I breathed out heavily, feeling like the world was on my shoulders. “I’m an employee, Sofia. If I don’t do what I’m supposed to, I will get fired. I’m not indispensable and I need this job. You know that.”
She sighed too, and now that she had said it, I couldn’t get the idea of her and Blue in Dallas out of my head. “Please, bro. You’ve been happy these past months. You’re always sacrificing yourself. Please don’t do this.”
“Sofia, this is what I’m here for. To do this for us.” I was trying to convince myself as much as her.
“No, stop it. Your life isn’t about doing stuff for me. What about you? What about your happiness?”
“I just want to do the right thing.” If only I knew what that was anymore. I thought about Julia and how bad I’d fucked things up with her. How doing my job was starting to feel like selling my soul. And then there were Sofia and Blue and the obligations I had to them. I felt like I was getting torn in four different directions.
“What about what is right for you? For your heart, Rocco? Have you ever thought that if you pick yourself we can be there for you too?” I wanted to say no. That I was her brother and that it was my job to help her, but God I needed someone to hold me up right now.
I looked at the time and realized I was going to be late. “I don’t know if I’ll have the guts to risk my job, sis, but it means a lot to hear you say you have my back.”
“Rocco Quinn, for one time in your life, just go with what makes you happy. I promise you the earth won’t shatter.”
Her frustrated tone managed to pull a laugh out of me. “I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”
I felt marginally less terrible as I ended the call. Just as I was getting my thoughts in order, I heard a knock on my door.
“Hey, we just came to say good morning. We barely got a chance to chat with you yesterday.” The twins gave me two identical strained smiles as they walked in. I was still a jumble of conflicting feelings, and had no idea what to say to them.
As if she could read my mind, Muffy lifted up her hands, palms out, like she wanted to absolve me from whatever guilt I had about what happened next.
“We’re not here to do a last-minute plea for you to go against the IPO. We know that you need to be neutral.” That last part came out with just a bit of cynicism. They probably had an inkling of the pressure Phil and Duke were putting on me.
They were such decent and classy women. Truly an anomaly—people who were willing to put their money where their mouth was. I wish I could just tell them how I felt, how much I respected them, how much I hated that they were fighting to keep their company whole, and I was the chess piece their brother was trying to use to take that from them.
“Thank you.” I sighed. “There’s not much I can say at this point, other than it’s been a pleasure getting to know you over the past few months. I didn’t know there were companies left out there with this much heart.”
Mitzy, who was the more expressive one of the two, sniffed and gave me a rueful look. “Don’t make me ruin my makeup before I have to go and stare down those bastards on the board.” Her Southern twang was just a bit more pronounced when she was emotional.
I smiled and tried once again to look like I wasn’t dying inside. “I would never.”
Muffy leaned in, getting closer to my desk and put a hand over mine. The human contact rocked me. “It’s been our pleasure too. Even with you being the enemy and all, we have enjoyed working with you. At least we know that if this thing goes forward, it’s because you agree it’s what’s best.”
The trust with which she looked at me was unbearable. I almost closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see hers. I wanted to step up for these women, for their company and the legacy they so proudly held up. For the work Julia and her staff did with their help.
“Thanks,” I said, and I meant it.
After a moment, Muffy stood up and started smoothing down her gray slacks and jacket, which matched Mitzy’s gray sheath almost exactly. “We’ll see you in there,” she whispered as they turned to walk out of the office. They barely acknowledged Phil as they passed him on his way in.
He sneered over his shoulder. “Was that one last attempt at a grovel?”
I really wished I could just smack that smile off him.
“No.”Because they’re fucking professionals, not a low-down sneaky fucker like you.
He clapped his hands and still flashed a smile in my direction, but those eyes were cold as ice.
“Not that it matters. The numbers look good for us.”
I assented, “They do.” I had nothing more to say to Phil.
Chapter Thirty-One
Rocco
I knew the names of the board members and had even read some of their bios, but none of that prepared me for walking into that room. I was aware there was dissent within—some in favor of the IPO, some set against it, and others on the fence—but you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I looked around, trying to put faces to names, and I stopped when I got to the youngest person in the room. Duke Sturm was one smug son of a bitch. He gave me a long, appraising look as I took my seat, but after a moment turned his attention to the guy next to him. I would not presume to think the hired help would get acknowledgment from him.
