“In other words, you’ve already done the legwork and have the code in place. As long as you work on a lean budget, you’ve got the capital, and you’ll be profitable soon. I’ve seen the betas. I know. What do you need us for?”
Because I was an idiot and thought you’d wait for me for more than four weeks. But Antonio put up with Justin for a decade, holding out hope. “You’ve got the infrastructure, your company thrives on partnerships like this, and”—Justin forced calm confidence through his veins—“I don’t want to do this without you. I’ve never wanted to do this without you.” He clamped his mouth shut before he could say too much.
Antonio stared back, lips pursed and hands clasped.
Why wasn’t he saying anything?
*
ANTONIO WAS SURPRISEDJustin wasn’t standing up and pacing. Antonio was making him squirm, and it was probably a little cruel on his part, but Justin deserved to sweat a little, since Antonio wasn’t interested in actually turning him away.
When Justin walked into his office, Antonio expected the pain to be overwhelming. That had faded, much to his relief. The love was still there. He was grateful he’d been honest with Emily about that. It wasn’t the intense, gnawing desperation he felt in the past. Mostly, he was relieved to see Justin again.
“I can’t give you an answer right now. I have to take your proposal in front of the board,” Antonio said.
Justin raised his brows. “It’s a privately held company. Old-family money. Never been owned by anyone else.You’rethe board.”
“I am. And you’re the asshole who almost cost us everything because you didn’t like working within the confines of someone else’s timeline.” It was far less emotional than what Antonio wanted to say.You’re the asshole who broke my heart and didn’t flinch.
“Technically, the only thing we lost was—”
“Stop.” Antonio barked the word. “They took APPropriate Designs from us and left us with a little money as a weak apology. Five years of work, and now we have to pay them if we want to use what we built.”
“You know why I did it. We hashed this out already. I thought you understood.”
“I do.” Antonio hated admitting that, because it felt like a concession and he was still mad at Justin. Besides, this felt like giving Justin an out, when he hadn’t earned the right to shrug off any responsibility for what happened.
Justin frowned. “I fucked up. Everywhere. I should have handled my resignation differently. I shouldn’t have brushed you aside the way I did.” He hissed through his teeth. “I can’t say I’m sorry about the results, except that I never wanted to send you back home, but I did a lot of things wrong. You deserved better. And it sounds like you have it now.”
Antonio wanted to cling to his anger, but the longer Justin sat here, the more difficult it was. Antonio’d had time to deal with the awkward heartbreak, and while it still hurt, he couldn’t blame that on Justin, as much as he wanted to. Justin knew what he’d done and was trying to make things better, in his own way.
If Antonio dragged this out much longer, he might push away his friend again. Which would serve Justin right but wouldn’t make Antonio happy. “I want to see your numbers before I sign anything, but I’m willing to shake on it and give you aprobably yes.” He extended his hand.
“Thank God.” Justin’s grip was warm and comfortable. A ghost of a temptation and a reminder of the weekends they shared with Emily. Antonio allowed the memories to linger, rather than banish them the way he normally did.
“What about us?” Justin asked.
Not words Antonio wanted to process. Not a question he could afford to make assumptions about. “What do you mean?”
“Are you and I good? Or can we be?”
That would be nice. “We’ll get there. Yes, we can be.”
Justin’s smile—the actual, genuine version of it—was a nice sight. Something Antonio hadn’t wanted to admit how much he missed it.
They chatted a while longer, eating into the rest of the time on the calendar and pushing back to more neutral ground. Antonio had to kick him out for his next appointment.
“I have one more favor.” Justin stood. “Tell me where Emily’s sitting, so I can sayhi?”
“Did she know you were coming?” Antonio would be impressed if she kept a secret like that to herself.
“No. She pretty much stopped talking to me. How long have you been together?”
“A week.”
“That explains it.” Justin sighed.
Inspiration struck Antonio. “How long are you in town?”