Page 15 of Overstaying His Welcome

Chance Sheppard was destined for greatness, not to be the partner of some lowlife foster kid whose parents were murderers and abusers.

Our time would run out eventually. I wouldn't have any more reasons to go to his office, and he would need to be more in the spotlight than ever. He couldn't be mayor of a city like this without having his face on every newsstand or TV show.

My Chance was going to be famous.

He was going to make big changes in this world, and I would have to let him go so that he could. That was the part that gutted me the most because I never wanted to let him go.

I believed he could make the changes in the world that he wanted to see with me by his side. But his misplaced desire to make his parents proud wouldn't allow it.

And because I loved him, I knew letting him go would be for the best when the time didn’t come.

I pondered over my thoughts the entire drive there. Traffic was a bit backed up, so it took longer than usual.

When I walked in, Marten, Chance’s assistant, shook his head at me.

“I was about to call the cavalry,” he teased.

I smiled at him, propping up on the desk to speak with the young man. He was a joy, just like Jared, though Marten had a lot more sass to him.

His half-Hispanic, half-Asian roots created a unique look. Had I met him before Chance, I might have been tempted. I couldn’t see anything past the man I’d come to see though.

People would pay big money to see Marten on billboards. Instead of chasing down the model life, he had chosen to do what made him happy, which was work as a personal assistant,go home, play video games, and repeat the process over and over again.

He had no aspirations for marriage or political standing. He even told me once that if this didn't work out, he would go work in some other customer service retail job until he found something that he liked as much.

It was a breath of fresh air to be around someone who wasn't always striving for the next thing.

And I think part of the reason I came here instead of meeting anywhere else was just to see Marten and be grounded a bit more in life.

When I formed NightShade, it was all about the next best thing. I wanted to be the best protection agency in the business. Then it became about acquiring other businesses and taking them into our fold.

Before I knew it, I looked up, and we had grown into this metropolis all our own with business that rivaled security companies around the country.

NightShade was a brand, a name, people knew.

It was said in whispers during back-alley deals, but it was also spoken in elite spaces where people wore really nice dresses and suits and spent more money than some people made here.

Quite frankly, it was baffling how it had changed.

Marten always reminded me where I started from. He reminded me of who I once was in a good way.

I leaned forward. “How is he today?”

He tilted his hand side to side. “He's okay. Not too hot. His father is meddling again.”

I leaned even closer, my interest piqued.

“Meddling how?”

On top of being a cool guy, Marten was also an expert gossip. He knew everything there was to know about what was going on in Chance's office and his personal life, which meant I gotthe details before I walked in. It gave me intel so I knew how to appropriately handle situations.

Marten looked around, making sure we were alone, and whispered, “His dad tried to fire me.”

I leaned back, gasping as I clutched my chest dramatically.

Marten laughed at the movement, then shook his head, motioning me back down so he could whisper.

“I know, I know. It's some crazy shit but listen — he tried to fire me, but Chance wouldn't let him. So now I'm getting relegated to full personal assistant, no political mess. They're bringing in a political advisor as well.”

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