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Noah shakes his head. “That’s impossible, Em. Absolutely impossible. And if it’s not, then it’s just as bad. They aren’t paying enough to get ten million sales out of it. They should only get a few hundred thousand. Enough to recoup the advertising cost, but not much more than that. Otherwise, why would they scale up? Why would anyone spend more than a few hundred grand on advertising?”
My lip curls up. I’ve already thought this through. “One, she’s doing it for ten thousand dollars. That means everything else is profit. Two, did you even read the fucking contract?
“In it, I stated that all data could be used as marketing material for Aspire. Here’s the important part. This is promotional pricing as part of our expansion into ChitChat marketing. Every campaign after this will be significantly more expensive as we are pricing thisat cost.”
Once again, Noah blinks. “I stopped reading your contracts a long time ago because they were all the same. Any time you made a change, you ran it by me first. What’s going on with you these days? You’re not going out. You’re not talking to me as much. Everything’s different, Em.”
Noah is one of two people that know why I created the Emery Brooks persona. I could tell him about Madison. I could even tell him about the way I feel toward the persona. A part of me even wants to, but I don’t want him to think that I’m suddenly going to drop everything because of a girl I’ve known for three weeks.
He wouldn’t understand. Where I’ve always been a bit of a wild one, Noah thinks his way through everything he does. From the way he does his hair to the way he talks to individual people. He’s smart. Hell, he’s probably smarter than me.
And he follows his head, not his heart.
He’s smart enough to figure it all out if I try to hide it. Or he’ll think I’m finally cracking under the pressure. When I pitched the idea of a persona when we started Aspire, that was the first thing he told me. Once I started it, it’d be impossible to stop.
“I’ve been seeing someone,” I finally say. Just enough that he doesn’t dig, but not enough for him to worry.
Noah cocks his head. “Is it serious?” he finally asks.
“Serious enough that I want to minimize the public appearances. Not drop them entirely. Just minimize them.”
I take a bite of the tiramisu and try to focus on the espresso and notes of vanilla for a moment instead of the way Noah’s looking at me. He’s so damned judgmental. This is why I didn’t say that I’m looking to go public with Madison sooner rather than later.
“Good,” he finally says. “I always knew you’d find someone, eventually. You were the romantic of the three of us. If anyone was going to find someone to settle down with, even for a bit, it’d be you.”
That’s not what I expected at all. “I figured that you’d give me a serious ass-chewing for putting Aspire in danger.”
He shakes his head solemnly. “We didn’t start this business because we wanted Aspire. We wanted to be rich, and this is what we were good at. Well Em, I’m pretty fucking rich.”
It takes me a minute for that to set in. We are pretty fucking rich. But so much of our money is tied up in Aspire. If Aspire died tomorrow, we wouldn’t be broke, but we wouldn’t be billionaires anymore. I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford a private jet or my home. We’d turn into upper-upper class rather than the elite.
He continues, “You’re not even changing anything. Just backing away a little. Enjoy it, Em. You deserve to have someone in your life. It’s not like anyone expected you to be single forever.”
I frown. I told Madison that I would try to break the chain, but this conversation is the first time that I really contemplated doing it. What would it change? How would it change me? And Aspire? Is that really what I want?
“We’re just dating right now, so it’s not that pressing,” I say, doing my best to push the conversation away.
“Right. Well, I wish you and Madison the best,” he says as he stands up.
My jaw drops. “How’d you know it was her?”
He chuckles as he adjusts his coat. “It all started when she stepped into your office the first time. She goes into your office nearly every day, and the blinds get shut regularly. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. It’s not like she’s ugly or stupid.”
He doesn’t even let me respond as he walks away, leaving me with the check. Fuck. I didn’t think anyone would know. I should have known that Noah would, and if he does, then Dante does too.
At least he’s not pissed about it. Now, the only question is whether they know that she’s living with me.
Chapter 38
Emery
I’m a little annoyed that Madison is spending tomorrow with Tessa, but I’ve got tonight. I didn’t realize how quickly the week would fly by with Madison living with me.
The numbers for Bronze Goddess are astronomical, and Madison keeps telling me they haven’t really even caught yet, and it’s still building momentum. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have her working for me.
I’m even happier that I have her living with me, talking with me, and, most importantly, reminding me of what happiness really is. That’s why I’m taking another risk tonight. I need to show her just how much she means to me.
We’ve had great sex and amazing conversation, but a woman needs to know that her partner knows her, understands the things that are important to her. And she deserves it more than anyone I’ve ever known.
