Wild Open Hearts (Bluewater Billionaires) - Kathryn Nolan Page 0,59
was realizing.
“What’s the board thinking right now?” I asked. I was the majority shareholder in the company and every single member was a trusted colleague I’d personally brought on. But that didn’t make me entirely safe.
“The board is committed to Wild Heart and you. You’ve done an excellent job, Luna. They trust you.”
I blew out a relieved breath. I might have been feeling confused about aspects of my job lately, but at least I wasn’t at risk of losing it. Not like what happened with Emily.
“We just lost our main source of revenue,” I said, pointing out the door. “I thought the Ferris Mark thing would drop but it’s sticky. It’s all over me.”
“Yes, it is,” she said. “Some stories aren’t let go of that easily. You are a threat, Luna. To the way things are done. If they see a chance to drag you through the mud, they’ll take it over and over.”
I swallowed around a lump in my throat. “At least I know now,” I said, voice wavering. “But am I making a mistake? Working with Lucky Dog and adding extra fuel for the fire?”
“Is your question really about Lucky Dog or are you asking me about Beck Mason?”
I opened my mouth to answer. Stopped. Felt my cheeks get hot. “Nothing is formally happening with Beck and me. But it might happen and I want to know if I’m going to take this company down with me. People’s jobs are on the line. Our mission is on the line. Are my personal choices sacrificing what’s best for Wild Heart?”
“You’re a woman, a CEO, a public persona,” Sylvia said. “Your choices will continue to be picked apart and analyzed forever. You won’t ever escape it.”
I looked out the window, found no comfort in Miami’s shimmering waves.
“That wasn’t the answer I wanted,” I said.
“I know it’s not.”
“I thought light attracted light. I’m always nice, I care deeply about things, I’m all about good causes—”
“That doesn’t matter,” she said. “Your detractors will be many. Always. You think I didn’t feel the same pressure? Because I did. But you cannot live your life dictated by the opinions of strangers.”
A knock on the window. Jasmine, pointing at one of the giant screens on the wall. Turn it on, she mouthed. She looked furious. Sylvia turned it on—to the business news network we always had on.
“In the wake of the Ferris Mark scandal, things aren’t looking up for Miami’s own Wild Heart. First, the animal cruelty. Then the news that Luna da Rosa had openly defied her own policies to work with them. And now, the latest word that Fischer Home Goods, the second-largest chain of stores in the country, will no longer be selling their products. This was the partnership that garnered Ms. da Rosa’s billionaire status and put Wild Heart officially on the map with the other reputable cosmetics brands.”
My gold rings caught the light from the sun, twinkling with all of their expensive goodness. The Fischer contract had only been possible because of my rash decision to go with Ferris Mark—because I’d run the numbers and had predicted, if all went as planned, my net worth would break the billion-dollar mark. It had been an exciting gamble, a tease, a fun game, to roll the dice and let the universe reward me for my hard work.
The devil on my shoulder had won that day. There’d been no regard for social justice, only money.
“Luna, are you okay?” Sylvia asked.
“Of course,” I said brightly, with my last remaining ounce of strength. “One second, I need to get some air.”
“Luna.”
I stopped, turned. It was Jasmine, barreling through the door and brandishing her phone like a sword. “It’s nuclear again. They’re ganging up on you now.”
“I know,” I sighed. Sylvia caught my eye across the table.
“We need to strategize, immediately,” Jasmine said. “Does Beck have any dogs coming that are particularly tragic or traumatized? You could do a video. Maybe shot in black and white. We could even stage it.”
“No,” I said clearly. But Jasmine was scrolling through her phone as always. “Also, if the media is going to continue to bring up Beck’s family, we could flip it. Use it. What if you surprised Beck at his office by bringing his parents there? Show both of you confronting them, put you in a hero’s light, working together.”
“No,” I said again.
From behind her, Sylvia gave me an approving nod.
“You’re making it hard to do my job,” Jasmine said.