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Then… there’s her. She looks so familiar to me, but I can’t place her.
Pale, freckled skin, long auburn hair that almost reaches her waist, and bright-blue eyes. She’s wearing a mint sweater that hangs loosely off one delicate shoulder, leaving it exposed. Her lips look like the shape of Cupid’s bow, plump and pouty with a hint of pink. I do a double take, then shift my eyes back to someone else so I’m not obvious. I feel a clenching in my gut, Lisa’s words from weeks ago ringing in my ears.
“And stop being photographed with young women.”
I’m not a creep. The reality is she’s right about how it makes me look. I only hooked up with younger women in my past a few times because it was an easy one-night stand. They had some daddy issues to work out, wanted to attend a fancy yacht party or two, and I needed to get laid. I wasn’t looking for forever and neither were they. The responsible, age-appropriate women weren’t throwing themselves at me and I was wallowing in self-esteem issues. Not to mention the thought of settling down and forever was about as appealing as a daily colonoscopy. Nikki Frisk happened to be younger at twenty-nine, but I didn’t actively seek her out.
“Anyone care to tell me what the word ethics means to you?” I say, turning my attention back to my class. I glance around the room, but nobody responds.
She raises her hand timidly.
“Yes, Miss?”
“Presley, Presley James.” She says her name almost as if I should know it, but it doesn’t ring any bells.
I lean back, sitting on the edge of the desk, crossing my arms neatly over my chest. “And what does ethics mean to you, Miss James?”
“It’s a set of… a moral code of conduct. Guidelines for how we should behave.” Her voice is angelic, like I imagined it would be. Breathy and a touch high-pitched.
I nod. “Is that what Webster says or is that what it means to you?”
She chews her bottom lip momentarily. “Both, I suppose. I believe that is what ethics is and should be. Morality because otherwise it’s chaos, anarchy.”
“And who decides what is moral? Who decides what is chaos?”
She opens her mouth, then snaps it shut again.
“Miss James,” I say and then gesture to the rest of the room, “and all of you for that matter, I encourage you to think for yourself. We all know how the dictionary defines the word ethics or ethical, but in the real world, there won’t be the morality police helping you, guiding you through every decision. That is something that you’ll have to determine for yourself. Your morality will be based on your own life experiences, your own values, etcetera. So again, I challenge you to look inward and figure out what you are willing to live with when it comes to what is moral. Life is one big gray area most of the time.”
“Is that what you do, Mr. Gates?” She stares at me unblinking, her spine stiff. “Do you make decisions in a vacuum based on your own version of morality or do you take into account that there’s a general idea of what is right and wrong when making your business deals?”
She’s feisty… or perhaps defiant. I can’t decide which turns me on more. Fuck, so not the point and the exact opposite of what I’m supposed to be focusing on here.
I can’t hide the grin that settles over my face. I think for a moment, running my finger slowly over my bottom lip as I contemplate my answer. I want to make it abundantly clear to her and the rest of the class that while there are rules that one should follow or abide by, a man like me is far above them.
“No,” I say flatly, staring at her. “Because when you’re as powerful as I am, when you own most of this city and your name is on the company, you get to make the rules, Miss James.” I watch as her throat constricts with a nervous swallow. I lean forward a touch, lowering my voice for emphasis as she clasps her hands tightly in her lap, her knuckles turning white.
“But you nor anyone else in this room has that kind of power so I would highly suggest that someone like you follow the rules because otherwise you might be facing consequences that you’re not prepared to handle.”
Chapter 2
Presley
My body tenses beneath Cyrus Gates’ intimidating stare as my cheeks flush with embarrassment.
This man doesn’t remember me at all. Then again, it was almost a month ago, he was drinking, and if rumors are true, he goes through women like some go through… What is the rest of the phrase again? Tissues? Underwear? Coffee filters? It’s not like I’d stand out from his string of female encounters.
“What the hell, Pres?” My friend Serenity elbows me gently in the rib, but I keep my gaze forward as Professor Gates continues with the lecture.
Regret churns in my stomach, not that I answered his question in such an opinionated manner, but that once again, I can’t shake my uptight attitude that has plagued me my entire life. I don’t want to see the world as black and white. I know there are a lot of gray areas, especially in business, and honestly, I’d give anything to not be so averse to risk for once in my life. I grew up in an area where right was right and wrong was wrong; there was no margin for interpretation… no differing opinions.
When I graduated high school and moved from small-town, central Illinois to Chicago for college, I wanted to experience life on my own terms. Figure out what life meant to me and what I believed. I promised myself I would be spontaneous and fun. That I would finally throw caution to the wind and do all those wild and exciting things you’re supposed to do when you’re young. But here I am, in my last semester of grad school and I’m still walking that line like a tightrope… wanting so bad to let loose yet too scared of the possible consequences.
I pop open my tablet, diving into my notes as the lecture carries on. I try to remain focused on what Cyrus is saying, but the way he casually reaches his hand up to run it through his hair, brushing it away from his forehead, has me mesmerized. He pushes off the edge of the desk where he’s been perched, sliding his suit coat down his arms and placing it gently on the back of the chair behind the desk.
“I plan to discuss with you some of my own experiences in business, the flat-out unethical bullshit I’ve been privy to as well some of my own actions that people have deemed immoral or questionable. I also plan to share with you why I’ve made the decisions I have and why I stand behind them.”
He casually unbuttons the cuffs of his shirt, slowly rolling up each sleeve to reveal his tan, muscular forearms.
