Page 114 of Bargain With the Boss
“Sometimes I wonder,” he said warily.
“And you let her go off alone to deal with that?”
“I have a newborn if you’ve forgotten. I can’t just take off. Not to mention that it would set a precedent for our mother to continue to do this.”
I paced away from him. He was right. All that woman needed was a tiny show of weakness and she’d exploit it beyond measure. “Sorry. Fuck.” I raked my fingers through my hair. So much made sense now.
Talking things over with Luna had put me on shaky ground with how I reacted to her, but now this? I was on a crumbling cliff. I couldn’t let Syd deal with this alone. I didn’t know if she’d want to see me, but I had to try.
“I have an idea. It’s a big swing.”
Jude stared at me for a long minute. “I’m listening.”
“How attached are you to your shares of your mother’s company?”
“Not at all.”
“Good. I need to make some calls first. I’ll let you know if my idea works.”
I crossed to the back door.
“X?”
I paused at the door. “I love her, Jude.”
“I kind of figured.”
“I’m not going to ask for your blessing. It’s a little too late for that.”
“You have it,” he said quietly. “Just don’t fucking hurt her. She’s had enough people let her down.”
“I’m going to try like hell not to. Think you can hold down the fort with Gavin?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
I nodded and strode out the door. I had a lot of fucking plans to make and not a lot of time to do it.
First, I started with Devon.
I needed him to keep things running at Hastings Financial. Now, I was glad I worked my ass off in a rage. It would cover me for a while. I could do a lot of my job remotely and would work through the flight, but I still needed to get my ducks in a row to help out Syd.
Even if she didn’t want me to. I had to try.
The next few hours were a lesson in patience, and I was already in short supply. I just wanted to get to her. To let her know that I was a moron and hope she’d forgive me for thinking the worst.
It wasn’t my default, but when it came to Sydney I was way off my game in every way.
The emotions were larger than I’d ever experienced. From the first moment, I’d known there was something different between us. I just didn’t realize it would be life changing.
Now, I just needed to juggle my next life-changing goal.
I just hoped it wasn’t too late.
The flight was eternal, but I used every hour to make my plan work. During the connection layover, I made phone calls and called in every damn favor I had.
No risk, no reward.
I was playing for forever.
