Time to face the music.
Chapter 33
Damian
Three Hours Earlier
Ipullonthesleeves of my suit jacket and straighten my back. Louisa is waiting for me at her desk. She raises her brows in a silent question, her narrowed eyes trying to assess me. Her scrutiny is exactly what I need to remind myself who I am.
I am Damian Edgerton, founder and CEO of CreativEdge. This is my business, built from the ground up.
“You ready for this?” I say, walking up to her desk. Louisa always accompanies me to the board meetings to take notes and occasionally remind me that I need to be nice to these people.
“Yes, sir.” She picks up her notebook and rounds her desk.
“Just as a heads-up, things might go down in there today,” I tell her.
Louisa’s head snaps to mine. “What do you mean?”
“I’m going to disclose a conflict of interest to the board, and I have a feeling they’ll be unhappy about it.”
She looks at me like I’ve gone mad, but I haven’t.
Things with Brielle have been damn near perfect. And if spending this entire weekend with her showed me anything, it’s that I want more of that. I want to take her out, show her off. I want to take her on trips and go on dates. She deserves that. She deserves to be loved and cherished.
I never thought I’d want to be that person to someone, but I do. Brielle means the world to me, and what we have been building—it’s real. I can feel it.
“Is she okay with this?” Louisa asks quietly, slowing down her steps and forcing me to meet her pace.
“I’m not going to send out a company-wide memo. It’s just the board of directors that need to be made aware, not the staff. That can come later, whenever she’s ready.”
“So, you haven’t talked to her about it, is that what you’re saying?”
I shot her a look from the corner of my eye.
She shakes her head at me, not saying another word.
The boardroom is already full by the time we enter, as usual. I stand behind the chair at the head of the table, waiting until everyone’s eyes are on me. Louisa takes her seat to my right, her expression less than comforting.
Your funeral, her eyes say.
“Good morning, Mr. Edgerton,” Bill says. Everyone else follows up with a polite “Morning, sir.”
“Morning. Before we begin, I have something I’d like to say,” I start.
“We need to call the board to order first. Don’t start on anything yet.” Rachel waves her finger in the air.
If I do get sacked today, this is the one thing that I wouldn’t miss.
I glare at her, stating loudly and clearly, “I hereby call this meeting to order.”
We do roll call and review the agenda for this meeting before I take control of the room again.
“Before we begin, I have an item that needs to be addressed.”
Everyone turns to me, eyes casting glances around the room to see who’s in trouble. Only this time, it’s probably me.
“I have an important conflict of interest that needs to be disclosed.” The room stays silent, waiting on bated breath. “Recently, I have become close with one of the CreativEdge employees…” Still nothing. “Very close… to her,” I add.
