Page 128 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

I gave her one last hug. “I will.”

James and I made our way to the elevator in silence. Once the door closed, he pushed the cart off to the side and tucked me in under his arm. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do. I need to see their faces when they realize their whole world is about to crash and burn.” I rubbed my palms together.

James’ fingers lightly grasped my chin, pulling it up to look into my eyes. “My job is to keep you safe.”

“You’d think you were my bodyguard or something,” I teased him.

“Jess, if anything happened to you, I couldn’t live with myself. If I tell you to run, you run. If I pick you up and throw you over my shoulder, you hold on tight. If I throw myself on top of you to protect you, you let me. Understood.”

I ran my hands over his face, working to smooth out the pinched, worried look. “I understand. I promise.”

I’d barely slept last night which meant neither did he. With all the things we’d learned about my parents these past few days we didn’t know what they would do when cornered.

Gage had still been digging through the layers of deception my parents had woven when we left this morning for the office.

“I have something for you.” James ran his finger over my cheek before stepping away.

He’d said he had a surprise for me. As his hand reached into his suit pocket, the romantic side of me suddenly wished for a ring and a proposal, the logical side realized how pissed I’d be if that’s what it was. I did not want to be proposed to in an elevator on the way to take down my fucking parents.

James pulled out a piece of paper. “Happy birthday, baby.”

I took it from him and read through it. My hands shook as I read through it again. “How did you convince him of this, James Alden?”

He reached for me, rubbing his hands up and down my arms, “I love you, Jess. What I promised him for these shares are fair.” His lips captured mine before he pulled away all too quickly.

I shoved the papers back into his hands. “I can’t accept this.”

“Don’t be stubborn about this, Jess. You were born to run this company. I want to see you shine in this role.” His eyes caught mine.

“What did you do, James?” My breath caught in my throat and tears pricked at my eyes. “Babe, what did you do?”

James leaned in and gently cupped my cheeks. “It doesn’t matter. I believe in you, and I want to do this for you. I’m so proud of everything you’ve done to keep your grandparents’ memory alive and all I know you’re going to do to make this company thrive.”

“I can’t let you do this.” My heart raced in my chest. This is what the meeting with Jareth was about last night. And with what I knew about Jareth there was no way only money had exchanged hands. James had promised him something else and I couldn’t let him sell his soul to the devil for me.

“Yes.” He let go of my face and placed the papers into my hands curling my fingers tightly around the pages. “You can.”

“James, there’s got to be a way to get out of this. I don’t like that you signed a contract with Jareth. We both know he’s only got his interest in mind. And you hate him.” I pulled my phone out of my purse. “I’ll tell him the deal’s off.”

James took my phone and put it away. “No, this was my decision. This is my way to help you in the only way I know how. You have more money than God. You can buy yourself anything you want, but this is something I can do for you. You deserve this and anything I’ve promised Jareth is worth it.”

“Then tell me what it was.”

He sighed. “I promised to work for him for the next two years.”

“James, what about your business—”

“It can still happen. Do this for me. Do this for your grandparents. Do this for yourself. You’ve already made them proud with the work you’ve accomplished behind the scenes. Show them what you can do when you’re at the helm. You are the smartest, most determined woman I’ve ever met.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks and dripped onto my fingers and the rolled-up pages. “I think you’re calling me a pain in the ass.”

“Hush, woman.” He grinned at me.

I gave him a watery smile and dabbed at my tears with the backs of my hands trying to preserve my makeup. No one believed in me like James Alden. If he needed this grand gesture to show me how much he believed in me then I’d let him, but I’d sure as hell make sure Jareth gave back all James had promised. We were partners for life. It was my job to protect him, too.

“Jess, I guarantee by this time next year you’ll be plastered across all the various business platforms because they’ll want to hear about how brilliant you are.”

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