Away from the crowd, I finally faced forward and sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be.If I could have, I would have hit him like that, too,” I said.“Honestly, I wouldn’t have stopped you if you hadn’t knocked him out cold on the first punch.You’re too handsome to end up in jail for murder.You look better in suits.”
He didn’t smile as I’d hoped.
“Not that,” he said.“It won’t take long for news about what happened to spread.The attack, how I protected you, and who you are.”
I quietly thought about how everything had happened.
Denying there was anything between us would fall on deaf ears.Admitting we were dating wouldn’t help either.At least, it wouldn’t help me.But what about Konni?How would it look for the CEO of Steele Corp to carry out his secretary like that?It wasn’t only his reputation on the line, but the business’s, too.
“What happened isn’t your fault.It’s Edward Glibs’s.But we should probably talk about how you want to deal with it.”
“Do you want to press charges?”
“Do you think anything will come of it?He grabbed me and tried to kiss me.I said no.He kissed my neck—” Konni’s fingers twitched on my hand “—and I tried to bite his ear off.He slapped me.I kneed him.And then you came in.
“Honestly, I was very eye-for-an-eye in there.Even though what I did was in defense, it won’t look good for me once it’s public, especially after the hit you gave him.He’ll definitely be able to play the victim.
“But I wasn’t talking about how to deal with Mr.Glibs.I meant the media fallout from Steele’s CEO punching someone because of his secretary.How will it affect the company?Are deals going to fall through?”
“Sophia, are you suggesting the company’s profit supersedes your safety and making an example of the man who assaulted my future mate?”
“I understand that you feel that way, but what about the shareholders?And your parents.They’re still major contributors.I saw the report on the overseas branch that your dad is currently establishing.They’ll see the news too and won’t feel the same way about me that you do.”
He pressed a button on the steering wheel.
“Call Dad,” he said.
My heart leapt into my throat, and I tried to pull my hand out of his while the phone rang on speaker, but his hold tightened.
“About time you called me,” a man answered.“I almost forgot I had a son.”
I froze.
“Are you acquainted with the head of the Glibs family?”Konni asked.
“I am.”
“Edward Glibs attacked my mate.He needs to disappear from Motan, or I’ll deal with him myself.”
A low growl echoed over the phone.Then, the call ended.
I glanced at Konni.“Are you and your dad on good terms?”
“Very.Why?”
I chose not to point out the abrupt disconnect that indicated otherwise.
“Was that the best way to tell him about your…me?”
It wasn’t the official “announcement” I’d feared.Actually, it hadn’t felt like an announcement at all.
Konni shifted his hold to thread his fingers through mine.
“My parents already know I’ve found my mate.”
