Not that I care much for the politics behind any of this, though I certainly pretend otherwise. I act as though that is the reason I am here.
To teach, no less.
As if I possess the patience for that sort of thing.
I barely tolerate people working beneath me, never mind spending hours attempting to educate a pack of entitled little pricks.
I am twenty eight years old. I am well past the point of wanting anything to do with university life.
And to say my grandfather was annoyed would be putting it mildly.
He has been on my back about it ever since I finished my degree at Velmark Academy, and then, much to his irritation, Iwent and added another year onto it by deciding to do a master’s as well.
After that, I took a position at Wardgrave Dynamics, just not the one he wanted me in.
Truthfully, I don’t even know why I have kept delaying it.
Perhaps because it gave me freedom. Because taking that position felt too permanent. Too much like settling into a life that had already been decided for me before I was even born.
And despite my obsession with control, the thought of settling down used to make my skin fucking crawl.
Take the position, marry some suitable woman, produce heirs. Repeat the same tedious cycle generation after generation.
I wanted absolutely no part in it.
Well, I still don’t.
But one thing is certain.
I want Piper.
Even knowing I am incapable of giving her what she probably wants most. Love and all the other bullshit people convince themselves matters.
And perhaps, if anyone on this planet deserves that sort of thing, it is probably her.
Which is precisely why I am the worst thing that could ever happen to her.
But I am also selfish.
Bloody greedy.
Completely fucked in the head.
And despite knowing all of that… I am still going to take her.
I had finally been ready to take the CEO position. It was supposed to happen this year.
That had been the plan.
Again… beforeher.
It never stood a chance the moment Piper Ashthorne entered the equation.
I told my grandfather it had to do with the Ferrum Syndicate, which more or less ended the discussion.
Barely.
But the truth is, I came here for Piper Ashthorne.
