Page 183 of My Big, Fat, Secret Billionaire Baby

“What thefuck, Leo?” Luca’s voice is a low snarl of simmering fury. “You don’t even have the goddamn courtesy to tell me to my face? You pull out of Chamonix, our fuckingtitle defense, and I find out because you CC me on an email like I’m some fucking intern?”

“It was a personal decision, Luca,” I say, my voice surprisingly calm.

“Personal decision?” he scoffs in contempt. “Since when do you makepersonaldecisions that crater our fucking brand? That make us look like we’ve lost our nerve? This isn’t just about you, Leo! This is Maxwell & Briggs! This isourreputation!”

“My reputation, Luca,” I correct, “is no longer tied to jumping off cliffs. Things have changed.”

“Changed?” he spits the word. “Youmeanshechanged you? That PR chick? The baby? You’re throwing away everything we built, everythingyouare, for… forthat?”

“Yes,” I say. “I am.”

I hear only silence on the other end of the line. I can almost hear him processing.

“You’re a fucking fool, Leo,” he finally says, his voice venomous now. “You’ll regret this. You’ll be bored in six months. You’ll come crawling back to me, begging for the rush. And I won’t be there.”

I don’t bother to answer.

“Fine,” Luca snarls. “You do this, Leo, you actually go through with this… then we’re done. You and me. As partners. This firm… it needs someone with balls. Someone who isn’t afraid to take risks. If that’s not you anymore, then I don’t want you as my partner.”

There it is. The ultimatum. Heavy, final.

The end of an era.

The end of Maxwell & Briggs as we knew it.

I feel a familiar pang of loss, but not regret.

Not this time.

“If that’s the price, Luca,” I tell him, “then that’s the price.”

Another beat of silence.

Then the click of him hanging up.

I stare at my phone.

So there it is.

He’s gone.

Luca.

The last vestige of the old Leo.

The man I built an empire with.

The man who also nearly led me to my own destruction.

I’m not sure when he’ll announce thesplit. Will he do it direct, through our lawyers? Or through back channels, or via proxy?

I wonder if I should initiate the process myself.

No. No. I can’t bring myself to.

Maybe he’ll change his mind in the morning.

Maybe it’s not the end of an era.

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