AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shook his head. He couldn’t imagine what had finally prompted her to share the thing they’d been hiding all this time.
“Because I hated the sneaking around. I wanted to give us a chance, a real chance. And now I find out that you were trying to destroy my family’s company all along.” The pain of the betrayal was clear as day on her face. She was shaking like a leaf.
He wanted to pull her into his snug embrace and make everything okay, fix the massive problem he’d created, except he couldn’t. It wouldn’t help anything. He’d messed up, in tragic fashion. “Will you please sit down so I can explain everything?”
“What could you possibly say that’s going to make me feel any better?”
Again, she was right. “Look. I know now that I shouldn’t have started this, but the reality is that I never in a million years imagined that you and I would become involved the way we have. That came completely out of left field.”
“And it would’ve been so awkward to roll over in bed and whisper in my ear that you were trying to take over the company my dad built from nothing. That definitely would’ve put a damper on the sex, huh?”
Every word out of her mouth drove the knife in his heart a little deeper, but he didn’t dare flinch. He deserved it all. “I went on the counteroffensive the morning after we first made love. That’s what I was doing out in the garage before we left. I called my closest friend in the group to try to convince them to back off.”
“So what happened? Why are you guys still trying to do this?”
“We aren’t trying to do anything. They ousted me. Yesterday. They were tired of me pushing so hard to end the LangTel takeover.”
“Does that mean you have no more pull with them? They’re really just going to go ahead and do it without you?” She sighed and stared out the window. “This is getting worse by the minute.”
“They say they’re going to. I don’t really have a way of knowing. Believe me, I’ve been racking my brain, trying to come up with a way to stop them.”
Her jaw tensed. She shook her head. “What was the plan, Jacob? Tell me the plan you had before I came along. If you want any chance of redeeming yourself in any way to me, tell me the plan.”
“We planned to get enough stock to take over the board of directors and oust Adam as CEO.”
“Oust Adam or oust the CEO?”
“Is there a difference?”
“In six months, there will be.”
He almost wanted to laugh at his own short-sightedness. Of course. The board of directors was probably already trying to oust Adam. He hadn’t thought about that. “Do they already have a successor picked?”
“You’re looking at her.”
It was as if all air in the room stopped moving. Anna? CEO? What had he done? “You?”
“Yes. Me. My dad gave his blessing before he died, but they had to put Adam in place first because that had always been the plan. I’m supposed to be the next LangTel CEO. It’s my dream job. Not that it’s going to happen now.”
No. Good God, no. He’d set a plan in motion to take away the dream job of the woman he loved. “Please let me try to find a way to fix this.”
“You just said you’ve been trying to fix it for over a month. How are you going to magically make it happen now? And how am I supposed to trust you? We’ve been involved for weeks now, and the whole time you knew there were plans to dismantle my family’s company. The company my dad spent decades building. You were best friends with my brother, Jacob. You stayed at our house. And now you want to destroy us?”
“I never wanted to destroy you. Never.”
“Yeah, well, whether it was your intention or not, that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re destroying me and I can’t sit around and watch it happen. Which is exactly why I never want to see you again. Ever.” Her lip quivered. Was it because she was so angry? Or did it kill her to say those words as much as it killed him to hear them?
“I love you, Anna. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. Please don’t do this. I need you.”
A single tear leaked from the corner of her eye. “You love me? Why do you decide to tell me that now? When you have to save your own hide? Why couldn’t you tell me last night when I was making you dinner for your birthday or singing you a song or...” Her eyes clamped shut. “Or when I was telling you that stupid story about the ridiculous letters. Do you have any idea how betrayed I feel right now?”
