Page 122 of The Billionaire Is Back

I can’t sign this document.

I can’t. It would mean a life without Claire. A life without love. All means with no end.

But this contract needs to be finalized. These companies need to merge. Everyone in this room is counting on me. Thousands of employees’ lives and billions of investor dollars are at stake.

People are starting to shift in their seats more. The coughs are getting louder.

I look up and see Lynch staring at me from across the table. His face is still stone, only hinting at a bit of confusion as to what I’m up to.

Lynch. Beautiful, surly, scowly Lynch. You magnificent misanthrope.In the new light of my realization, Lynch doesn’t look like the immovable pain in my ass that he’s always been.

Well, he doesn’t only look like that.

He looks like my way out.

I’ve always been careful, dedicated. I’m not impulsive. I chip away at what I want over and over again, like a river running over rock until it creates a canyon.

But now I’m just going to go over the cliff.

Because now I can see that I’m just a fool in love and I have no other choice. And I have never been so happy to be a fool with no other choices.

“Can Mr. Lynch and I have the room, please?”

There are murmurs of confusion, but no one is going to tell me no.

“Me too?” Alice asks. She’s not put out. She’s a pro. She just wants to make sure.

“Yeah, this needs to be mano a mano.”

“Okay, but I’m not cleaning up after any pissing contests,” she mutters. Alice waits until everyone iscleared, then exits and shuts the door, giving me a meaningful look just before it closes completely.

When we’re alone, Lynch simply continues to stare at me. If I’m going to win him over I’m going to have to be careful. Sure, I’ll be giving him exactly what he wants. But I’m living proof that a guy can have everything he has ever wanted right in front of him and he can still find a way to screw it up.

I place my hands on the table. “I’ve always contended this deal was a win-win for both of our companies. It would increase our market share, of course, but it would also increase our efficiency and vertically integrate our supply chain. You disagreed.”

“I did,” Lynch says tersely. He’s still not going to give up anything easily. If only he knew what he was going to get out of it.

“Do you actually believe that, or was it just a strategy to maintain control of your company?”

Lynch’s brow furrows. He sighs, staring me down.

“Please, it’s just us. It’s over. Man to man, I want…Ineedto know.” My body language is open, no bullshit. Or at least I hope he’s reading it that way.

“I may have exaggerated the potential negatives of the structure. But I still believe I am the best person to run my company.”

I lean forward. “So it’s a good deal? This merger?”

“It is,” Lynch concedes.

“You just think you’re the man to run it?”

“I do.”

I grin. I can’t help it. He can’t stop giving me ways to win. “Well, Lynch, let’s say that you were rightbefore. That I’ve fallen in love and lost my head. And my heart. And everything. And let’s say I can’t choose something that would keep me from a life with the woman I love for another second. Let’s say all of that was true.”

“Go on.” Lynch now leans forward, mirroring me across the large oak table.

“And let’s say I don’t want to be CEO of Beacon Holdings any longer.”

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