Page 5 of A Bossy Surprise

I shrug. “I guess I wouldn’t mind it so much if my father actually respected me.”

“Of course, he respects you. You’re the Senior Vice President of the company. He is grooming you to take over when he retires. He wouldn’t be doing that if he didn’t respect you.”

“He’s only doing that because that’s what’s always been done. The firstborn Grant going back four generations hasalways inherited the company. Even if he wanted to break from tradition, my grandfather would never let him.”

Arthur throws his hands up in a huff. “I swear, I’ll never understand you rich people.”

I laugh. “I’m not reallyrich people.”

“Adam, you have access to billions of dollars. That’s what I would call rich.”

“Yes, but I didn’t grow up rich.”

“Yes you did. Just because you didn’t grow up with your father and all his wealth doesn’t mean you didn’t grow up rich. Even though you didn’t have access to it, you knew it was there.”

“What I meant is that I had a pretty normal upbringing in Montpelier. Mom and I had a simple life in a two bedroom bungalow. Even though I knew Dad was somewhere lurking in the shadows, he was kind of amorphous…”

I look at Arthur and I see he is struggling to understand my words. So I try another tack.

“I would imagine you grew up having whatever you needed, but not always what you wanted. That’s how I grew up too. So my brain isn’t wired like your average rich person’s.”

“I guess I can see what you mean… kinda.”

“I take offense to being referred to asrich people.” I laugh.

“Whatever.” Arthur looks out of the window. “We are here.”

We get out of the car and I look up at the GNN building in downtown Cleveland. I can’t help but be filled with such hope. This move has so much promise. I’m really going to have to work hard to achieve my goals here. Nothing can stand in my way.

We head into the building and march through the sparsely dull lobby and head to the elevator bank. Arthur and I walk shoulder to shoulder, looking very much the formidable pair in our suits. Although his gray one looks to be off the rack, I have to say it fits him quite well.

Once we are in the elevator, Arthur turns to me. “So I’ve called a meeting of all the key players a GNN. They should all be waiting for us in the conference room. When we get in there I will introduce you and you can address your new employees.”

“Great…”

“Honestly, I deserve some sort of bonus for keeping this under wraps for as long as I have.”

“I don’t know about a bonus, but I will say thank you. I want to see everyone’s reaction to the news in real-time. I don’t want them to have time to manufacture a reaction. I want to know who is for it and who is against it.”

“If you say so…”

The elevator dings on the top floor, and the door slides open.

Arthur leads me through the busy news room with worker drones bustling around. Once we fight our way through the bullpen, he opens the door to the conference room and we walk in.

I walked in after Arthur. At first, he blocks my view of half of the room. It’s only when I come to stand at his side that I see her.

Kayla Wood.

My eyes zero in on her and everyone else in the room falls away.

It’s been seven years since I’ve laid eyes on her, and she’s just as beautiful as I remember. Her alabaster skin literally glows under these horrible fluorescent lights. Her wavy, deep golden hair, although shorter and less curly than it used to be, frames her face perfectly.

The second her hazel eyes clock me, color drains from her cheeks. I know her mind has gone directly back to the exact same place mine has.

That night.

The glorious, yet torturous night.