Page 26 of Best In Class
I open my mouth to argue, but he keeps going.
“I’ve seen it a hundred times. A brilliant woman says something, and the room ignores her. Guy repeats it—everyone claps. I don’t play that game. If it bothers you that I have your back, I’m sorry, but it’s not going to change how I do things.”
He says it like a challenge, but not an arrogant one.
It’s gentle like he’s promising me that he won’t disappear again, no matter how I treat him.
I sigh. “It’s not that I’m not grateful. I just…I’ve spent a long time building a reputation where I don’t need backup.”
He opens the door of the conference room for me, like a gentleman. “I know that. Doesn’t mean I won’t step in when I see bullshit. And I’m not here to rescue you, Moonbeam. I’m here to build something with you.”
Stella waves from where she’s standing by a tall window. She’s still on the phone, nodding vigorously.
“She’s my ride,” I tell Dom.
He tilts his head, smiles. His eyes lock with mine. “I’ll see you later, baby.”
I give him a careless one-shoulder shrug.
I’ll be looking forward to it.
Damn!
CHAPTER 7
Dom
Lev’s backyard is a peaceful haven—oak trees draped in moss, string lights casting a soft glow, and the steady hum of cicadas filling the warm air. Like Luna’s place, Lev has a pool, but unlike hers, there’s also a one-bedroom pool house. That’s where I’m staying.
I’m here a lot. I work on the loungers. I swim laps to clear my head. I stare up at the sky, trying to understand myself better, untangle the knots of the past, and figure out how to move forward.
A conversation with Lev this morning cracked something open in me, and I’m still processing it.
“You stayed away for ten years—why?” he asks over black coffee and scrambled eggs.
“I didn’t stay away. I came back almost every year.”
“You stayed away fromher,” he amends, giving me a look that says, ‘don’t be a smartass.’
I sigh. “Because I wasn’t ready. I used tothink I had to be at the same socio-economic level as all of you to stand a chance with her.”
Lev raises his eyebrows. “Do you even know how much money we have?” He isn’t bragging—just being honest. “You’d have to pull a Gates or a Musk to catch up.”
“I know.”
“Then—?”
“I believed her,” I admit. “For a long time, when she said I wasn’t her peer. That I wasn’t enough.”
“She was angry. Hurt. You know that.”
“I do. And I knew it even then.” I take a sip of my coffee. “But it confirmed my insecurities, and stuck for years. It took getting to where I thought I needed to be to realize the truth—I don’t have to be anything but myself to be with her.”
Lev tilts his head. “Therapy?”
I laugh under my breath. “No. Being an architect, building…things.”
He nods slowly, then adds, “She didn’t reach out to you either, you know.” His voice is quiet. It’s a small offering. His way of asking me not to carry all the blame alone.
