If there was a silver lining to something, no matter how thin it was, it was that my father's heart attack gave me a chance to act in a sort of trial-by-fire scenario.

The incident had given me the status as acting CEO and general bigwig of the office. I figured if I was going to prove I was worthy of my father's position, now was the time to prove it.

Before, I'd only gotten the role in one off events when my father had a cold or he wanted to take a day off. Never for an extended period did I have to face the company's goings on.

I was ready. I hyped myself up, I would make this company flourish.

Only it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

No, it had nothing to do with the actual work. I'd been doing more and more of it as the years went past to help take the load off my father's shoulders.

It had everything to do with the fact my father had a near brush with death.

That he almost lost everything in an instant, right as he was finding happiness.

It was sort of jarring. I'd always been a long term thinker. Never impulsive or reckless, but now, of course, I'd gone and fucked Sage.

As great as that was, it was just a reminder of all my other problems.

The fake fiancé thing.

The fact that she was soon going to be my step-sister.

The fact that it shouldn't matter, but it really, really did matter.

A knock on my office door broke me out of my ennui.

I looked up, expecting to see Lauren and her to bring me the next Rolodex of issues I had to deal with.

No. It was something that made me wish it was her though.

"Surprised you haven't moved into his office. Figure you'd be nipping at taking over for him."

Marissa.

It wasn't that I disliked her. Far from it. I thought she was a good woman for my father, and in general.

She was also a walking reminder that she was now Sage's mother. Usually when you meet your beloved's mother, you're looking at her to see how your future wife will shake out as age keeps up.

If Sage followed Marissa's aging path, fuck, she was going to be hot as hell for decades to come.

"The old man isn't retired yet. I'll take over his office when he gives it to me, not when he's on medical leave."

Marissa took a seat across from me, crossing her legs. She was nervous about something.

"You usually don't come to the office, Marissa," I said. "What's bothering you? Why the visit?"

"Charles was worried about you. Wanted me to come to visit and check up on you."

I laughed. "Can't stop being a father even when his heart is about to explode."

"He doesn't want to come back here with everything burned down is all."

"I can hold down the fort for quite some time. In fact, I would say he could even go and retire and the company would be fine."

"Never heard you be so power hungry, Case."

"Oh, no, I just want him to be able to take it easy. He shouldn't push himself so hard. He should savor his golden years with you." I smiled her way.

"That's lovely, Case. I guess that's what I'm really here for."

"I knew this was more than just a check on the kids thing."

She took a deep breath, and leaned on my desk. "The heart-attack scared the hell out of both of us. I was afraid of losing him, and even more so, he was afraid of something even more."

"The old man doesn't have a death wish so I'm guessing he enjoys living."

"Charles was terrified that he would pass without making me a part of his family proper. That he would leave the world without being able to tell the world about his love for me."

I sighed. That was what my father was. It was part of him being so fond of tradition. He never suspected that Marissa was only after his money. I never thought that either, and if she really were just about greed at this point, she deserved an academy award for her incredible acting performance.

"His brush with mortality has made him push forward our wedding date. We're booking a new venue and we want it to be as grand as it was before, but the old venue doesn't accept cancellations."

"Seems like a crappy business practice, but my father isn't one to worry about money with something like this."

"You and Sage haven't picked a date for your union yet. We want you to have our date. Most of the planning is done already, and it would save a big headache if..."

"Wait, what. Hold the phone here."

"Huh?" She looked surprise at my sudden protest.

"We did have a big awkward dinner about this, right? About her being my step-sister and all that?"

Marissa let out a long breath. "You and I both know that isn't what it is. You're both adults, and have not grown up together, lived together, and sure as hell don't share the same blood. At this stage in your life, it's something that is essentially in name only."

"So... you're telling me that you and Dad approve of Sage and I?"

"Our eyes were opened, Case. Life's too short to be dragging your feet and avoiding what makes you happy for stupid reasons."

"You do know that there are people out there who would make it an issue, right? Common sense has nothing to do with hysteria."

"Charles has a lot of faith in you to be smart about it, and figure something out. We're not making our own wedding super public, and I think if you kept you marrying Sage quiet, no one needs to know."

"I don't know. It seems like a big headache waiting to happen."

"Charles wants you to be happy. I want Sage to be happy. You're both smart, brilliant young people. You'll figure something out. I believe in both of you."

I should have been happy to have their blessing after everything that had happened. I mean, I wanted Sage.

Really fucking badly.

The burden of keeping it a secret though.

That felt like a time bomb waiting to explode.

"Have you told Sage?" I asked.

"I would have if she would talk to me. She's still afraid I hate her for standing me up for something she showed up to anyway. That girl gets so guilt-stricken sometimes."

"She cares about you. Deeply. Don't you ever doubt that."

"I just want her to be happy."

"She wants you to be happy."

"Well, I'm not going to be happy if she isn't happy."

"She isn't going to be happy if you're not happy." I grunted and shook my head. "We're going to go in circles at this rate. So I'll just call her and talk to her about this."

"Thank you, Case."

She got up and offered a hug. I accepted. No matter what happened, her love for my father was real, and she wanted to be as much as a step-mother could in this stage of our lives.

With the message delivered and me properly spied on, she took off and left me be.

I took a deep breath, picking up my phone. I hadn't really talked to Sage since that night. It wasn't that I didn't want her, or was taking what we did for granted, it was just a source of a whole lot of headaches and heartaches.

Getting three numbers in, I stopped. I'd caught up on everything here, and this was big enough news that it was something that should be talked about in person instead of a phone call, or worse, texting.

I picked up my jacket and wondered if she would be home. With Marissa never leaving my father's side, home was a good place to hide from her.

Going back to where I was when I took her. My cock twitched in anticipation.

Even I knew I needed to keep it in my pants sometimes though.