Page 43 of The Passion

“Stop deflecting,” he adds, and that cocky half-smile gets me every time. He is trying to relax me, but he’s not letting me get away with anything either.

Taking a deep soul-searching breath, I look up into his eyes. “I wish I even knew where to start. I’m so perplexed how everything has come to this.” He just waits for me to continue.

“Ummm… I need you to swear you will never use what I’m about to tell you against me or my family company in any way.” Because what I’m about to say opens us up to complete vulnerability to our competitors. He asked me to trust him, and strangely enough, I do, even though we don’t really know each other that well, and I feel this is going to test that trust more than I would have liked.

“Never. I would never hurt you like that.” He strokes his thumb gently down my cheek, and a small shiver runs through me at his gentle touch when I’m feeling so vulnerable.

“As I told you, on my fortieth birthday, I step in and take over the company as the chairman and controlling shareholder from my father. It’s a clause that was set up before I was born and one my father had ignored until he couldn’t any longer. I’m sure he was hoping I would have married, had children, and walked away from the business by now and he could have just continued on until I produced him a male heir.” Suddenly I can feel the words all starting to rush forward, and I want to get them out, to tell him everything. I have held onto this for too long.

“Why a male heir?” Flynn is looking at me, perplexed.

“Because I was a failure for being a girl, his words not mine.” Seeing the look in Flynn’s eyes, I know his anger is building quickly, and his body tenses underneath me.

Poor guy, he has no idea this is just the beginning.

“But despite being a woman who he pretends to the rest of the world he is so proud of what I have achieved in my career, it’s all for show. The reality is he believes that all I do and have accomplished is off the back of his success and money. Don’t feel sorry for me, I have known this all my life and accepted it a long time ago. But stupidly, I kept telling myself deep down that he still loved me even through his disappointment. Until now.” I try to hold back tears from coming forward. I want to get through this all before I start to crumble again.

I pause to collect my thoughts before I open my mouth again, and Flynn gives me space to take my time, not rushing me.

“This last year, though, I have felt things have shifted to a completely different level for him. Where there were snide remarks before, in the quiet of his home or his office, they started to get nastier, and he didn’t care who heard him. And then when the first email arrived about the video, he just verbally attacked me and was only worried about how it made him and the company look…”

Before I could continue, Flynn jumps in. “I wanted to come and rip his throat out that day on the phone. He’s lucky Rem and the guys held me back.” The look on his face and tension in his voice reminds me of a wolf ready to pounce. Takes me back to my teen years of watching those movies.

“It would have just made it worse.” My father would have lost total control, and his opinion of Flynn would have been worse than what it already was.

“Don’t fucking care,” Flynn grumbles like a child. It makes me want to laugh, but I don’t have the energy.

“I know, but you can’t overstep here. You just can’t.” He has to understand that I know my father better than anyone and what provokes him.

“Mhmm, we’ll see.”

“Flynn.” Why did I have to fall for someone as stubborn as I am?

“Keep going.” He’s not going to listen right now, and I can’t argue it either.

“I was quietly devastated he never once asked how I was and checked in if I was alright. Not like my mum who didn’t want to leave my side, but I couldn’t take her fussing, so I assured her I was okay. We both know I was far from okay back then. So, I pushed his disinterest aside, but when he just dismissed the whole thing by paying the money, even though we all asked him not to, I felt something seemed off. My father doesn’t part with his money easily, I can assure you, unless it’s for something he wants.”

I grew up materialistic because I didn’t know any differently. When I was younger, I was always showered with presents which I believed was them showing their love. I always thought they were from both my parents, but it wasn’t until later that I discovered it was all my mother, and if my father said anything,she shut him down. She was trying to love me enough for both of them.

“But then he started to discredit me in board meetings, and when a few of the board members stood up for me, he didn’t like it. So instead of backing down, it just got worse. And Harper then told me there were rumblings in the office that people were worried about the family dynamics between us. I again just dismissed this, thinking it won’t be long until he will be stepping down anyway and it will all settle. He was just being a typical grumpy old man who was making sure he went out with a bang.”

“And then D-Day happened, and the video leaked, like we all knew it would.” Sighing, the memory replays in my head.

“We were in a late-night board meeting on something that I didn’t think was important enough to keep everyone there at night for. Mid meeting, our head of security entered the room and whispered something to my father, and before I knew what had happened, he announced to the whole boardroom that a sex video of me was going viral on the internet.” And now, just like it did in that moment, I can feel my breathing getting a little rapid again. It’s like the memory of it is triggering a panic response.

“He didn’t even tell me in private…” My voice is barely above a whisper.

I know how angry Flynn is because I can feel his reaction in his body, but he is restraining from showing me. Instead, in his calm voice, he talks me back off the ledge.

“He can’t hurt you here, just take a deep breath. I won’t let him hurt you ever again. That’s it, slow it down, breathe in nice and deep… and let it out.” He brings his hand to my chest over my heart. “I will protect this…” He kisses me lightly on my temple.

There is something about this man that is like he has a magic touch. His voice, his touch, and just his presence wrapping around me is like a sensation I have never known before.

I gulp down the hurt again. I want to keep going. Nodding to him, I thank him for his reassurance.

“I was crushed. But I didn’t show it. I kept up my stony face and proceeded to apologize to the rest of the board members as my father scoffed at my words. Then when I collected my things to leave the room, he just casually dropped that perhaps they needed to evaluate my capability to take over the company in light of the way I had just tarnished the business’s name and reputation. And then to finish the day off, later when he turned up at my home, he proceeded to tell me he wished I was never born.”

“Bastard.” Flynn has given up trying to mumble his comments and is now just voicing his hate for my father, and I can’t blame him.

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