“Can’t say I’m surprised to see you here,” I said as I approached my father.

He tilted his head and eyed me through narrowed slits. “You gave me no choice, Nolan.”

We turned and faced the lake, taking small steps away from Sophia as we talked. I didn’t want her hearing anything that was about to be said as it was difficult enough for me to guess what Dad already knew and his intentions.

“The least you could have done was introduce yourself to the woman who has the entire family thinking I’ve lost my mind,” I said, stuffing my hands deep inside my pants pockets, trying to get Dad to laugh.

Dad ignored me and kept walking with his eyes glancing around the world in front of him. I was surprised Mom hadn’t mentioned they were back in Colorado. Their vacation was planned until mid-week, so him being back only meant one thing—he thought the company needed him.

“What brings you out here, Dad?”

“Mom mentioned that you two talked.” He slowed down just long enough to twist his spine in my direction.

My head spun with assumptions. It had always been like that with Dad. He was a tough read. And I knew that he was going to make me work for it. “What else did she say?”

Dad turned his shoulders forward and continued to walk down the path. Naturally, I followed as I always had. He was the one we all looked up to. The one we turned to when we needed business advice. It hadn’t always been easy, but Dad managed to get most of his children to follow him down the path of entrepreneurship.

“Do you remember me taking you here as a kid?”

“Too many times to count,” I said, thinking how Dad could be tough on us at times. Especially when we were kids. But now that I was older, I knew that his actions and discipline were always rooted in love. Every choice he made, he made with his family in mind.

He glanced at me and snickered. “And do you remember what I used to tell you?”

When I closed my eyes, I could hear his words—the words he would remind me of constantly—filling my ears with big dreams. “That our dreams are only as small as we allow them to be.”

He flashed a knowing grin and turned his gaze away.

I knew he was looking at the building that housed the family business—Foster Enterprises. World Headquarters, as we sometimes liked to call it. He continued, “Before you were born, I remember coming here, standing in a similar vantage point to the city, and imagining working in one of those buildings.” He paused as if transporting himself back to an earlier time in his life. “It seemed impossible with the background I had.” He rolled his eyes over to me. “But that seed was planted and I never lost my vision. Every day I watered the idea and nurtured it into what it is today.”

It was hard not to admire my father. Not a day went by that I didn’t ask myself what he would do if he was in my shoes. Because he was a business tycoon whose shoes were going to be impossible to fill. And I didn’t take his hard work for granted. What he was able to do in a lifetime was more than most people would accomplish in ten.

He turned to me and lifted his hand to my shoulder. Squeezing it, he said, “Nolan, I know the weight that has found its way to your shoulders. It doesn’t matter that you’re a big man. The responsibility that I have entrusted you with is far heavier than what most men can endure.”

“It’s a burden I’m willing to hold,” I said with absolute confidence.

His hand dropped away and he turned back to the city, letting his gaze travel north along the Front Range. Nodding, he said, “I know, son. It’s why I picked you to lead the company into the future. You have what it takes.”

Confusion lined my brow. I was unsure what he was getting at or why Mom had sent him to speak with me. Perhaps my parents thought I could use a pep talk, or that this was only the lead-up to the lecture I was soon to receive. But then the next words out of his mouth stopped my heart.

“But you have been making some rather poor choices lately.”

When he turned to look at me, my throat closed making it hard to breathe. The sudden disappointment I felt flooded me with guilt, and if Dad hadn’t been there—been the one to have said it—I would have drowned in my own remorse.

“That girl,” he nodded toward Sophia, “is less than Audrey.”

I stepped forward, putting my face closer to his. “What are you saying, Dad?”

Without missing a beat, he said, “Audrey is what our family—what your brother—needs right now. Not her.”

“This isn’t only about political gain,” I argued. “I’m not interested in dating Audrey. That woman’s name is Sophia. And she’s incredible. She’s the one I’m interested in. The one who has my head spinning.”

“Look—” Dad stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Nolan, sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to do what is best for the family. Understand?”

Taking a step back, I didn’t understand. As much as I looked up to my father, there was a clear difference between him and me. A difference that was dividing us. Dad only saw the world in terms of winning or losing and, right now, according to him, me being with Sophia was causing Cooper—and our family—to lose.

“Did Mom also tell you what Audrey did?” My brows raised. “She fooled me into thinking that her father was having a heart attack just so she could go after and attack my girlfr—” I stopped short of calling Sophia my girlfriend. But that was what she felt like. And the more I had to fight to make others see how special she was, the more I needed to make sure that she did become just that.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nolan.” Dad’s expression pinched. “Lose this girl…Sophia.”

Rubbing my hand over my face, I said, “You know I’m not going to do that.”

Dad stepped in front of me, squaring his shoulders as he locked his gaze with mine. “Tonight, I need you by Audrey’s side.”

“Tonight?” My voice shot up an octave. “What’s tonight?”

“The family dinner I organized with our guests—”

“—the Rothschilds.”

Dad raised his brows above a satisfying smile filling his face.

“Is that why you’re back? Why you cut your vacation with Mom short? Because you thought I couldn’t handle it?”

His smiled vanished in a flash. “There are relationships that need to be repaired.”

“I’m working on it.”

Dad glanced toward where I knew Sophia to be. “Really? Because it looks as if you’re only making matters worse.”