His smirk made me hungry for a kiss, so I distracted myself by looking at the menu.
“Felix looked into the shares, and your stepmother was right.They’re all in her name, and your father doesn’t have the legal right to transfer them.I’m sorry.”
I set the menu aside and sighed.
“I’m not mad about the shares.I’m mad we dropped the charges.”
“Felix said you could press charges for extortion, but it probably wouldn’t hold up, and the media fallout wouldn’t be favorable to either side.And your mom and her history with your dad would likely come into play too.”
I recalled how I’d been surrounded by reporters once and shook my head, not wanting that for either myself or my mom.
“I have another option that will help us test the theory that Hestian is behind what’s been happening to you,” Konni said, his eyes glowing brighter.
“No.”
“You didn’t let me finish.”
“You don’t need to.I can guess by the way your eyes are changing.Instead of marrying an old, rich guy who repulses me, why not marry a younger, richer one I’d enjoy banging?Right?”
His pupils expanded a little as he blinked at me, and he cleared his throat.
“I’m not saying we have to get married.Just date.Openly.Believe it or not, I have influence in Motan.Enough that if it’s Hestian who’s behind this, he wouldn’t keep messing with you.”
“And if it’s not him?If it’s someone with more pull than you?”
He slowly smiled.“Kitten, I’m friends with all the people who have the same pull I do, and there’s no one higher than us.”
“No one likes a bragger.”
That wasn’t entirely true because I was liking what he was saying.A lot.Well, the being backed by someone with pull part, not the dating part.Okay, that was a lie.I was starting to want that part too.
My mom had already told me to go for it.
Hasn’t your dad fucked up your life enough?Why keep giving him power?
Wrenly’s gentle question, which she’d asked a year ago, rose in my mind.She’d been right then and was still right.Fear of commitment and being like my dad was holding me back from what I wanted—Konni.
It was hard to let go of the hurt and the fear, though.
My palms grew cold and sweaty as I considered his proposition seriously.
“What changes if I agree?”I asked.
My pulse immediately started to race, pre-panic.
He seemed to realize I was balancing on the edge of something big, though, because he didn’t pounce or press.He calmly answered my question, despite the way his pupils were slowly dilating.
“Instead of using work as an excuse to be close to you or finding places with private rooms, we can act like a real couple and do whatever we want and go wherever we want.”
“I meant at work.”
“Nothing.Edi, Bomir, and Marius already know who you are to me.They won’t treat you any differently.”
“But everyone else will.My accomplishments won’t be my own anymore.They’ll be attributed to my association with you.I hate special treatment, Konni.I’m smart and can be successful on my own.”
“Which is why you’re being targeted,” he said, taking my concerns seriously.“Someone else sees the potential in you, and it’s either scaring them or making them want you.Using me as a shield wouldn’t stop you from achieving what you want, Sophia.And not using me won’t stop people from denying your accomplishments either.”
He had a point there.Hadn’t I already run into that?
