Jensen
I let out a long,drawn-out sigh and leaned back against my chair.
The numbers on the computer screen blurred to indistinguishable lines, and I was already feeling a small headache forming at the back of my head.
A quick glance at the watch that I had gotten as a thirtieth birthday gift from my mom told me it was a little past ten at night. Way past the time I should have headed home. And if we didn’t have such a critical meeting with the board in the morning, I would have been home, or at a bar, trying to pick up a woman from the bar, trying to forget the minx that was my best friend’s sister-in-law.
I didn’t have any sort of relationship with Emilia, at least, not any sort of relationship that wasn’t superficial, and I knew it was because of my decision.
I didn’t regret it—I couldn’t regret it. Not with where I was at in my life right now, but it didn’t stop me from wanting her, all the same.
Had wanted her since the moment I laid eyes on her, but fuck, if I wasn’t good enough for her.
Emilia was technically “off limits” considering how protective Evelyn was of her, and since Evelyn was protective, that meant Jace, in turn, was protective. The man was a sucker for his wife, and I knew there would be hell to pay if I ever touched her and didn’t keep her.
What none of them knew was that I’d seen her first. Long before Jace and Evelyn ever met, long before Elliot was nothing more than a small fetus in his mother’s uterus, I saw her, and fuck, I had wanted to keep her.
But six years ago, Emilia was nothing more than an eighteen-year-old college student. I had left her alone then, though I had kept track of her through the years. Then, two years after we met, my grandfather had suffered from a heart attack that had taken his life. At the will reading, when we were given the ridiculous ultimatum that he put out, I knew I couldn’t bring Emilia into this mess.
Not now. Not for a while.
I didn’t want to bring her into this mess.
And it had been okay, because every report I had gotten on her had told me she was content living in London, going to her classes.
I walked away from my family legacy, from the empire I had trained my whole life to one day takeover. Before, I had every intention of taking over it one day. I had thrived under the pressure, unlike my carefree and laid-back cousin, and it turned out to be fucking conditional.
I ended up working for Jace instead.
Even though my position as the head of finance was pretty high in his company, this wasn’t my company.
This wasn’t the company I had poured all my sweat and tears into. It was Jace’s.
Though I loved the man like my brother, and had wanted to see him happy, there was something unsatisfying about working for someone else.
Pierce Johnson Capital was now left to my mom and my cousin, Alan Johnson, to run.
My mom was something else entirely. A total badass, with a mind for business that had made men twice her five-foot-two stature tremble in fear.
Pierce Johnson Capital was safe in her hands, but for how long? My mom had me late in life. She was now pushing seventy, and I knew, despite how hard she had worked her entire life, she wanted to slow down and enjoy whatever time she had left, preferably with a grandchild or two.
Guilt pushed at my chest, making it hard to breathe, and that stupid will came to mind again.
My cousin Alan was younger than me by eight years, and he certainly lived up to the family expectation of being the baby of the clan. Spoiled, undignified, and completely resolved to live the rest of his life on the good grace of others.
Alan also had the most adorable six-year-old daughter, and I would have thought being a father might make him want to get his life together, but that wasn’t the case. He was enjoying life like he was still that single, unattached twenty-one-year-old with a trust fund. Now twenty-six, he was heading one of the biggest and most successful investment banking firms in the country.
And if my mom weren’t there, protecting him from the ruthless board members, he would have been eaten alive his first year as COO of the company.
I let out a sigh.
I knew Alan had been planning for me to take on my position and shares of the company. He had been counting on me to protect him and his lifestyle. Had my grandpa not put in that clause in his will, I would have, and I would have protected Alan, because though he was useless as a COO and a significant shareholder in the company, he was still family.
And he wasn’t a terrible human being.
Just irresponsible, and he hadn’t really gotten his head out of his ass yet.
I looked back at the screen. There shouldn’t be any surprises on our part tomorrow during the board meeting. Jace knew what he was doing, and if there were any mishaps, I would step in.