Page 9 of The Price of a Promise

But I didn’t play like that.Not when my future was at stake.It was go big or go bury your fucking head in the sand.I didn’t particularly like the taste of sand in my teeth, so I knew where we were headed.

“We’ve got enough drawn up that we could start hunting for investors,” Trace said.“Even though we’re not finalized, I think we’re ready enough to prove that you’re serious.”

“I haven’t even started the LLC,” I told him.“This motherfucker will be the first to shoot me down because my paperwork isn’t in order.”

“It’s not like he’s gonna check your tax ID number,” Damian muttered.

“You don’t think he will?He probably runs a monthly background check on my ass just for fun.”

Trace shrugged.“You want to go to that pitch unprepared, then do it.But if this is how the CEO of Fairchild Enterprises works, then maybe we need to talk.”

“Oh my g—Trace.You are fucking ruthless.”I wasn’t sure if I was more upset or amazed by his boldness.Questioning my commitment to our business, right to my face.What an asshole.A brilliant asshole.“You’re gonna be the next one I pound into the couch.”

He looked pleased with himself.“MaybeIshould be the CEO.”

“Absolutely not.You have no idea how to woo the pants off people.You should stick to cold hard cash.”

“You haven’t wooed Cora’s dad,” Damian pointed out.

“Thank you, Damian, for your overstatement of the obvious.”I kneeled on the couch so I could punch him in the shoulder, which he accepted with a muffled laugh.“That man barely likes his own family.I never had a chance.So it’s a moot point.”

“Great.So it’s settled.You’ll stop letting your emotion cloud your judgment,” Trace said, adding a smirk at the end that told me how much pleasure he derived from calling me out like this.

“I’ve had about enough from your smartass mouth,” I said, closing the gap between us so that I could deliver a blow to his shoulder as well.He just laughed, because he knew he was right.Hell, even I knew he was right.

If this weren’t about the one person I loved more than life itself, I’d have no problem waltzing into her father’s office and putting it all on the line.

Cora was the one thing in my life I couldn’t stand to lose.I couldn’t gamble with her.I would accept no negative response to the big question.

But I had to treat this like another of the chameleon social moments I’d gotten so good at over the years.If this were a business deal, Trace was right—I’d be posturing the fuck out of this.

I ground my teeth as I played with the idea.I could already see it, however much I didn’t want to—meeting Allan on his turf somewhere.Sharing my meticulously crafted business plans.Telling him how much Cora meant to me.Practically getting down on one knee to propose to him too.

My brothers were right.They knew it.And they knew that I knew it, too.

I finally slipped the ring box into the right pocket of my sweats.

“You’ll both be my best men, right?”I asked.

I got two cocky smiles in return.

CHAPTER FOUR

CORA

AXEL: You’re close, aren’t you?

AXEL: Never mind.

AXEL: I can smell you.You’re here.

I grinned down at my phone as the text messages rolled in.The five-hour first-class flight from LAX to JFK on airplane mode had been a nice pause on life.And now, as I drifted untethered through the throngs of people in the airport, I realized this was true luxury.My father wasn’t breathing down my neck for once.I’d managed to swindle my way into booking the flight home with our travel agent all by myself.And now that I was in New York proper, all I could think about was Axel.What he might taste like once I kissed him.How good he’d smell as he wrapped his arms around me.

It had been three months since we’d last seen each other—back in August, during one of my visits home from Stanford.We’d only gotten two days together, since my father made a habit of overscheduling my visits home.But we’d crammed in enough love and tenderness to last us these months apart and more.

Even though Axel was my true love—the one man I could be my true self with—my stomach was in knots imagining how it would be to see him again.Three months was both nothing and everything.Doubts crept in no matter what I did to bat them away.Maybe he wouldn’t like what he saw…maybe I acted differently now after so much time away and didn’t even realize it.Doubt and insecurity circled like a predator while I speed walked through JFK, clutching my rolling luggage behind me.

DAD: Got your flight details from the agent.Vince is waiting for you.See you soon.

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