A Moment Like You (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #2) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,88
I don’t have the key with me but notice that Beacon actually left it on the dashboard. Again, what is with their solidarity?
When we settle inside his office I finally speak, “Why did you do it?”
“Because you needed the money,” he answers without hesitation.
“Excuse me? I needed to have my salary paid and therefore you did it from your own pocket? I don’t understand any of it. The insurance my parents have is paid through your personal account. Is any of what the company offered real?”
“Everything is real,” he answers. “What’s the problem if I pay you through Merkel or through my own accounts? I’m the sole owner of that place. There are no investors, boards or…it’s mine to do as I please.”
“Why did you lie to me? None of those raises were real, or the penthouse or… You were just supporting me because… Why?” I ask angrily.
“Can I ask you what upsets you the most?”
“Don’t be condescending!” I order.
“It’s a valid question. I want to know what upsets you because maybe we can tackle that before we discuss the rest,” he explains so calmly I even take a deep breath and try to reason with myself.
If he can handle this like an adult, I should be able to do the same. It doesn’t make this entire issue less infuriating though.
“Because if you just made up all that shit, then I haven’t done anything in my life,” I conclude. “You handed me all this because—”
“I handled it wrong, everything,” he admits, and I’m a thousand times more confused. “From the very beginning, I should’ve explained to you how I wanted your career to go. Maybe I should’ve left you to work for the marketing department longer instead of pulling you too soon to work directly with me. Nothing I say is going to fix this precise moment when I say, I fucked up for not doing it right. There’s no right way to explain to someone that I had a hunch. From the moment I read your application, studied your scores, and was hit by your essay, I knew I needed you to work for me. Not only that, I knew you’re made for greatness.”
“It doesn’t explain the nonsense. I feel as if you’ve been playing with my career and my future.”
“I did it to make your dreams come true,” he confesses.
“My dream isn’t being your assistant, Henry. Stop playing fucking God,” I declare.
“You are more than my assistant, Sophia. Yes, by title you are that, but really you’re my partner. We make decisions together. You and I have been running Merkel for the past year,” he continues. “Not that I think it’ll continue that way because, in less than two years, I doubt you’ll want to work for me.”
He opens his private drawer and pulls out a folder, handing it to me. It has three contracts. The first one is the purchase of an investment company which I remember he was trying to buy a couple of weeks ago. I don’t understand what that has to do with the next contract where the brothers and Blaire gift me the company on the exact date that they receive William’s assets. The last one, the termination of my current contract with Merkel and Aldry’s, dated the day after I become the sole owner of Aldry’s.
“What is this?” I ask confused.
“Your own company, and in case we do something stupid, I bought the investment company that gets to buy Aldry’s,” he explains. “Aldry’s is yours because you always work your ass off for everything. All those promotions you wanted weren’t the right fit for you because you were already in the right position—the place where you could learn how to be the CEO of a company.”
“My dream was never to feel like a failure for these past years because I couldn’t be more than your assistant,” I say, bewildered by this conversation.
He’s right. I don’t need him to run Merkel. I could do it on my own, and I haven’t needed him to run Aldry’s either.
“It wasn’t my intention,” he states. “I was raised to do what I thought was best not only for myself but for everyone. I liked taking care of you and making sure you had everything you needed. The reason I never fired you is that you don’t take my shit. You make me think, you… I just want to make sure you’re cared for the rest of your life, Soph. I know you could do it on