Page 90 of Until You (Forgive Me)

“Don’t overthink it right now,” Toby said, his voice calm against the racing of Isabella’s heart.

She knew what Toby was suggesting. He just hadn’t voiced it. Did Isabella want to take her rightful place at the head of her family’s company? Did she? It had been her dream to follow in her father’s footsteps, but then life had changed. Her dreams had changed. Did some part of her still want that? Had she suppressed it along with some of her other dreams? The board would never go for it. She had been twenty-one when she had last stepped into the office. It had been too long ago. Yes, she’d been respected because her dad had been the boss. There was no way they would let her take over now.

“I’ll speak to Christian,” Isabella said.

“If you need to discuss anything with me, I’m a phone call away. Take care, Isabella.”

“Thank you, Toby.”

Isabella saw herself out. She had a lot of thinking to do.

∞∞∞

Isabella had just finished updating Christian with the information Toby had gleaned.

“I can see the cogs turning in your brain. Do you want to share?” Christian asked, refilling her wine glass. She’d opened a bottle, wanting to help drown the stress of the day. She knew meditation would be the best option, but even with all her training, she was struggling to calm her raging thoughts.

“My main concern is, what will happen to the King and Lebroc Group? Pierce and Edward need to go. There is no doubt in my mind about that. I’m sure the board will remove them once we give them all the facts. But the company has always been a family-run business. I care about the thousands of people it employs. If we cut the head off the dragon, what’s going to happen to them? Is there more they have done that we are not aware of?”

Christian rested his hand on hers. “Valid points, but your mind is racing withwhat ifs.”

Isabella closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose before exhaling through her mouth. She repeated the exercise several times until her heart rate returned to normal. “You’re right. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Several,” Christian said.

Isabella watched his expression, but he was giving nothing away.

“Are you going to share?” she asked.

“First, you oust Pierce and Edward and take your rightful place at the head of the group.”

“That’s never going to happen. Even if I wanted to, the board would never go with that. I don’t have any experience running a multi-million-pound business. I didn’t even complete my business degree.”

“Maybe not, but you are your father’s daughter and have a vested interest in the firm. As for not completing your degree, you were two months shy of completing it. All the work was done. You just never made it over the finishing line. A degree means nothing. It’s your experience that counts, and you have set up and run your own successful business.”

“We cannot compare The Retreat and The King and Lebroc Group. They are two completely different animals.”

“Not really. Both are in the hospitality business. You took what you knew and ran with it. The board are still the same men and women who started the company alongside your father.”

“That will also make them loyal to Pierce and to Edward,” Isabella fired back.

“I doubt it when they realise how close he came to destroying it. Pierce doesn’t have the business head your father did.”

“I cannot run the company, Christian. I would not know where to start.”

“Then I will help you.”

“No,”

“Why no?” Christian asked.

“Christian, that is the most generous offer anyone could make, but I won’t add more to your daily workload. You’re already working twelve to fourteen-hour days. The King and Lebroc Group will require a firm hand if it’s to survive this. I cannot, and will not, let you do this. I love the fact you’ve offered, but that is not an option.”

Isabella sighed, not wanting to bring it up, but needing to.

“Plus, I have my own business and business partner, who I have currently left holding the fort. I love The Retreat. It is something I built that I’m proud of. I cannot just turn my back on that. I’ve already been away too long.”

“There is another solution,” Christian said, although his shoulders held a tension that Isabella couldn’t quite decipher.

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