Seventeen minutes later, I return to the living room, a large tray weighed down with sweet treats in hand.
My wife’s eyes are huge. “You’ve been hiding things from me, dear husband.”
“Not really. I needed the perfect setting.” I drop the tray on the coffee table. “Drinking hot cocoa in LA makes no sense. In Aspen, it’s a necessity on a wintery day like today.”
“You have a good point.”
I hand her an oversized mug.
Her eyes grow wide. “Thank you. I expected a splash of booze, but this is a work of art.”
I sit next to her on the sofa before grabbing the second mug.
“Marshmallows slathered in salted caramel and a drizzle of melted chocolate finished with a touch of the flame from a blow torch go a long way.”
She cradles the mug with both hands and takes a long sip.
“Mmm.” She closes her eyes and moans. “This is delicious.” She shoots me a side gaze. “You, Mr. New CEO, have some wicked skills.”
She’s impressed.
“Granted, you just discovered my talent for preparing kickass hot chocolate, but I was a CEO when you met me.”
She shakes her head. “You were aninterimCEO,” she says. “Now, you run the show.”
“I do. And it’s a pretty fucking amazing feeling. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve my goal without my wife.”
“Glad I could help.” She lifts her mug.
I clink my mug with hers and wink.
She takes a small sip of her drink, careful not to burn her tongue. “Oh, you could get drunk on this.”
“By the time you finish your drink, you’ll be pretty mellow,” I say. “Two of those back to back, and you’ll be knocked out.”
“Noted.” She drops her mug on the coffee table and reaches for a cookie.
I do the same.
“These are as scrumptious as the ones from the Pompadour,” she says around a bite, pointing at her white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie. “Please tell me you didn’t prepare these.”
“I didn’t. I made a special request to the head pastry chef at the Pompadour.”
She’s addicted to them, but I won’t point that out.
“You’re a good man, Mr. CEO.”
It’s her new favorite word.
It also happens to be mine.
It’s official.
As of yesterday, six p.m., the board of directors named me CEO of König Imperial Holding.
What an amazing Christmas gift.
I didn’t count my chickens until all the votes were in. You never know. With Potter out of the picture, there was no opposition. The votes were unanimous. The other board members always felt I was the man for the job––not because of my last name, but because I’ve worked damn hard to earn the title.
