Page 19 of Succumbed

She gave me enough leeway to damn myself by the end of the hour. Our books were in order, I’m meticulous about that, but she had too many questions I couldn’t satisfactorily answer. I’m not willing to tell her how much we allowed Anne-Marie to dictate, how much I gave up to her control. Lex is frustratingly intelligent, and I suspect she saw right through me.

“I’ll be honest, Declan. I expected a clearer vision from you.”

She searched my gaze for a moment, the picture of calm professionalism while she cut my pride to shreds. We’d just finished reviewing my draft launch strategy for Solum after painstakingly combing through the financial statements from the last three years line-by-line. Lex didn’t pull any punches, and I was more than ready to hand her off to Shane and Linc and watch her cut them down instead.

“I expected a different answer from you three years ago.”

There was no use digging up the past, I knew that. But I couldn’t resist the urge to steer her away from the raw wound left by Anne-Marie. It was more than my pride under threat, it was everything I thought of myself–as a leader, as a brother, as a businessman. I was the one responsible for everything, and I’d dropped the ball. It was hard enough to admit to myself, let alone allow someone as strikingly intelligent and beautiful as Lex see through me.

She scoffed and shook her head.

“I’m not sure why you’re so defensive around me, but you need to let it go. If I remember correctly, this entire operation was your idea. You were the genesis of Procerus and now Solum.”

She leaned a hip against a low cabinet along the far wall, facing me head-on across my office.

“So tell me, Declan, why you seem so disinterested in working with me now. We can’t change the past, so why aren’t you jumping at the opportunity to change your present and future? How long will you let the memory of Anne-Marie and her betrayal have a seat at the table?”

None of what she asked was out of bounds. Harsh, yes, but not unreasonable. And she wasn’t wrong about any of it. I was letting Anne-Marie and her duplicity affect me; I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head since she walked out the door with our plans in her desperate, selfish hands.

The man I was when I had the idea for Procerus was wildly different from the man I’d become. Recent graduate Declan was idealistic and trusting. He was analytical but took people at their word. He had ten years of challenges, failures, and betrayals awaiting him.

Lex laughs again, the sound arresting. I hate how I can’t walk away. I scoff in response, loud enough for the three to hear. Lincoln turns to me, brows furrowed.

“You okay, man?”

I go to say something biting about how hard they’re working, but catch Shane’s warning look. I desperately want to tell my best friend to fuck right off, but I hold my tongue.

“Fine,” I answer, waving a hand at him. “Don’t let me interrupt your fun.”

Shane tsks, his blue eyes sparking in challenge. He was playing middleman between me and Linc more than usual lately, and I knew he hated it. Something about my brother’s enthusiasm sets me off, especially when it comes to our new investor.

“I’m surprised, Declan,” Lex cuts in, the small smirk on her lips a warning. “I didn’t think that word was in your vocabulary.”

“What word?” I challenge.

She arches one elegant eyebrow, crossing her arms under her chest. “Fun.”

Linc barks a laugh and Shane stifles a grin as I shift, discomfited by the ease of her banter. Something dark and ugly rises in my chest in response. I push it down, choosing not to engage, though I know my frustration is written all over me. She’s not Anne-Marie.

“No biting comeback?” Lex presses, tilting her head. “Pity.”

My brother chuckles and turns to settle the cover he’d lifted to show her some aspect of the equipment. Shane cocks a brow, either checking in or telling me to calm the fuck down. He was always doing one or the other lately. Lex holds my gaze for another beat, then dismisses me by turning back to Shane.

“What’s next, then?”

Even her voice is different with them. Softer, lighter. Every question she’d asked me earlier felt like a blade–sharp, pointed, aimed for the heart. Like she knew where my weaknesses were and wanted to expose them.

The most frustrating part? I want to join their fun. I want to rise to her challenge with a snappy comeback, something to make her laugh or smile. The me from four months ago would’ve been bantering back and forth, not seething from the outside. Feeling like a failure. I shove my self-pitying thoughts into the box they belong in at the back of my mind, lock it up, and throw away the key. I don’t have time for that shit.

I follow as Shane leads us around to the makeshift showroom he and Lincoln created. It features scale models built with our product, along with four full size prototypes of our green construction materials.

“Can I pick it up?” Lex asks, reaching for the nearest prototype.

“Of course!” Lincoln snatches up the piece and tosses it to her.

“Oh!” Lex gasps as she catches the brick, eyes wide. “Wow, it’s so much lighter than I expected.”

Shane nods. “One of the benefits from an installation and repair perspective. Still durable, though.”

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