Page 198 of When We Ignite
He tilted his head. “Yeah?”
“Mm-hm.” A stray curl was covering his forehead and I pushed it back. “Finance.”
His dark eyes ran over my face, his lips curving into a fond smile. “That’s great, pet. You have such a potential for it. You’ll do great.”
“With your help, it’ll be a no brainer.”
The smile started to fade and he cleared his throat. Whatever he needed to say, needed to be said. But it was clear I wasn’t the only one struggling to face it.
I watched as he licked his lips, debating.
“We finally got your dad to drop his crusade to press charges,” he said, breaking the quiet.
I exhaled. “That’s great, Ash.” I had figured as much—otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to come here.
“That happened today. Or, well…yesterday. You know about the restraining order. I couldn’t do anything until that was dealt with.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. They couldn’t push it through without you, but getting it dismissed was a pain.”
I wet my lips. “Are you okay?”
He shook his head. “I missed you. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, darling. But I think it’s going to get better now.”
The words were hopeful, but the tiny smile he gave me didn’t reach his eyes. And suddenly, my chest ached.
“Do we have to stop pretending now?” My voice came out small, and I hated it. I hated not being able to be strong for him.
“Yes, pet. We need to.”
I took a deep breath, steeling myself. “Okay. Let me have it.”
That made him smile for real. His fingers traced over my jaw, his eyes impossibly warm as they followed their path.
“Tough as nails,” he muttered. He ran a hand through his hair, wetting his lips before continuing. “Things with Oli are great—that hasn’t changed. My dad, though…not so much. When the article came out, for obvious reasons, things got bad. The board suspended me. Stocks fell. It was about as bad as it gets.”
Shit.
And on top of that, everything with my dad.
“My dad’s back as interim CEO, and about a week ago, I tendered my resignation,” he said.
My jaw dropped. “What? Ash, you can’t?—”
He stopped me with a soft kiss. “Hear me out, pet. This wasn’t just because of the article. This was a long time coming. You know better than anyone how bad it was. How miserable I was. So, after a lot of long talks with my brothers, I decided this was the right move. And despite the terrible circumstances, it was as good a time as any.”
I searched his face. “And you’re sure you’re okay with that?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“So…what now?”
Sebastian took another deep breath, his fingers sliding through my hair, curling around the back of my neck like he was holding me in place. “This is the hard part, okay, my darling?”
I nodded. “Go on.”
“Remember the meeting I had in Spain?”
