Page 78 of Worth the Risk

CHAPTER TEN

Gideon

I TOOKMY seat at the head of the conference table, ignoring the disdainful stares from the usual suspects. So, fuck it, I hadn’t bothered to shave. They should be thankful I’d poured myself into a laundered suit and remembered how to tie a decent Windsor. I didn’t plan on being here long enough to permanently damage their delicate sensibilities. I was here to vote on Damian rejoining the board and to deliver news of my own.

‘Shall we get down to the first item on the agenda?’

‘Yes, by all means,’ I drawled, drawing a cold glare from Uncle Conrad. I ignored him, drummed my fingers impatiently on the polished wood.

I’d already wasted a week in the pit of my own misery before accepting I’d made a huge mistake. I didn’t want to waste another minute.

I was in love with Leonora Branson.

And I’d fucked it up royally by going mute when I should’ve pleaded for her with every word in my vocabulary. The frantic twenty-four hours I’d spent trying to track her down had so far hit dead ends. I glanced at my watch, wondered if the PI I hired had located her in the last forty-five minutes since we spoke.

He’d better have something new for me, or...

What?This glorious mess is down to you and you alone.

I deserved every second of this agony.

‘Gideon?’

I refocused on the faces staring at me. ‘Yes?’

‘We need a yea or nay on reinstating Damian on the board.’

My gaze travelled down the conference table to where Damian sat. Something shifted inside me at seeing him in this room. It struck me hard how much I’d missed him.

His revelations on the yacht hadn’t been all that surprising. Penny was a manipulative bitch, and it didn’t take a genius to know she’d played us both. I’d let her come between us and lost my best friend for three years. It was time to let it go.

‘I vote yea.’

Damian’s gaze remained on mine, then he nodded. I nodded back and the knot I’d carried for years melted away.

Throats cleared, and I shifted my gaze back to Uncle Conrad. ‘Now, there’s the matter of your broken agreement.’

‘Excuse me?’ My snarl caused bodies to shift in seats.

‘What are you talking about, Conrad?’ Aunt Flo barked from her seat at the opposite end of the table. ‘This wasn’t on the agenda.’

‘A last-minute addition. I have it on good authority that you broke the terms of the agreement before your thirty days were up.’

I bolted upright in my seat, rage boiling in my gut. ‘I hope for your sake that on good authority doesn’t mean you have photographic evidence of whatever the fuck it is you think I’ve been up to. Because if you do, you’ll be in for a world of pain.’ If Leonora’s privacy had been compromised, heads would roll.

Conrad bristled, his double chin wobbling as he attempted to stare me down. ‘There has to be some accountability or all of this means nothing.’

‘You talk to me about accountability? I single-handedly brought home a multibillion-pound contract and you’re what? Blackmailing me with technicalities?’

‘Terms are terms, young man. You signed on for thirty days. You didn’t honour it.’

A thick wave of ennui swept over me and I subsided back in my chair. Halfway down the table, Harry all but vibrated with excitement. It was the most animated I’d seen him. Ever.

‘Let me save you the trouble. You want me gone? Fine. I’ll go.’

Gasps echoed around the table.

Damian jerked upright in his seat. ‘What the hell, Gideon?’

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