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“She’s holding the conference tonight.”

I glance at the clock.

“At what time?” I ask.

“Six.”

Shit. It’s lunchtime, and with the time change, I’ll barely make it.

My gaze finds my father’s. If I miss the meeting this afternoon, the one that determines my fate as CEO, I can guarantee what direction they will go.

But if have to choose between CEO or Grace, I pick Grace.

“I know they won’t postpone the meeting for this, but I’m going.”

My father smiles. “I’ll call to get the plane ready.” He grabs his phone and steps out of my office, flagging down his assistant who is outside the door. “Have a car downstairs for Preston in two minutes.”

“You’ll make it,” my sister says.

I nod once and then race out the door.

I don’t know what I’m going to say yet, but I do know this: I need to say it before that press conference starts.

Chapter

Thirty-Two

GRACE

I need to breathe.

I let out a breath as I pace my office. The door is locked, which I know is driving my brothers crazy.

Both of them have knocked and demanded that I let them in at least three times each. They either want to check on me, which is valid, or they want to convince me that I don’t need to do this. Which, to be fair, is also valid.

I don’t need to do it.

I want to do it.

I want to clear Preston’s name with his board. I want them to know it wasn’t his idea, and while he did go along with it, he shouldn’t be held accountable for any of the choices I made.

I want to clear the air about the lodge, too. Building a business based on a lie is not what I want us to be known for. I hate that desperation convinced me to make the wrong choice two months ago.

I stop, focusing on the pens peeking out from under my desk.

Squatting, I pick them up as a flashback of how they ended up on the floor in the first place plays in my mind.

Those moments, the ones where it still feels like he’s here. Like his hands are in my hair or smoothing over my thighs. The moments where our eyes are locked, and he’s smiling at me, making me feel like I’m the only one he sees.

The moments where we could just get lost in one another and nothing else mattered.

I miss that.

I miss him.

I feel the confidence I had when I set the press conference up start to fade.

I jump as another knock sounds on the door.