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“I—I’m sorry,” I said. “I overstepped.”
“You did a hell of a lot more than overstep, boy. That’s mydaughter. Yourboss.”
“I understand, sir. Truly, I apologize.”
“You could try giving her a chance, you know,” he said, tossing his napkin onto the table in disgust. “She’s not who you think she is.”
“Everyone keeps saying that,” I said, throwing up my hands, exasperated. “Yet no one will clue me in. When I look at Amara, I see a beautiful girl who wasn’t taught financial responsibility. A girl whose family enabled her habits. A girl who used her face and body and charm and money to traipse across the globe doing whatever the fuck she wanted and not having a care in the world about exploiting her influence for any worthwhile endeavor save getting drunk every weekend.”
Leon’s brows pinched together, his mouth flattening into a line. Too late, I realized my mistake.
In insulting Amara, I’d also insulted him, the man who’d raised her.
Not to mention the fact that I’d called her beautiful and commented on herbodyin front of her father.
Fuck, I was an absolute moron where this girl was concerned.
“First and foremost, Amara has a trust fund that she gained access to at twenty-one. Every penny she used to ‘traipse across the globe doing whatever the fuck she wanted,’” Leon said, putting air quotes around my phrase, “was her own. Did you know she has an MBA? Did you know she’s been working for this winery since she was fourteen?”
I snorted, and he glared. But I mean…c’mon. Amara “Party Princess” Delatou, a diploma-carrying member of the MBA club? Doubtful. When would she have had time? Between getting drunk in Monaco and hooking up with the son of an earl in England?
Okay, that last one was purely a rumor, but honestly, I wouldn’t put it past her.
“We may not have groomed her to take over like we did Chloe, but Amara knows this company inside and out,” Leon continued. “Instead of jumping to conclusions, maybe you should ask her to tell you about her travels. Get to know her better. These past five years, you’ve done nothing but shun her at every opportunity. Amara is a beautiful girl, yes. And she did spend a significant amount of time in Europe over the last few years—the bulk of it in London, I might add. And did you ever stop to consider that maybe she was in those clubs and restaurants and hotels because I asked her to be?”
“No,” I said quickly, because it was the truth. I have never once considered she’d been…what?Working? Doing market research? Absolutely not.
The night I’d met Amara, she hadn’t struck me as overly intelligent. I’d looked at her and seen a drop dead gorgeous girl who I wanted to get naked and fuck into oblivion. She’d been fun to banter with, and the sexual attraction between us had been instant and staggering. That random slip of her family legacy had saved me from a colossal fuck-up.
It didn’t matter that I still wanted her so bad I could barely breathe when she was around, that I could still feel the ghosts of her fingers pushing through my hair, her lips on mine, her tongue in my mouth.
Could I have been wrong? Could the reason she hates me so much be because I’ve refused to see who she is past that initial interaction? Have I misjudged her?
Could she be…capable of running the company despite all the evidence I’ve found to the contrary? Have I been making a mistake in antagonizing her all these years?
Fuck, my head was spinning. As if he could see what was going on in my brain, Leon offered me a sympathetic smile.
“Just…give her a chance, Cal. That’s all I’m asking.”
The request sounded simple enough, but how exactly was I supposed to undo five years’ worth of bias to view this girl a certain way? How did the blinders come off?
At the very least, right now, I had to find her and apologize. My spirits perked up a little when Lena appeared at Leon’s side…then fell again when I realized Amara wasn’t with her.
“I’m…so sorry,” I said to Lena, hanging my head. “I have no right to speak to her like that.”
Lena waved a hand. “Amara is stronger than she looks, and”—she cut her husband with a glance before continuing—“there’s a lot more about Amara and her role in this company that you don’t know or understand. I know she’s not who you would’ve chosen to take over, Cal, but…cut her some slack. We knew what we were doing when we voted.”
It was one thing for Leon to tell me there was more to Amara than what I was seeing, but for Lena to come back after a presumably candid conversation with her daughter to tell me the same thing?
I supposed it was time I took their comments at face value.
Or, at the very least,tryto. I still firmly believed there were more competent business men and women out there who would run this company better than Amara Delatou could.
“Understood,” I said with a nod. “Still, I apologize for my behavior.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m assuming my husband already set you straight.”
I grimaced. “He certainly did.”
