Page 14 of The Billionaire's Desire

He didn't even consider it. "It looks serious, but I thrive under this kind of pressure. Just like you thrive when you're hands-on, working with the client. You'll work the Kent case." His eyes narrowed. "I need someone in there to balance Missy out. Someone that's driven but doesn't lose sight that we're working to help rebuild personal and professional lives. And that someone is you."

Nerves knotted my throat. I knew Jacob thought I was capable. And I believed it myself. But there were still the whispers of doubt that scratched beneath the surface. "I'm just your personal assistant, Jacob."

"We both know you're more than that. You said you want to earn your place at the table and prove that you belong here. That's why you're gonna march that hot behind back the way you came, go to that meeting and show them that you're the person to watch at Whitmore and Creighton."

I looked into those blue eyes that I knew so well and I saw more than love. I saw a leader. A man who knew what to say to make me charge into battle for him. Maybe he didn't ask about his employees' children or have a stack of invites to holiday dinners and graduations, but he saw the big picture. How much did all of Carlton's words mean anyway if he chunked a teetering company on his son as soon as he graduated from college?

"What's going on, Leila?" His hands gripped mine, bringing my attention back to him. "I can tell there's something else bothering you besides this meeting."

I blinked at him, only entertaining the thought of saying 'nothing' for a millisecond. No more secrets. No more half-truths. I didn't know how bringing up his father would affect him, but I would give him the respect of letting him deal with it and not try to handle him.

"It was just something Missy said." When he scowled, I quickly added, "Not anything negative. She just talked about her time at Whitmore and Creighton. Working for your father."

Jacob tensed, his features turning downright predatory. This was what Carlton Whitmore did to him, a life of disappointment turning the word 'father' into profanity.

"I'm sure she talked of how he walked on water, swooped in with his red cape, doing the impossible, handing out jobs like candy. His story conveniently leaves out the fact that he ignored incompetence because he was too busy drinking or screwing."

I didn't know what to say to that, but I had a feeling he wasn't expecting a response. He needed to vent.

"Whitmore and Creighton was just another business headed toward bankruptcy or better off being chopped up and sold off to someone that actually knew what the hell they were doing. It was nothing before I stepped into this office."

He was clenching and unclenching his fists, back in that place before us. But he didn't have to go alone.

"I never really asked you what it was like taking the reins when you were twenty-one."

I knew I was ready for more responsibility when I got my degree, ready to take on cases instead of just getting coffee and being seen and not heard. But taking on an entire company, and a failing one at that? Heck no.

He tugged at his tie, the lines on his face those of someone with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

"I'd studied business. There was no way I was going to go into anything but business. And I knew I'd inherit Whitmore and Creighton someday. She was my father's baby. The only child he cared about. And when he gave me my graduation present, telling me the business was mine, I was so honored." He grit his teeth angrily. "He was letting me take the reins. Barely graduated. I thought that maybe he was finally seeing me. Respecting me.

When I found out how much disarray the company was in, I was more than angry. I'd always told myself that it was the job. He wasn't around because he was hard at work. He had responsibilities. We weren't the only family he was providing for because there were all the employees that counted on him too. But when I saw the company was a swift breeze away from bankruptcy, I was offended. He didn't care about us--and he sure as hell didn't care about all the people that would be unemployed if the company went under.

And it was my name above the door too. I was the one that would have to live with the failure. So I had to be the adult. Cut out the partying. Drop the dead weight. Take a company that used to be synonymous with 'yeah right' and turn it into a force to be reckoned with."

And it was. The company wasn't the sum of its past, a comeback kid. They were innovative, hands-on, turning the biggest divas into relatable figures that connected with everyone from their colleagues to small town audiences. Whitmore and Creighton was a multi-billion dollar company and Jacob was always making contacts, branching out, building something new and incredible. When there was a crisis, you called Whitmore and Creighton.

"And I guess I'm the monster." He had a smile on his face but it was one filled with a quiet sadness that made me want to just throw my arms around his neck. "The tyrant that followed the Great Carlton Whitmore."

"Don't worry about them," I said firmly. "They don't know that you're the reason they still have jobs. And they don't know you."

The smile broadened, the light returning to his intensely blue eyes. "But you do."

I leaned in, lowering my voice like I had a secret. "I do. You're a tenacious businessman, but you're not heartless. You care a lot more than you let on."

He followed through, coming forward until we were face to face, lips almost touching, our breaths mixing.

Tingling.

"I love you," he whispered. And just in case I didn't catch it, he kissed me, tattooing those very words on my heart.

****

The clock read thirty minutes past 11am.

Thirty minutes past the start of Mia's appointment.

Missy was running point and I could tell from the way she sat, rigid and unmoving, eyes straight ahead, that she was getting closer to losing it with each passing second.

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