Page 60 of The Founder's Power

I stare at the ceiling. “Maybe,” I murmur. “But at what cost?”

She shifts, propping herself up on one elbow to face me. “It doesn’t have to be the same as before.”

I glance at her. “Doesn’t it?”

“No,” she says firmly. “You aren’t the same, and you know it. I know it.”

That stops me.

She sits up fully, pulling the sheet around her. “Damian, the man who ran Kincaid Global before would’ve used this moment to burn down every rival, bury Vincent, and crown himself king again, but that’s not who I see now.”

I study her. She’s bare-faced, messy-haired, honest… and more right than I want to admit.

“I gave it up,” I say. “All of it. For you.”

Her brow softens. “And I will never forget that, but you didn’t give it up because you didn’t want it. You did it because you thought it was the only way to prove I mattered.” She touches my chest, right over my heart. “What if there’s another way?”

I exhale, long and slow. “Go back and run it differently, you mean?”

“Together,” she says. “Run it better. Build something that doesn’t just consume. It contributes. You already started with Foundry. You’ve seen what’s possible when your power lifts other people instead of crushing them.”

“You think the board wants that?” I ask, dryly.

“I think they want someone who can keep the company alive,” she says, “and if they’re smart, they’ll realize that the old way is why they’re vulnerable. You’re not the threat now. You’re the cure.”

I go quiet. The truth is… I do miss it sometimes. Not the power. Not the game.

The purpose. The clarity that came from building something bigger than myself.

But this time, we would define what that looks like.

I run a hand through my hair. “If I do this, I won’t compromise.”

She nods. “I know.”

“I won’t sacrifice us. I won’t let it pull me under again.”

“You won’t,” she says. “You won’t go back as the man you were.”

I look at her, and I feel not just strength but direction and hope.

“You’d be there?” I ask. “If I did this?”

“Right beside you,” she says. “To make sure you don’t forget who you are now and to make damn sure they don’t either.”

I laugh, low and real.

God, I love this woman.

“All right,” I say. “Let’s rebuild it.”

Her smile is slow and fierce. “On our terms.”

“Our terms,” I echo.

She climbs into my lap, arms around my neck, and kisses me like she already sees the man I’ll become.

For the first time, I’m not building an empire for power. I’m still building our future.

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