Page 96 of Resist

He pushes his plate away from him and takes a mouthful of orange juice. “What about changing the name of the company?”

I scrunch up my nose. “To what? Montgomery Publishing?I think not. I mean, I like you and all, but what if we break up, then I’m stuck with a publishing house named after my ex-husband instead of my criminal father.”

I can’t bring myself to say the ‘R’ word.

Sterling laughs. “No, not Montgomery. Though, now that you mention it that has a nice ring to it.”

I pop a strawberry into my mouth. “Then what? What would I call it?”

He shrugs. “That’s your decision. Mom’s maiden name. Grandparent’s name. Hell, call it Flamingo Publishing for all I care. Something more you, less him. Something that’s not going to make you grind your teeth to dust every time you look at the logo, see the sign, or answer a call to talk about the brand.”

He’s not wrong. Walking into the building with my father’s last name over the door yesterday was painful. I want nothing to do with it. I don’t want my name associated with sexual assault, either behind closed doors, or out in the open.

I run my finger over the handle of the coffee mug next to my plate. “I do like flamingos.”

“The company can be anything you want it to be. I think the hard part was figuring out if you really wanted it, or if you only wanted it because your dad wanted it for you. Now you’ve decided it’s what you want, you’re the boss, it can be whatever you think it should be.”

He nudges my foot under the table. “And you don’t need to make a decision right this second. I know you feel like you need to exorcize him from your life, and you can, but take the time to get it right. Don’t make a decision on angry impulse. Give it time.”

I will, but I kinda like flamingo, and it would mean our new logo would have my favorite bird on it, which would make me smile every fucking day.

“I might call the women Dad hurt. Apologize to them. Seeif they’d like to be part of... I don’t know, something. A charity? Our newly branded business? I don’t know. I feel like they deserve something, too.”

“You can’t take away his sins, Corabelle. You could maybe find a way to compensate the victims, but you can’t undo what he did.” The sincerity in his eyes makes me shift in my seat.

“You’re right.” I sigh, rolling my shoulders back. “But I sure as hell am going to try.”

CHAPTER 38

Cora

(One Week Later)

Standing lookinginto the flamingo enclosure at Minnesota zoo, there’s a calmness in my bones that I wasn’t expecting to feel for the foreseeable future.

It’s been a hurricane kind of week. Michael and three of his cronies left the company. I put together a hiring committee, and we’ve started the search for replacements. I’ve spoken to counsel—daily—and started the preliminary research part of Blackwell Publishing’s rebrand.

Sterling has been at my side every day, and every evening we’ve had dinner at home, then snuggled.

It’s so fucking weird.

I’ve had relationships before, sure. Okay, fine, aside from Paul, the one long-term bland relationship of note, I’ve mostly only had one night stands. We’d date, we’d fuck, but we’d live separate lives in our separate spaces.

This... having another human being all up in my business, for a prolonged period of time, and not wanting to murder him dead?

Let’s just say it’s kind of new.

I don’t hate it, though.

I keep waiting for the moment one of us snaps. I’m not an easy person to be around. And if Sterling woke up tomorrow and decided he was done being ‘Mr. Corabelle’ as he calls himself, I wouldn’t be surprised.

I also wouldn’t be relieved, and that’s the part that sends prickles of fear across my scalp. I’d be disappointed, crushed even.

“Did you know that the color and brightness of their feathers depend on what they eat?” The man himself pulls me out of my own mind.

I snicker. “They’re my favorite animals, ofcourseI know that. The brightest flamingos are in the Caribbean. Didyouknow that a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance?”

He bumps me with his hip. “You made that up.” He opens the zoo map like he’s trying to find evidence to the contrary.

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