Page 21 of Mr. Billionaire's Second Chance

I sat in my executive chair at the office, pouring myself a drink while I stared out over the Manhattan skyline. I glanced up to see a light turn on at the end of the hallway, reflecting in the glass. Is she still here? Maybe I’m not the only one that can use a drink tonight. I thought, grabbing another glass and the bottle before making my way to her office. We hadn’t talked much since that night in the limousine, but I had been wondering how she was doing, what she must’ve been thinking about, and all that she was learning about my company, but none of it seemed to keep me away this time.

I wanted to grow closer, to feel everything I did those few months ago, but this time make things right. It’s what she deserves. She deserves to know that she was never the problem. It was me. It’s always been me. I looked into the glass door of her office to see her sitting there mulling over some files with nothing but the desk lamp on, illuminating her beautiful face. I knocked, nearly jolting her right out of her seat, and I smiled.

“Preston, what are you doing here so late? Claire said you had dinner with some of the board members scheduled,” she blurted out.

“Checking up on me, are you?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes at me smiling and I placed the glasses down on the desk in front of her, while she shut her files, packing them all away for the night.

“Drink?”

“Oh, why not. I was going to head home to a bottle of wine anyway,” she said.

I poured a glass of whiskey and handed it to her, watching as she swished it before taking a sip. She scrunched her nose. I chuckled, drinking the little that was left in my glass.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve done anything like this,” I said.

“Yes, it definitely has. A lot has changed since we last spent time together.”

“Of course. You’re here investigating me and my company for fraud, which would make anyone want to steer clear of you, letting you do your thing, but I can’t. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I dropped you home from the club that night, Kat,” I confessed.

“I have to admit, I was a little surprised to see you there. Part of me thought you gave up hanging out in Brooklyn.”

Her eyes lowered to the floor and I knew that this was hard for her. I could see that she was fighting off the urge to talk about what happened, settling on downing the whiskey so she wouldn’t have to go there again.

“I never stopped. It’s always been a place I loved. There’s a lot about Manhattan that people adore, but I always find myself wanting to get away from it. I told you that the night I dropped you home and never looked back. I’m sorry I did that to you, Kat. I was a terrible guy, caught up in all this shit, genuinely believing that having something real just wasn’t meant for someone like me. The truth is, I felt that I was getting too attached to you and I threw everything we had away because of it.”

She glanced up at me, her eyes lowering to my lips, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was kiss her. I wanted to take her into my arms, feel the warmth emanating from her soft skin, and remember what it felt like to call her mine. I didn’t get the chance, as she moved away, setting the glass down on her desk before gathering her things.

“I appreciate you being honest with me, Preston. There was a time I believed you’d never be capable of something like that. I better get going. Good night.”

“Good night, Katherine.”

I watched as she walked off down the dimly lit hallway to the elevator, grabbing the two glasses, and heading back to my office. I should’ve never let you go, Kat. That was my first mistake. The second was believing that after all this time, you’d somehow just forgive me. Maybe I’m a little in over my head here, but I’m not giving up.

I sat at the table in the quaint, practically empty restaurant for brunch, waiting for Richard to arrive. I sipped on my espresso, trying to take my mind off of Katherine, because every time I had a moment to myself, she was all I could think about. I glanced up at the door to see Richard come in, making his way to my table, and he slid into the chair across from me.

“What do you have?” I asked, unable to hide how impatient I was.

“I was keeping tabs on your lobby receptionist because she’d been talking to someone on the phone about Ms. Hollis’s interest in the Laurier account. I waited until she was done for the day to corner her, ask her a few questions, and she made it pretty clear that she didn’t have anything to say to me. Though, she let it slip that she was the one delivering files to Ms. Hollis personally, but she has no idea how she got the original one which contained sensitive information about the Laurier account.”

“Did you find out who she was talking to?” I asked. I downed the rest of my espresso in one go, trying to curb my frustration, but I should’ve known something like this would happen with how much talk that had been going around. It’s easy to recruit the ones that can’t say no to an easy payday, huh?

“No, sir. She remained rather tight-lipped about it, probably didn’t want to lose out on the money she was going to be paid. I will keep digging, but whoever this guy is, he’s going to a lot of trouble to make sure that his identity remains hidden. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out he’s the one that has to be behind the investigation. I’ll get his name,” said Richard, confidently.

“You better. Thank you, Richard.”

I dug into my egg white omelet, enjoying the last few moments of calm before I had to head into the office. The only thing that kept me going right about now was the thought of seeing Katherine there. In the chaos of endless meetings, closings, and piles of paperwork I needed to get through, she really was my escape from it all. She has every right to be hesitant, but I’m going to show her that this time is different. This time, I know what I want. I want her.

I took the town car back to the Kingsman Enterprises office, making my way inside, noticing that my receptionist wasn’t at her desk. I sighed, heading up in the elevator and I was greeted by an eager Claire, ready to read off my schedule for the day.

“Good morning, Mr. Clarke.”

“Good morning, Claire. I need you to do something for me before my first meeting.”

“Of course, sir. What do you need?”

“I need you to call Elle into my office. I would’ve done it myself, but she doesn’t seem to be at her desk. Can you track her down for me? There’s something we need to discuss,” I said.

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