Faith brought my hand to her lips and kissed the back of it. “We’ll figure it out. Together, we can do anything, right?”
What had I done to deserve this woman? She was quickly becoming the concrete under my feet—a strong, unwavering foundation. But she was so much prettier than concrete. She was more like a stunning mosaic crafted by the finest Italian artisans.
“Why are you smiling?” she asked, confusion on her face.
“Because of you. Thank you for standing by me.” Even with my reputation in the trash, she wasn’t fazed. She certainly wasn’t like any of the women who’d come before. And for that, I was grateful, blessed. I had a feeling there would never be anyone else like her afterward, so I’d best make sure I didn’t fuck it up. Amidst this disaster, my heart was content, a feeling of calmness settling over me. “You being here means everything.”
She grinned, her sapphire eyes shining with happiness. “Being here means everything.” She squeezed my hand again. Unfortunately, Eric pulled over, which meant we’d arrived.
I took a deep breath. I could do this. Whatever my father was going to throw at me, he didn’t know the truth—that I was being set up. It was about time I told him. He might say I was making excuses, but fuck it. If I couldn’t do it for myself, I’d do it for Faith.She deserved a man who was as brave as her. I wanted to be a man she could be proud of, a man who didn’t cower from his own father. I needed to believe in myself as much as Faith believed in me. And if that meant I lost my position at Knight Advertising, I could pick myself up again with Faith by my side. I still had my trust fund, for goodness’ sake. I had options, more options than Faith could ever dream of, and she chose to support me and risk everything.
We were quiet in the elevator, but Faith held my hand the entire time. If it wasn’t for the two people in there with us, I would’ve pushed her against the wall and kissed the hell out of her. I could imagine my father’s face when we both turned up with swollen, just-kissed lips. Red rag to a bull? Yep. But it would’ve be worth it.
The doors opened, and I led the way out.
Faith looked at me as if I were crazy. “Someone’s eager.”
“Yep. I want to get this over and done with, and then we can move on.” I stopped and looked deep into the serenity of her cerulean eyes. My heart swooped like a bird celebrating springtime. “Whatever happens, it’s you and me. Maybe it’s time I started my own company. Would you like to be my first hire? Or maybe even my partner?”
Her delicious mouth dropped open. “What?”
I grinned. “You heard me. What if I walk away from this, and we start something together?”
She blinked. “You don’t think it’s a bit hasty? I mean, not that I don’t think it would be amazing to work with you in your own company?—”
“Our… our company.”
Brow furrowed, she shook her head and smiled. “Let’s discuss this later. I haven’t got any capital. I’d be an employee, if anything. We need to focus on what’s in front of us. It was your childhood dream to work with your family.”
I’d told her that on one of the nights she stayed over and we talked for hours after enjoying each other. It shouldn’t surprise me that she remembered. “I’m going to hold you to that. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be thinking this way.”
“Curtis.”
I turned. My aunt stood in the corridor outside my office. “Stephanie.”
“I was looking for you two. Your father’s waiting.”
“I bet he is.” I rolled my eyes. Some—my father—might say that was immature, especially for a CEO, but I would say what was the point of being a CEO if you couldn’t roll your eyes when the situation called for it?
Faith got it. She tried to hide her smile. “We’d better not keep him waiting. But just so you know, I’m proud of you, Curtis. No matter what happens in there. If it gets too serious, just remember—if I can come back from the donut incident, you can come back from anything.” She chuckled.
I couldn’t help but laugh, remembering the first time we truly met. I’d been angry yet intrigued by the gorgeous woman with the balance issues. We’d been through a lot together in the past few weeks. It sure had gone quickly. But now I had to get my head in the game.
I looked at my aunt. “Lead the way.”
FAITH
As we walked into the boardroom, my stomach was a forest floor where a confusion of squirrels was digging for nuts. But I didn’t let that show on my face. Curtis, still holding my hand, was drawing strength from me, and that was the only thing stopping me from running back to the elevator and leaving. With the exception of Curtis, dealing with rich men had never worked out for me, and his father was one of the richest.
Knight Senior sat at the head of the boardroom table, Victoria to his left. Her beady, condescending eyes tracked our every movement and snagged on our joined hands, like a reptile observing its next meal. Maybe I should’ve brought a jar of bugs for her to munch on. Would it be too antagonistic if I raised our joined hands and grinned?
Stephanie wasn’t here, but a middle-aged man in a suit sat to the right of Curtis’s father. A lawyer, maybe? Curtis’s grip on my hand tightened, and I rubbed my thumb along his hand in reassurance, pretending my heart wasn’t beating faster than a hummingbird’s.
We stopped at the opposite end of the long table to where his father sat. Curtis stood tall, his voice unapologetic and very CEO-like when he said, “You wanted to see us?”
His father didn’t so much as flick an eye in my direction, which made me think of actually pulling an eyeball out and flicking it. Holding in a giggle at that imagery made me feel better about being ignored. If he wasn’t even going to acknowledge me, why ask for me to be here? Maybe it was to humiliate me in front of his son. But how? It wasn’t like there were sex tapes of me going around… were there? Nah, Mark wasn’t kinky enough to do that, and it would make him look bad… not that he’d probably realize how lacking he was in the bedroom department.
So what then?
