“Yuck! You both make me sick with your over-the-top sweetness,” Katya groans, but we both know she’s thrilled to see us together.
“I can…ah…buy wine,” Aiden suggests.
Katya nods with solemnity, but her eyes are full of mischief. “That sounds like a good deal, Winter. I like champagne, French chardonnay, and Brunello di Montalcino.”
The next day, we find Katya’s wine fridge stocked with high-end wines from Reims, Burgundy, and Tuscany, and there are also a couple of Loire Valley reds, which he knows I favor.
CHAPTER 32
Aiden
The conference room at Winter Financial is all frosted glass and sleek chrome, a shrine to power. I sit at the long, polished table I once claimed with pride.
Now, it feels like a battlefield.
All twelve members of the board are seated. Dad’s managed to get them all in.
He presides at the head like a mad king, smug and already savoring his win. Tristan is next to him, looking proud of himself, like he’s earned the right.
There’s shifting and murmuring around the table.
Some look guilty. Most look bored. I recognize the signs. Decisions have been made behind closed doors.
Dad opens the meeting, talking about the future of Winter Financial, about leadership, and about a new direction.
Then he tosses the grenade, one I’ve been expecting.
“We’re recommending a vote of no confidence in Aiden Winter, effective immediately.”
No one seems to have a reaction.
These people don’t. They deal in millions. They ruin companies and people with a pen stroke. And here they are, trying to do the same to me.
Tristan meets my gaze across the table.
He smirks.
After everything I’ve done for him. After all the work he’s dumped on my plate, the meetings I’ve covered, the quiet interventions when his screwups threatened to blow up. He’s voting against me.
Surprisingly, I don’t care.
I woke up in bed with Mia this morning, and that seemed more special, more important thanthis.
“Let’s vote then.” I stand and start to button my suit jacket slowly, the way my father taught me—presentation is everything.
Then I look each member in the eye. Calm. Cool. Collected.
They vote.
Eachyesslams into me hard, but not as strongly as I expected. In the past months, I have evolved. This means less.
The vote is finalized by Dad, who is enjoying himself.
It’s official.
I’m out.
Well, they did ask me to stay an extra four weeks for transition.
