“Thank you, by the way,” Rome explained and cast a quick glance my way. He took my arm, pulling me into his body, and focusing back on Malachi. “I know you kept an eye on everyone. It means a lot.”
Malachi shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets, “It’s what friends do.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
ROME
“It’s what friends do,” Malachi explained with a shrug.
It was weird to be back with everyone I cared for. My family was here, Bec was here, and even Malachi. However, I wasn’t fully here. It felt like I was a bystander watching the events happen around me.
I turned to Bec. She was just as beautiful as I remembered. Her steel blue eyes were red-rimmed from crying, and I hatedthat I had done that to her. I cupped her cheek softly, using my thumb to wipe at the dampness left on her cheeks.
She smiled at the motion, “Do we need to get you back to the hospital or something?”
Bella snickered behind me, “We did kind of break him out.”
Bec looked between my sister and me confused, “Why in the world did you do that? You could have called, and I would have come down there.”
I shrugged, “They said the big board meeting was today and that you were gonna quit. I needed to stop that. It’s why I broke out of that stupid cage in the first place.”
Bec stared at me, her jaw dropped in shock. “Cage? You broke out of acagethat Andi had kept you in formonths,to ensure I didn’t quit my job?”
I pondered the question before finally nodding. “I worked my ass off in front of those cameras to make sure the board approved you. I refuse to let it all go to waste.”
A surprised laugh fell past Bec’s lips, and she wrapped her arms around me. “I missed you, Cipriani.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Can we go home?” I whispered. It was taking everything out of me not to collapse in a fit of panic. I didn’t want to see Andi again, and even the sound of her pounding on Bec’s office door was enough to set me on edge.
Bec leaned back and searched my eyes. She must have found what she was looking for as she nodded slightly before speaking. “Of course.”
I turned, ready to leave, when a familiar ding echoed through the office floor. The board members filed out of the elevator, one by one, looking at our group, perplexed.
“We need to postpone,” Will began to instruct the board. I hadn’t fully processed that he was here until he spoke, my mind struggling more than I had realized.
Bec interrupted Will, moving to stand in front of the board. She glanced at me over her shoulder, “Give me one minute?”
I smiled softly and nodded. I would give her a lifetime if she let me.
Bec stood in the center of the executive floor. It wasn’t her usual stage of a conference room or typical meeting, but she drew everyone’s attention. The board members' focus was trained on her, but a few of them glanced my way, the shock evident. I wondered how long it would be until I stopped seeing that reaction.
I could imagine their confusion. They probably assumed this would be a typical board meeting. Instead, they had me risen from the dead like Jesus, Andi screaming and pounding on the office door, my whole family standing around, and William Sr. looking dejected and shocked at the same time. We were quite the sight to behold.
Bec cleared her throat before she spoke. “I understand we’re supposed to be meeting today, but as you can see, something’s come up,” she explained as she motioned my way. One of my sisters snickered at the comment.
Bec sighed, exasperated. “This meeting was ridiculous anyway. This whole situation was stupid. I mean… you were all going to vote on my future, while my world was crumbling. I spent the better part of the last year trying to prove to you I was something I’m not. I’m not this happy, bubbly woman you all want me to be.” Her voice began to rise, her theatrics growing. The calm, controlled Bec was unraveling in front of our eyes. Finally, she was showing her true fire in front of everyone.
“But why do I have to be?” She asked no one in particular. “I was damned good at my job, and that still wasn't enough for you. I gave everything to this company, and what did it give me in return? A no-good father who shot my boyfriend?” A few gaspedat the truth, and her dad looked down in shame. “An insane assistant who then kidnapped him? It’s absurd! All of it.”
She smoothed down her dress and turned to me, reaching her hand out, “Let’s go.”
I took it readily, moving to her side and looking down at the board that had ruled over her life. I had never been more proud of her than I was at that moment.
Bec looked at the board one last time, “Vote me in or don’t. I don’t care. Just know, I’m the only hope you ever had for this company, and you fucked it up.”
Ihadn’t expected it to be so painful to finally be home. It wasn’t that being with my family was painful. My family had survived it, grown closer while I was gone, and I couldn’t have been more proud of them… even though I hated that they were ever put in that situation. The pain was from knowing how much I had missed, because of someone else’s choices.
It was a cruel world where you could do your best to be a good person, to not cause harm to others, but still not be protected from the rest of the world. We are subject to the choices of the people around us.
