here because you’re the best. Direct some of that energy and determination to your marriage.”

I ignored the part about my job. I was where I was because I was a King. I would’ve been fired years ago otherwise. I shifted my gaze to him and spoke slowly. “She had the papers already drawn up.” Behind my back, which had been easy, since I was never home.

“Have you been faithful?”