Page 94 of Silver Fox's Christmas Scandal
To tell her I loved her?
To fight for what we had instead of letting corporate politics tear us apart?
"Before you had a chance to what?" Daniel's voice carried a knowing edge that made my stomach clench.
I turned back to face him, seeing understanding in his expression that cut too close to the truth. "It doesn't matter now."
"You love her, don't you?"
I couldn't deflect or deny it when he asked me so directly. I'd spent months lying to myself, rationalizing my feelings as physical attraction or professional admiration.
But sitting in this office, confronted by my oldest friend's direct question, the truth was inescapable.
I sank back into the chair, suddenly exhausted. "Yes."
Daniel sighed and sat back, rubbing his face. "Lucian…"
"Did she tell you or something?" I asked, feeling a familiar knot of panic rising.
"She told me you'd been mentoring her. That she'd developed inappropriate feelings and ended things to protect both your careers." His voice was gentle, but each word felt like he was choosing them carefully. "She didn't mention your side of it."
Of course she hadn't.
Tessa had taken responsibility for everything, painted herself as the one who'd crossed professional boundaries, never revealing that I'd been the one pursuing her from the beginning.
"She thinks it was just physical," I said quietly. "That I was using her for sex and business advantage." I was walking right into a raging inferno with my eyes wide open, praying that some semblance of the relationship I'd had with Daniel for twenty years still remained untouched by Viktoria's callous manipulation.
"Were you?"
"No. God, no." I had to scrub a hand over my face to maintain my composure. he wasn't trying to offend me. He was curious. "She became…" I struggled to find words adequate to describe what Tessa meant to me. "She became everything. I just didn't realize it until it was too late."
Daniel leaned back in his chair, studying my face while shaking his head. "Viktoria's been relentless in her campaign against you. She's contacted every board member individually,painting your relationship with Miss Wynn as evidence of declining judgment and moral compromise."
I knew all of this, but hearing it repeated made the anger return full-force. "And how many believed her?"
"Robert Vaughn and two others are wavering. But the rest see through her manipulation." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "What they're really concerned about is your performance. Your focus. Your ability to lead effectively."
"My performance has been exemplary."
"Has it?" Daniel's tone remained neutral, but his meaning was clear. "Because from where I sit, you've been distracted for months. Moody, unfocused, making decisions based on emotion rather than logic."
The criticism stung because it held truth I didn't want to acknowledge.
My obsession with Tessa, my inability to maintain professional boundaries, had affected my judgment in ways I'd been too proud to admit.
"But," Daniel continued, his voice warming slightly, "the months when you were happy, when whatever was happening between you two was working, you were sharper than I've seen you in years. More innovative, more decisive. A happy CEO is good for business, Lucian."
I looked up sharply when I realized what he was intending. "Are you saying?—"
"I'm saying that love isn't weakness. And anyone who's watched you two together would have to be blind not to see what you mean to each other." He closed the financial reports, effectively ending our business discussion. "The question is what you plan to do about it."
I still felt that Daniel was wrong. The board would never support me if I chose to pursue Tessa in light of Viktoria's pushing. The whole thing was a mess.
Viktoria just wanted me to suffer in any way possible and she would do anything it took. Including have my own board oust me while she sells her shares off, all to secure a binding contract saying Blake or Elena was the new CEO.
And neither of them were anywhere near ready for that level of responsibility.
But Daniel was right. I didn't want any of this, for myself or my adult children, if I was miserable.
