ALEX
Another successful weekwas in the books. I’d just signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with the largest development firm in Japan. The global expansion of Vaughn Holdings was ahead of our projected schedule by eighteen months.
The business was growing at a rapid pace, and I knew that changes needed to be made. Changes that I’d been on the precipice of making for close to a year. It was time to pull the trigger.
I rolled my shoulders back as Mia and I walked at a brisk pace to the elevators. As she brought me up to speed on a few issues with projects I pulled out my phone, opened my email, clicked on drafts and sent the email that I’d had sitting in that folder for six months.
As soon as I pressed the tiny icon that looked like a paper airplane, an overwhelming sense of rightness enveloped me.
My lips curled up in a smile as the elevator doors opened and we stepped inside.
“You all set for tonight?” Mia asked as we traveled down the twenty floors to the underground parking lot where Frank was waiting.
I nodded. I’d done my best to put the event I was attending out of my mind this past week. Not because I was dreading it, the opposite actually. The anticipation of spending the evening with Sadie was too distracting and I’d needed all my focus to be on the deal that had just been closed.
But now that was done, and there was just one more piece of business that I needed to take care of before I could give all of my focus to the night ahead.
“What about you? Are you bringing the trainer?”
She glanced up at me as if she didn’t know who I was talking about, but then blinked in recognition. “Oh, no.” She shook her head.
“The date didn’t go well?”
“It was…fine.”
“Fine is good.”
She let out a soft sigh. “I want more than fine.”
I respected her stance on that.
The doors opened to the loading docks where Frank was parked and seated in the SUV.
I turned toward her. I’d known this moment was coming for months. I thought I’d know exactly what I would say in it, but now that it was here, I found myself at a loss for words.
Clearing my throat, I felt myself getting a little bit overwhelmed. Not with grief or sadness, but with gratitude. “Mia, next month, you’ll have worked for me for ten years.”
A small smile lifted on her lips. “If you’re feeling extra generous, I’ve had my eye on the BVLGARI Serpenti Forever bag.”
“I actually had something else in mind.”
She cringed slightly. “I really don’t mind taking care of it myself.”
I had a reputation for being a horrible gift giver.
When I was married to Ash, nine times out of ten when I gave her a gift she’d thank me, hug me, kiss me and tell me it was the thought that counts. It had become a running joke in our relationship. I liked to give gifts that were practical. For our one-year anniversary, I’d gotten her a vacuum cleaner. I knew that we needed one but she didn’t want to spend the money. For her twenty-first birthday, I’d gotten us a new mattress because she’d been complaining that our hand-me-down mattress hurt her back.
Mia was well aware of my gift-giving prowess since she’d been the one to buffer my poor skills as my assistant.
But this time, I knew that Mia wouldn’t be disappointed. “There’s an email sitting in your inbox.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion and she lifted her phone and clicked on the screen. I watched as her eyes scanned the document. I smiled as her jaw dropped so low that if it hadn’t been hinged to her skull it would have hit the ground.
I was silent, as I saw her scroll back up and read it again. Her head began shaking back and forth slowly and her breathing grew shallow.
“This is…I don’t…what did you…I can’t…what?” Her eyes lifted to mine.
“It’s forty-nine percent of Vaughn Holdings. I’m still going to retain my title as CEO, and you are now COO.”
