Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Rowe’s eyes were huge. “But you’re telling me.”
I nodded. “Because I know I can trust you. Because I want you to know that I trust you. And because…” I took a deep breath. “Because Sterling Chase is going to offer you a deal for Daisy Chain, and I want you to know that’s not because I brought undue influence on anyone as a board member. It’s because I, and the other four guys who founded the company, believe in you and in your project.”
“Bash,” Rowe said softly. He took a step toward me and then another, like he was a lifeline towing me to safety. He lifted a hand to cup my cheek. “Baby. I already figured it out.”
I froze. “What? How? There’s no way…”
“Silas mentioned something in the office the other day about Sterling Chase being ‘our’ company. I put two and two together.” Rowe shrugged. “As soon as the idea occurred to me, I realized of course you’d invented ETC. You’re passionate about emergency medicine. You’ve invested your soul in the company. You care about people. And, honestly… you’re one of a very strange mix of people on the board of directors. I bet it’s not as much of a secret as you think.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Oh, I assure you, it is. No one else knows. Not Clarissa or Austin or any of our employees. Even our lawyers don’t talk about it openly.” Another thought occurred to me, even more overwhelming than the last. “Wait, so if you knew—”
“Well, strongly suspected might be more accurate—”
“Then you know that when we sold ETC, I—”
“Became a billionaire?” Rowe took a deep breath and smoothed my hair behind my ear. “Yes. Yep. That was… trippy.”
“And you’re fine with it?”
“I mean, no? Because I still cannot comprehend what a billion of anything would be like, let alone a billion dollars. But also, yes. Because I like you. You, Sebastian. And I’d like you even if you didn’t have a cent—”
“You’d probably like me better.”
“Not better,” he insisted. “I like you the way you are. Confident. In charge. Very, devastatingly…”
I lifted an eyebrow and asked hopefully, “Sexy?”
“Kind,” Rowe said with a grin. He pushed up on his toes and kissed me, and my arms instinctively went around his waist. “And sexy, obviously. Goes without saying.” He sank back down but linked his hands behind my neck. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I promise, I will keep your secret safe.”
“I know you will.”
“But let the record show,” he teased, “I trusted you first.”
I snorted. “Is that right, Sterling Chase?”
“Mmhmm. I told you about the li’l baby Cupid picture,” he said loftily. “There is no greater trust than that.”
I covered his smile with my lips and took his laughter deep inside.
“Your friends are pretty great,” he said a long moment later when we came up for air. His hands roamed over my chest, lighting tiny fires everywhere he touched. “I’m glad. You deserve them.”
“They are,” I agreed. “I’m glad they came—”
Down the hall, a smoke detector began to wail, followed instantly by Kenji yelling, “Everything’s fine! Silas doesn’t understand how toasters work, but otherwise, we’re all okay!”
“—and I’ll be very glad when they go away,” I grumbled.
Rowe stifled his laugh in my chest. “Come on. Let’s go rescue them. It’s the least we can do.”
A little while later, I found myself perched on a stool, watching in amusement as Kenji tried to ride herd on all the sous chefs in the kitchen while Zane strummed his guitar at the kitchen table. It was chaos… and I thought I could get used to it.
Eventually, Silas, who’d been exiled to the living room for crimes against food preparation, came and stood by my shoulder, watching the spectacle with me.
“I told him,” I said simply.
“Good. And you two are together now?”
I shook my head. “He can’t make that decision yet, so I didn’t ask. He’s got too many other things to focus on. But after Monday…”
Silas nodded. “And if things don’t work out? If he makes a different choice?”
“He still won’t tell anyone.” I’d bet my fortune on that. In a way, I had.
Silas fell silent for a moment, but it was the kind of silence that I knew meant he was churning things over in his mind methodically, logically.
“Spit it out,” I prompted easily.
“Are you gonna be able to handle this and stay professional? Because I can take point on the Austin fiasco. Fuck knows you did it for me when things with Justin went to shit.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged.
“Yes, I know I was the one who just wanted to fire Austin in the first place, but now, after talking to Legal…” He shook his head. “You were right. That would have been the worst possible course. We need to pull Austin’s fangs by reminding him of the nondisclosure agreement he signed before he does anything rash that would earn Sterling Chase media scrutiny—like complaining about his wrongful termination at the same moment your new boyfriend is applying for a patent on the project Austin’s trying to take credit for.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Zane’s career is taking off, Kenji’s barely keeping Landry’s behavior off the radar, Dev’s in no shape to have people poking around his personal life. I don’t want this to blow up in our faces. And more than all that, I don’t want you to have to worry about all this when you’ve already got enough on your plate.”