I look down at the stack of paper in my hands and I take a deep breath.

“Well?” Clay asks me. “What do you think?”

“It’s good,” I admit. “It’s really good.”

He grins, clearly pleased. “We worked hard on it. All of us.”

“I’m worried it won’t be enough.”

That seems to take the wind out of his sails. “You said we had a chance,” he points out.

“I know,” I admit, looking away. “But the board already said they’re adopting Karl’s ideas. I’m not sure what we can do now.”

“Damnit, Jacob,” Clay says. “You’re just giving up?”

“Not at all,” I respond, looking back at him. “This proposal is good, really good. And I think it’ll help. But I’m not sure how much.”

“I gotta admit, I’m surprised,” Clay responds. “Never thought I’d see you so pessimistic.”

“First time for everything,” I grumble.

He stands up. “Read over it again. It’s good and if you sell it, I think they’ll buy it.”

I nod to him. “I promise I’ll try.”

“Good enough.” He walks to the door and hesitates. “If anyone can get out of this, it’s you.”

I can’t help but smile at that. “Thanks, Clay.”

“Sure. We’re rooting for you.” He leaves my office and the door shuts quietly behind him.

Maybe I was too hard on Clay. The proposal really is good. It’s just too late and it doesn’t fit into my plans, not exactly at least.

But then again, if this all works, the company is going to need a new direction. I flip through the pages again, musing to myself, though I’m only half paying attention.

I’m worried about Sofia. She’s supposed to be talking with Karl this morning, and I don’t know how it’s going. This moment is critical to what happens next, and Karl needs to believe her. I think he will. I think he’s too blinded by his own selfish needs to actually think about what she’s saying and doing.

But it’s a risk, like everything’s a risk, and I hate taking it.

I distract myself with the proposal again, going through the details. I have an amazing team and they did a fantastic job on this document. If they had given this to me a week or two ago, I think we might be in a totally different position right now.

But they didn’t and we are, so we’ll keep going forward. Still, it’s very thorough and I think it’s actually a beautiful new direction for this company. It’s a compromise between Karl’s aggressive bottom line and my belief in the customer. It takes the best parts of his plan and mixes them in with my own ideas, creating this new vision for the company that’ll be both profitable and good for the customer.

It’s a win all around, and I think I can convince the board. First though, they have to see the kind of man they’ve decided to follow. And I’m going to show them.

My intercom buzzing pulls me from my thoughts. “Sofia here to see you,” Minnie says.

“Send her in.” I stand up, my heart beating fast.

Sofia comes into my office, wearing a navy blouse and a pair of dark pants. Her heels are lower today, and her hair is piled up on top of her head.

And she doesn’t look happy. “How’d it go?” I ask her as she shuts the door.

She sighs and shakes her head. She stays closer to the door, arms crossed over her chest. “He bought it.”

I let out a breath. “That’s good,” I say, coming around the desk.

She shakes her head quickly. “No, it’s not.”

I stop and cock my head. I can see the stress on her face and in her posture. “What’s the matter?” I ask.

“Jacob, he’s going to come after you now,” she says. “I mean, he wants me to testify…”

I laugh, grinning huge. “That’s fantastic!”

“Jacob,” she snaps. “Why aren’t you taking this seriously? Do you have any idea what that was like?”

My smile fades and I take a step closer. “You’re right,” I say.

“I mean, I’ve never said anything like that to anyone, much less to my boss. He’s a stranger, and I had to tell him some personal stuff.”

“I can’t even imagine,” I admit.

“No, you can’t, because I had to do it.” She turns away from me and walks over to the full wall-length window. “He didn’t even give a shit about me.”

I come up slowly behind her. “I’m not surprised.”

“I mean, I basically told him that you’re abusing me, and you know what he talks about?” She turns to me, her eyes wide. “He talks about hurting you. Not about helping me, but about hurting you.”

“He’s scum,” I say softly, stopping near her.

“Which is exactly my point. He’s dangerous, and now he thinks he has the ammunition to put you down.”

“But he doesn’t.” I take a deep breath and cross the threshold, putting my hands on her arms gently.

I can feel the anger in her. I can be such an asshole sometimes, only thinking about what’s best for me. I didn’t even imagine how hard that conversation must have been, how incredibly awkward.

And to have someone that should have her best interests at heart basically blow her off and think about how to use her for his own gain…

I realize with a start that I might be doing the exact same thing. “Listen,” I say softly. “I don’t want to make you do this.”

“You’re not making me,” she says, meeting my gaze.

“I wasn’t thinking about how it would be for you. I wasn’t thinking at all… I’ve been a selfish prick. Sofia, if you want to back out, nothing will change between us.”

“I’m not backing out,” she says seriously.

“Listen though. I won’t hold it against you. I know I’m your boss, but—“

“Stop,” she says, stepping away. “Okay? Just stop. I’m not backing out. I’m a part of this now. I just want a little sympathy.”

I watch as she walks over to my desk and takes a breath, her eyes closed. I’m angry with myself, angry that I don’t know how to comfort her, angry that I put her in this position. I’m not going to let her down like Karl did, though. I’m not going to let her do this and not get something out of it.

When we’re through and Karl’s gone, he’s going to need a replacement. And I’m going to use all my favors to make sure she gets the job. It’s going to look bad, but after the scandal around Karl, I doubt anyone is going to question it too much.

“This is all going to mean something,” I say to her finally. “I promise, what you did matters. It’s going to work.”

“I’m just frustrated,” she says. “That conversation was awful. I mean, it worked the way you said it would. He completely bought it, but that didn’t feel very good.”

She shakes her head again and walks over to the door. I watch as she pauses and looks back at me. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she says.

“Me too,” I admit.

She gives me another look before leaving my office, shutting the door behind her.

I’m left alone, standing at the window. I put my hands behind my head and take a deep breath.

I’ve never seen her like that before. She was so angry and upset, and I did a shit job trying to comfort her. I’m really out of practice with this stuff. I want to be better at taking care of her, but all this shit keeps getting in the way. It’s like one second I want to hold her and tell her how I feel, and the next I’m obsessing about Karl and my company.

I can’t let this distract me from what matters, and the more I’m with her, the more I know that Sofia matters. I’ve never felt anything like this before, and I can’t risk letting it go.

We’ve come so far together. There’s not much more to do. I just need to follow through and win, or else I’ve ruined myself.

Worse, I might ruin her.