Page 47 of Love Me

“She’s good now,” he says with a reassuring smile on his face, looking between Aunt Kayla and my mom. “I probably overreacted. Sorry about that. You two can go rejoin the festivities, and I’ll hang out with her. We need to catch up on college stuff.”

My mom and Aunt Kayla exchange a look over my head. I can’t quite decipher what the look is about but soon my mom gives me a smile and stands. I sigh out the tension I’ve been holding as she moves away.

“Alright, baby girl. You let us know if you need anything.”

“Is Monique okay?” five-year-old Avery and seven-year-old Damian come running up the hall to ask.

My stomach sinks to know even my young siblings are on high alert when it comes to my diabetes.

“She’s great,” Diego says. “Did you two finish opening all of your gifts?” he asks, sounding cheerful.

“Yeah, but I still can’t open the Transformer toy I got. Can you help me?” Damian asks.

“Go get it,” Diego answers without hesitation.

He takes the seat on the couch that my mother just vacated. He’s as good with them as he is with his own younger brother and sister. Damian and Avery love Diego, probably as much as I do.

I find my head sinking lower and lower until it lands on his shoulder. He looks away from the toy package he’s unraveling for my brother to peer down at me.

‘I’m sorry,’ I mouth to him.

Though this issue is far from over and I have no intention of breaking up with Derek, I don’t want to lose my best friend over it.

If only my stupidity had ended there.

CHAPTER10

Diego

“We can do more,” I tell the room full of stern looking men. It doesn’t matter that two of them are my uncles, Uncle Aaron, the CEO of Townsend Industries, and Uncle Joshua, who oversees the real estate division of the company.

At the far end of the boardroom table, mounted on the wall is the big screen with Kyle, my cousin and COO of the company, also present. The two other men in the room are directors of finance and operations.

Uncle Aaron gives me a deep, penetrating look. Most men would flinch at that glare, but I meet his eyes head-on. He steeples his fingers in front of his face.

“Making an assumption like that suggests that we haven’t been doing enough.” His voice is cold. The hidden insult in his comment isn’t lost on me either. I’ve basically said the company is slacking.

But I won’t back down.

The men in this room and my dad all taught me to stand on my word.

“You haven’t,” I reply.

His only response is to raise one dark eyebrow. Uncle Joshua tilts his head to the side. From the screen, Kyle huffs.

“Do tell?” he says with a challenge in his voice.

I stand and gesture to the printouts I’ve brought to this meeting.

“This is a side by side of the current projects we have underway contrasted with projects I believe we can take on in the next five years.”

“You want us to make a bigger move into commercial real estate,” Uncle Joshua says while looking down at the printouts.

“Yes. We’ve got the manpower, skill, and financial resources to make larger strides in that arena.” I look around the room to ensure I have all of their attention. “My expertise is in commercial design.”

At my last company, I worked as the lead design architect for large, commercial real estate projects.

They all are well aware of my credentials.

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