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“We all go through a time when we do stupid things. I was young—”
“You weren’t that young.”
Ignoring his interruption, I continued, squaring my shoulders, “That was a time in my life when I was still discovering myself. A time that was great, actually, but fraught with uncertainty. I can tell you I’m a different man standing in front of you and our investors today. My sole focus is taking the reins from my father and steering this company into the 21stcentury.”
Cheers surrounded the stateroom, and I looked over at my father, who gave me an approving empty nod. I may be President of Diamond Incorporated now, but that’s it. That’s all I was to him.
Alfred stood up and motioned toward the podium. He’d already given his little departure speech, so what now? I moved aside, letting him step behind the podium.
“As you can see, the company is in excellent hands. Further to the announcement today, I can also add the news of the impending nuptials of not only my daughter, Lourde, to Barrett Black, which you no doubt know about, but I’m pleased to announce that Connor and Francesca are also engaged.”
I turned to find the board members giving them a brief smile. Surely, they knew this couldn’t go any better.
Questions came firing, thick and fast. My father stepped back.
But I wasn’t going to answer a damn thing.
This was on him.
All I could think about was Pepper’s dark line of hair sweeping down to her pink folds, perfectly tight and always wet for me and how we fit like one in the bedroom.
“Connor, are you saying goodbye to the bachelor you’ve always been?”
My mind flicked to the voice bellowing from the crowd.
“You’re not a one-man woman…”
“Why now? Is this all for publicity?”
I smiled, stepped forward to the microphone, and the questions simmered down.
“Thank you all for your congratulations. I can tell you I look forward to being the husband I can be.
“Connor, when are you getting married?”
“Thank you all for coming.” I stepped back and walked past Alfred and toward the exit.
The press conference was over, whether they liked it or not.
* * *
After the press conference, my assistant reminded me of a dinner scheduled at my parents’ penthouse with the Cavendish family.
On the elevator up to my parents’ penthouse, I checked the company’s share price. After today’s announcement, they dipped slightly but not at all like the bloodbath the financial modeling predicted.Take that, Alfred.
Perhaps I’m precisely what the company needed—fresh eyes and a modern perspective. Maybe now he’d leave me the fuck alone to drive this company forward.
The doors opened, and I spotted Lourde and Barrett, smiles beaming from their faces as they chatted with Mom and Alfred.
“Evening all,” I groaned out, then pecked Mom and Lourde on the cheek, followed by handshakes to Barrett and an even quicker handshake to Alfred. I extracted myself as quickly as I could, walking to the bar and helping myself to a full glass of whiskey.
Barrett walked over to me, sensing my displeasing mood. His gaze lowered to the full glass in hand, and he frowned. “How are you doing after today’s announcement?”
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” I shrugged, taking a large gulp.
“Was that because your assistant reminded you of tonight’s dinner?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Shit, is it that obvious?”
