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Image by image played out until I remembered what I least expected.
My eyes widened as I blurted, “You kissed me.”
He backed away. “Excuse me?”
“You kissed me,” I repeated, louder.
“Finish eating and get dressed,” was all he said. “Cade will be home soon. You need to leave before he gets here.”
Not pausing for my reply, he spun, walking toward the door.
Again, I couldn’t help myself. “So you’re just going to ignore the fact you kissed me last night?”
He stopped dead in his tracks.
I lingered.
And waited.
Until he finally turned around, locking his once again cold, dark demeanor toward me.
“Cade—”
“Go home, Paige. You can keep dreaming about me kissing you.”
I winced, but he was unaffected, not caring one bit.
Did I imagine it?
The uncertainty played with my mind for I don’t know how long.
Then all of a sudden, he spoke with conviction. “You’re my brother’s best friend. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
With that, he left.
Except this time…
He took my heart with him.
Chapter Eleven
Adrian
Now
I was sitting at the head of the rectangle table in the middle of the room with Paige sitting beside me at this morning’s meeting. The table was filled with the company’s six board members, who had no idea I was there to divide and conquer.
I waited a very long time for this moment, and I couldn’t have been more pleased it was happening with Paige sitting beside me.
I’d been buying this business’s stocks for over a year. However, I wasn’t doing this for anyone but Paige. This was solely for her. Every business decision I’d made since I started taking control of this enterprise was to show her my worth. She was the only reason I wanted their CEO’s balls on a silver fucking platter.
I spent the last three months in his territory, making sure I knew everything I needed for today to go off without a hitch. I met their CEO a few times. The fucking prick rubbed me the wrong way since our first encounter. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Paige, but in this hostile takeover, the pain would lead to the healing she still needed.
My plate was already full. I didn’t need any more shit piling up. Although, I had to give him some credit. The man had some brass balls for walking in late to our scheduled conference. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to shake his hand for it. He’d yet to figure out who he was fucking with.
With each stride that led their CEO to sit on the opposite end of the table, parallel to me, I felt Paige tense further into oblivion. Wanting to give her a bit of comfort, I placed my hand on her thigh under the table. Upon impact, she subtly jumped, but never removed my hand.
Once the son of a bitch was sitting down, his gaze fell on the woman I couldn’t forget. I never understood how he could’ve so easily forgotten her, as if she didn’t leave a lasting impression on anyone who was near her. Our positions were a power struggle at its their finest.
