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“Those who have met you are really impressed with you,” Kai explained, reading the confusion on my face. “So the public can say whatever they want about you—they were going to, no matter who you were.”
“Particularly as a woman,” Paxton added flatly.
“Who came out of nowhere,” Kai provided.
“Who is stunningly beautiful,” Lincoln concluded. “They needed to talk shit. It has no bearing on us.”
My lips parted. “They’re saying—”
“It doesn’t matter what they’re saying,” Lincoln cut me off. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. They don’t know that you’re intelligent and savvy and worthy of any executive position in Silverpiece. I’m sorry you feel we were keeping it from you. We learned long ago to tune that shit out, but we should have thought about how it would affect you.”
“Those who have met you laugh at those postings because they know there’s no possible way you’re what they say you are,” Kai added.
“We should have warned you of the downfalls of this,” Paxton added. “But this is one of the things we’ve learned to ignore over the years.”
“And you should, too…” Kai added, eyeing his partners. “If you stick around.”
“Kai…” Paxton growled. “This isn’t the time.”
I did manage to sit up now, the men hurrying to set my pillows behind me, so I was comfortable and upright. A wave of comfort washed over me as I watched them, fussing over me, but I waited for them to explain themselves.
“Stick around?” I echoed. “You mean, stay in Chicago?”
They settled back against the bed and fell silent for a moment.
“We can talk about this when you’re back home—” Lincoln started to say, but I shook my head.
“No. I don’t want any more secrets,” I insisted.
“We never kept secrets from you,” Paxton sighed. “We just want you to focus on recovering.”
“You know what I mean,” I grumbled. “Just say what you mean. I don’t want you to keep things from me anymore.”
“We don’t want you to leave when your contract is up,” Kai blurted out as he always did. “We want you to stay on at Silverpiece.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“You can have the penthouse all to yourself if you want,” Lincoln offered as my heart rate increased. “But we hope that won’t change the way you see us.”
“Wait, what?” I said, leaning forward. “You’re leaving me alone in the penthouse?”
“If that’s what you want,” Kai told me. “We want you to be comfortable. We just don’t want you to leave.”
“I am comfortable,” I said slowly, churning their offer over in my mind. “I’m very comfortable with all of you right where you are…”
I paused and chewed on the insides of my cheeks. “What do you mean, stay on at Silverpiece? What would that entail?”
“I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Lincoln told me, and the others nodded. “I think you would be incredible at client relations. You would oversee events and meetings. The board loves you. The subsidiaries love you. And those are only the ones who have met you.”
“They think I’m an escort,” I muttered.
“More the reason to give you a more formal title and show them that they’re wrong about you,” Lincoln suggested.
I gnawed harder on the insides of my cheeks. “And this poisoning?”
“This might have been a one-off,” Paxton suggested. “It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve been targeted.”
I arched my brow, unsure if it could be so easily dismissed.
