Chapter 30
Myles
“You think I'll get in trouble for that? Kicking Silas in the balls?” Nicole asked me about an hour after the police and all the shareholders had left. We had gone up one floor to Silas's private office. It was much more welcoming knowing that he would never be here again.
“I think he has bigger concerns right now.” I said distantly, flashes of the loneliness and hardships that I suffered in Rikers Island were never too far from my mind.
“What happens now?” She touched my arm, dragging my mind back to the present. Nicole was great at getting me out of my head, and I knew that soon all the terrible shit that happened this past year would be a distant memory.
“Silas is beyond fucked; even his crooked judge won’t be able to help him this time. In a few weeks Victoria will be elected as president. They'll change the name of the now multinational conglomerate from Murrin to Quill to distance themselves from Silas's now toxic last name. Probably with some new designation like Industries, Limited or something.”
“What about the Malcolm Edward Foundation?” she asked.
Victoria had been the one to suggest that company be named after our son. She dismissed the idea of naming yet another organization after our family as being unnecessarily vain. She said that the world already knew who we were and that it was time for someone else's name to bring hope to people. It was such a beautiful sentiment.
I loved the idea that our son could positively affect so many people someday.
“Silas never got the chance to dismantle the progress I made on it, so that goes forward as planned. Actually, that was something that Victoria wants to talk with you about.” I held the downstairs door of Silas's office open for her. She saw the big news look I had on my face and it made her a little nervous. “She wants you to run that organization.”
“What? I don't know that I'm ready for something like that! You started that company you should run it.” She followed me up the ornate stairs to Silas's office proper.
“If there's one thing I’ve learned in my time as CEO it's that I'm not fit for corporate life.” I looked around at the walls of tempered glass, his polished hardwood desk, safe and filing cabinet. I didn't want any of it, not just the office or the building. I didn't like the business world. I wanted something simpler and more rewarding.
“Besides, it seems like you really impressed her when you two worked together to bring Silas down.” I rifled absently through Silas's liquor selection. I double checked that all the ingredients I'd need were actually here, then glanced back at Nicole with a smirk reminiscent of one I'd given her at my holiday party almost a year ago.
“I still don't know. I just graduated college and don't have any real experience. I'm grossly unqualified...”
“You make it sound as if you didn't just help to dismantle a criminal network, crush a corrupt empire, and save thousands of jobs in the process.” My hands were a blur of pouring, mixing and stirring. “Don't think that she's just giving this to you. Victoria is not like that at all. She went through several rounds of applicants. She thinks you have the spirit and the experience that this position needs.”
Nicole stayed quiet as she thought it over. She wasn’t the kind of person who would ever accept a sweetheart deal. That's why I didn't even bother bringing it up to Victoria, but, then again, I didn't have to. Victoria was the one to propose the idea to me. She wanted me to gauge Nicole's interest before putting together a hiring package for her.
“She's hired a small army of consultants and assistants, all of them have experience with this kind of work. You'll be fine. That is if you want the position, of course.” I was trying not to put extra pressure on her.
I could see in her eyes that she wanted it. She just needed to convince herself that she actually could do it. She walked around the desk and dragged a hand over the headrest of the lush leather chair.
“There's no rush.” I handed her the drink I'd made. “Just think it over.”
“Is that a sex on the beach?” She smiled, letting her anxiety at the important decision slip into the back of her mind.
“It is. Or would you prefer a bottle of vodka and a glass?” I teased.
“No,” she snapped back. “I had a lot on my mind then.”
“You don't now?”
“This time it's different,” she shrugged shyly. “All of my skeletons are out of the closet and you haven't been scared off. I don't feel alone anymore.”
“You'll never have to feel alone ever again.” I extended my glass and she clinked it. After our first sips she looked out the large balcony doors that overlooked a city that she grew up in and around.
“So many people...” She said distantly, becoming absorbed in the scenery. “I've never seen it from this angle.”
“Not many people have.” I slipped on my shoes.
Nicole broke her gaze, then walked back and sat comfortably in Silas's chair. It seemed to fit her. The chair was actually a little big for her, but she looked good in it. It wasn't the chair or the office, but the authority that came with them that she seemed to wear like a glove.
“Yes,” Nicole said, after a time.
I shot her a confused look.
“I'm going to take the position,” she clarified. She looked at me, shiny from drying sweat and her blond hair a mess. “As long as I have that team of people helping me; then, yeah, I'll do it.”
I nodded. I was glad to hear it but I didn't say anything. This was a big decision and I didn't want her to get bogged down with my opinion. Taking this job would mean a ton of stress, but I thought she was up for it.
“What are you going to do with yourself while I’m out earning all the beans?” Nicole smiled, lightening the mood.
“Oh, woe is us. However will we survive?” I shrugged my jacket on and remade my tie. “I figure I'll give this whole fatherhood thing a full-time shot. Speaking of which, let's go pick up our son. Your parents are delightful and all, but I don't want him outside splitting wood with your father until he can at least stand up on his own.”
“That's ridiculous!” Nicole protested, sternly, rising to her feet. “They waited until I learned how to walk before he gave me my first ax.” She couldn't keep the facade up through the sentence and ended up laughing out the last few words.
I wrapped my arm around her and basked in her laugh. I loved that sound more than anything.
I'd let Victoria carry on the Quill family's legacy. I was more interested in being the best parent that I could be, just like mine were to me. Not everyone was cut out for the family business, but I still felt like I had made them proud in my own way.
NOT-QUITE-THE-END
Author’s note:
I’m devious. I think you’re sexy and wonderful and I wanted to show you how much it means to me that you’re a fan, so in between the last chapter and epilogue of Billion Dollar Urge I snuck in another full-length book!
If you want to have your billionaire dessert and eat it too, then scroll to the very end of the book and you’ll find Miles and Nicole’s happy ending PLUS a little, sexy surprise.
You rock my world. Stay sexy out there, Lovelies.