Page 107 of The Passion

Pushing all my personal emotions aside, I can be that person.

“Thank you to all our shareholders for your years of support and investment in our company. And can I also say a personal thank-you in your belief of me and selling your shares to Flynn. And Mr. Fellman, you may not have sold to Flynn, but you will sell to me, as I’m sure your allegiance to Ewan is no longer an issue. I will have the paperwork drawn up this morning for you to sign over your shares today.” Staring him down, I won’t give him the chance to say no in front of all these people.

Opening his mouth, he is about to say no, but once he scans the room, I think he realizes there is no point. He and I will have a problem working together, but he doesn’t have any say as he will be the only other shareholder besides me. Taking his money now and leaving is certainly the smarter option. The momentthis registers with him, he looks at me and nods in agreement. Smart choice, Mr. Fellman.

“I feel the best thing for us to do right now is adjourn this meeting and for the board to convene again after lunch at two pm to allow me time to sort through a few very pressing matters right now, and to allow our previous shareholders to get on with their day. Harper, before they all leave, could you make sure that every person in the room has signed a non-disclosure agreement in relation to everything that has transpired in this room this morning and anything that relates to the company information in general.” I know the board is already covered by a very complex agreement, but God knows what my father did with these shareholders who won their shares over a poker game.

“They are being printed as we speak. One moment, everyone, and I will be back with you to sign them.” She is up out of her seat and moving with haste.

And this is why I love her. This woman knows what’s in my head, sometimes before I even have had the thought.

It doesn’t take long, and she is scurrying back into the room and on her way around the table, getting the signatures she needs. I know no matter how watertight these contracts are, it will leak somehow, and it’s always hard to pinpoint where the source came from, but all I can do is try.

One by one people start to leave the room, some coming up to me with both words of sympathy and encouragement. I’m sure some of them feel guilty for believing the horrendous things my father had been saying about me, but I don’t hold a grudge for that. I know he can be very persuasive, and the video helped to confirm what he was saying.

The one person who has not moved out of their seat and is the last person in the room with me and Harper is Luchia Bianchi.

“Leave us.” She motions to Harper with her hand, and I give Harper a slight nod to do as she asks.

I look at Luchia and know that she is the kind of woman I want to be in this business world. She commands respect in any room she enters, but never with an iron fist. She still manages to have a certain softness and kindness to her, although I’m sure if you cross her, that would disappear very quickly.

“Sit.” She motions for me to take the chair next to her.

“Thank you for your support in here today.” I don’t think she will ever know how much I needed the courage that she instilled in me, knowing someone was on my side.

“You’re welcome but know that you didn’t need it. You, my dear, had him right where you wanted him. I’ve been waiting for a long time to see you step up and become who you are meant to be. You have worked hard but never forgotten those below you. That is very important in this world. You have strong ethics, and I respect that, but even more so when I know the terrible man you came from. That man doesn’t have one ethical bone in his body.” She rolls her eyes at me while she reaches for my hand, wrapping hers around mine and squeezing it.

“I don’t understand him. I tried so hard, but I just never lived up to who he wanted me to be.” I feel sad about it, but it doesn’t pierce my heart like it used to.

Laughing out loud, she says, “That’s because you don’t have balls between your legs, and let’s face it, you wouldn’t want to be the type of person he tried to make you be anyway.”

I can’t help but join in laughing with her. All this seems so ridiculous, that he couldn’t see the value in me as his child all because I was a girl.

As our laughter settles down, she looks at me with a smile.

“But let’s talk about your man who was in this room today, who in my eyes is a thousand times more a man than your father will ever be.”

Is he still my man?

I don’t know how I feel about him at the moment. Both my head and my heart are so confused.

“You’re angry at him, aren’t you?” Her hand is now patting mine.

“Furious, so much so I don’t know how to process it.” I don’t know why I’m telling her this, but it’s like my feelings are bubbling so much they are ready to burst out of me, and she knows just the right things to say to make talk.

“With good reason. I did warn him that keeping it a secret was not smart, but men, they never listen.”

I wish he had taken her advice, and then I wouldn’t be here feeling like someone kicked me in the stomach.

“I trusted him.” Tears are building, and I don’t want to be a CEO crying in front of a business colleague, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stop it the more she prods me with her words.

“And I think you still can. He made a mistake, but he did a good thing. I need to tell you the story of how he got me to sell to him.” As she continues talking, I’m glued to her words.

She explains how he told her from the moment they met that he was doing this for me. That he never intended to keep the shares and was doing it as a plan B in case what I was trying to achieve didn’t work. He didn’t want to step on my toes or try to control me but instead just quietly worked in the background to be my safety net.

“He never wavered when I pressed him on his intentions, but he didn’t need to convince me. I could tell the way his eyes sparkled when he spoke your name. You can tell a lot about a man through his eyes.”

I briefly think of my father and how soulless his eyes have always been, and it has me agreeing with her.

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