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‘While you said it would be enhanced.’ But I smile at him shyly. ‘You trust me with this.’
I’m touched. His trust is a gift more precious than any thing.
I don’t want to delete it. Ever. I don’t want to lose anything from these days because I know this isn’t going to last. But I realise this film isn’t ever going to be enough. I want and need the real thing—him—again and again and again.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Dain
I ADORE TEASING HER. It’s so easy. She’s so responsive. So satisfying. I race home early every day—well, the days I actually make it to work in the first place. Almost a week has passed in a fog of lusty laughter—it’s light and crazy easy.
But it can’t last much longer. The whispers have begun. It was inevitable—the leak wouldn’t have been one of my staff but perhaps a delivery driver, or maybe someone saw us at the airport. Who knows? But I’ve had more calls to my private number in the last week than I’ve had in months and I can’t continue to ignore their questions. While I try to maintain a low public profile, people pay attention. I’m worth a lot of money, plus I’m in charge of a lot of other people’s fortunes. I have thousands of contractors counting on me plus high-paying customers, and we’ll keep those customers only if the reputation of my company remains pristine. And I am my company. It’s my name on the door. If my personal life becomes the story, then the company suffers. That’s what happened with my parents and I won’t let it happen again.
So I need to show my face at headquarters, do some site visits and restore balance—the pendulum has swing too far. I also need to own my new personal situation. The only way is to front-foot it.
I’ll never bow to the external pressure to do that traditional ‘right thing’, the sexist instruction to ‘make an honest woman of her’—it’s old-fashioned and unnecessary. And it doesn’t work. We won’t make our parents’ mistakes. We’ll see this through then care for Lukas like the responsible adults we are.
I find her in the pool house and, confronted with her beauty, I can’t resist kissing her so it’s a few moments before I can speak.
‘Unfortunately, despite my best efforts at total privacy, the rumour mill is rumbling.’ I sigh. ‘You need to meet my parents. We need to introduce Lukas to them first.’
‘Your parents?’ She pulls back, stunned. ‘You’re still in contact with them?’
Yeah, if I had more of a choice I wouldn’t be. ‘They’re shareholders.’
Her jaw drops.
‘Minority shareholders,’ I clarify. ‘Part of the divorce settlement and my buy-out when I took over.’ I reduced their impact but couldn’t cut them out completely and they still talk. So even though I rarely see them I know I need to include them in this. But in my own way. ‘Confidence in the company—therefore in me—is essential. Curiosity has been roused. I need to take control of the narrative.’
‘Of course you do.’ She rolls her eyes.
I laugh as I tug her closer. ‘Don’t worry. They’re too wrapped up in their own war to give a damn about you.’
‘They’re still fighting?’
She has no idea.
‘They’ll go to their graves fighting. The bitterness is next level.’
‘I thought they divorced when you were—’
‘Fourteen, yeah.’
‘That’s a while ago.’ She draws in a deep breath. ‘How will you introduce me? Am I a friend, casual acquaintance, captive?’
Oh, she makes me smile. ‘We don’t need to define anything. They can think whatever they want.’
‘And how’s that controlling the narrative?’
She’s right but I don’t like considering these details too closely. The complications my fractured family could bring stress me out. ‘We’ll fake it.’ I snap decide. ‘No reason they won’t believe us. Like we did with Ava. You’ve only just agreed to come back with me. I’ve had to work at it. You took some convincing.’
‘No one’s going to believe that.’
‘You don’t think you exude cool indifference? That you’re not an impervious, powerful woman?’
‘Cool indifference?’ She looks sceptical.
‘Yeah. Infinitely capable and needing no one.’
