When I met her, everything inside me told me to keep my distance. To stay away because there was no way someone that broken could be anything but a lead weight on my already sinking ship. Then I got to know her. And I realized that no matter how fucked up my situation was, she might be going through something even darker, and that maybe I could help pull her into the light. Maybe if I taught her how to breathe again, she’d breathe some of that life back into me.

It was survival instinct. Arden Fontaine could help me survive, if only I could help her put one foot in front of the other in her own life.

But then I made the mistake of touching her. Of kissing her. Of owning her body, feeling it writhe beneath mine. My heart got all twisted up in her soul. And now?

I’m afraid there’s no turning back.

Correction: You’re not afraid. You’re fucking terrified.

That thought skitters across my mind as I walk into the tall, glass-covered building that houses the Fortune 500 company my parents built and cherished.

“Mr. Jackson!” I hear a chair roll back as a woman runs around her desk to greet me. “I wasn’t informed the board was expecting you today.” I can’t see her face, but I can feel the way she flutters around me, as if she’s not quite sure how to help me reach my final destination.

“Can I help you upstairs?” she asks with a note of fret in her high, thready voice.

I offer her a friendly smile. “That won’t be necessary, Melody.” I made it a point to memorize every single employee’s name currently working for my family’s software company, Sage Jackson, Inc., by name.

Sage was my mother’s maiden name.

Her voice glows at the recognition in her response. “Yes, sir. Please let me know if you need anything at all.”

The flirtatious tint to her tone doesn’t go unnoticed, but after having Arden in my bed, it falls on deaf ears. There’s only one woman that belongs under my skin.

Nitro and I head for the elevator. When the doors close behind us, I ride to the top floor of the building. Exiting, I move like I’ve memorized the layout of the building, because I have. Nitro helps to guide me, but the hallways in this building were my playground as a boy.  If anything has changed, I certainly can’t tell.

“Can I help you, sir?” The receptionist at the top-level executive’s desk greets me. “I’m sorry, but all of the executives are about to begin a meeting. Who were you here to see?”

I offer a wry smile, tightening my hold on Nitro’s harness. “My name is Flash Jackson. And I think I have a seat in that meeting you spoke of.”

Her audible gasp shouldn’t gratify me, but it does. Everyone involved at Sage Jackson assumed my brother and I would be taking a backset in the interest of the company my parents founded and built from the ground up.

And maybe at one point, that was true for me. Being a pilot fulfilled me in ways I wouldn’t have willingly traded.

That’s no longer the case. Things have changed in my life, and I have a future to ensure, to look out for. That future is going to begin with making sure the company my parents started remains on the path they laid out for it.

The gray suit and black tie I put on for this meeting suddenly feels a little tight around my throat. I fight the urge to adjust it as I hear the assistant’s audible intake of breath.

“Oh, Mr. Jackson. I’m so sorry—I didn’t recognize you. I don’t think they were expecting you. Please, let me show you into the boardroom.”

I dip my chin, even though I know exactly where the boardroom is located on this floor. Instead, I follow the woman to a door near the end of the hall and stand in the doorway as she announces me.

Silence falls on the room, before someone clears their throat and speaks.

“Mr. Jackson…we weren’t expecting you at today’s meeting.”

Reese Manheim, President of Sage Jackson, Inc., is a competent leader for the company, but the reading I’ve been doing to update myself on the company’s growth and business practices in the last two years leads me to believe that the company needs to be rejuvenated, maybe even rebranded. I have a feeling Manheim is going to be less than thrilled with my assessment.

That’s just too damn bad. The man, only a few years older than me, is good at what he does, ambitious and single-minded, but it was my parents who started the company. And I think it’s time I stepped up to help run it.

I offer a wry smile. “That much was clear from everyone’s reactions to seeing me today. My name, along with my brother’s is listed, however, on the top seat of the board. Am I correct, ladies and gentlemen? Should we get started with today’s agenda? I’ll be serving as my brother’s proxy today.”

There are rustling noises as people shift in their chairs or take their seats, and the tiny alerts as laptops open and the board members around me log onto their devices in order to ready themselves for the meeting.

“Let’s begin by discussing the first order of business on the agenda today.” Manheim’s voice is clear and confident as he addresses a group of people he’s most likely used to leading each and every day. From what I could tell in the paperwork I obtained, the executives bend to his will; he’s the very clear leader here. Exactly the way his title denotes.

After listening to him recap the previous quarter’s earnings—which are pretty much the same as the three before that—I decide I’ve had enough, and stand. The wheels of my plush leather chair squeak against the wooden floor and Manheim’s voice comes to an abrupt halt.

I can feel the attention of every executive in this boardroom, and I let it wash over me, testing the feel of it on my skin. When I was an Ace, I never had an audience. I had a job to do and I did it to the best of my ability. It just so happened that it was something I could be the best at.

But this? This is new territory for me. Being here in this building after so long, in the place where my parents started a legacy I never thought I wanted, something clicks inside of me. The same way things clicked into place when I started getting closer to Arden.

It feels…right.

Taking a deep breath, I summon the kind of confidence I depended on in the cabin of my jet, and address the room. Despite the fact that I can’t make eye contact with these people, and that they aren’t my own hires, I know each and every person here. I’ve read each employee dossier, taking note of the accomplishments and the skills that need improvement. Manheim is the president, and I’m not trying to rob him of his position or take anything way from him. But this company? It belongs to Axel and I. So, he’s going to need to get used to seeing my face here.

“Actually, I have some ideas on how we can not only streamline our revenue by department, but also increase our earning potential by fifty-five percent over the next three quarters.”

“Oh, do you? I wasn’t aware of your business acumen, Mr. Jackson. Isn’t your background in aviation?” I don’t miss the doubt or the challenge in Manheim’s tone.

Turning my head in his direction, I offer a ruthless smile that I usually save for adversaries. He doesn’t know it yet, but he doesn’t want to slide into that role with me. He’s testing me, and he doesn’t want to lose the full attention of the executives in the room.

Well, that’s just too damn bad.

“My business background is none of your concern, Manheim, since I’m the one signing your generous paycheck each month. If I recall correctly, my name is the one on the building outside. You’re going to listen to what I have to say, and when I’m finished, I’ll show you the reason why the plan I have will work for our company. Is that understood?”

Silence blankets the room, the tension heavy enough to make me sweat. Finally, Manheim relents. “Yes…sir. I’m all ears.”

With a tight-lipped smile, I continue. “We’re going to roll out a brand-new product line. It’s going to refresh our brand and not only energize our current customer base, but the line, along with the innovative marketing campaign I plan to put behind it, will rocket us to the top of the younger generation’s list for tech products next year.”

My business model is solid; I’ve done enough research to know that. And with the stellar marketing team this company has in its corner, my plan won’t fail. I know that, and after I’m done laying out the new line of devices and the accessories that will accompany them, the entire boardroom is eating out of my hands.

When Manheim draws the meeting to a close, several executives stay behind to shake my hand, and to let me know how excited they are about my idea and to be working with me moving forward.

Leading Nitro out of the large room afterward, I’m light on my feet. I did what I set out to do; the pride of my accomplishment probably shows in the big-ass grin on my face. The sound of Manheim’s voice speaking in low tones in the hallway doesn’t make me slow, but the response of the person he’s talking to makes my footsteps falter.

When she speaks to me, her voice dripping with shock, I stop moving altogether. I’m frozen in place by a voice from my past.

“Flash? What…what are you doing here?”

Manheim’s voice pipes up after she speaks. “Jackson just presented at our quarterly board meeting. How do you two know each other, Poppy?”

Poppy. Just the sound of her name brings back a staggering flood of memories, memories I thought were long dead and buried. My hand tightens on Nitro’s harness just as my jaw tenses with the pent-up fury and resentment that still boils somewhere dark and deep inside of me.

I hear the intake of her breath just before the direction of her voice changes. She must have turned to Manheim. Her tone turns honeyed, sweet. Why didn’t I ever realize before how false her voice sounds when she wants something?

“Reese, babe…” I imagine her laying one of her small, perfectly manicured hands on his arm to pacify him. “Could I meet you downstairs in a few minutes? I haven’t seen Flash here in so long, and I just want a moment to catch up, and then I’ll be all ready for our lunch.”

He hesitates, probably looking at me for some kind of explanation. One that I’m sure as hell am not going to give him. Finally, he huffs an exasperated sigh.

“I’ll see you downstairs. Don’t be long.”

“Oh no, not more than a few minutes, sweetie.” The sugar in her voice counteracts the manipulation I know all too well is right underneath it.

When the elevator doors close behind Manheim, I adopt a more relaxed stance, despite the fact that every muscle in my body is tense and coiled, and painfully tight.

“Flash.” Her voice moves closer. Too fucking close. “It’s so good to see you.”

My body remains motionless. “Is it?” There’s no inflection in my voice.

“My God, yes. Flash…you know I was never happy with the way things ended between us. I…I’m sorry. God, you look good.” There’s a hungry sharpness to her last words, something that wasn’t there before.

I push off the wall and I can sense the fact that she’s standing right in front of me. Ready to sidestep her, I grit my words out. “Thanks. I have no idea how you look, Poppy, but that’s the reason you left me, right?”

She gasps.  “Flash…don’t be like that. I just wasn’t ready. I was so shocked after the accident. I thought our lives were going to turn out one way, and then…I just couldn’t handle it at the time.”

I snort. “You couldn’t handle it?” I run an agitated hand over my head. “Yeah. You made that perfectly clear when you packed your shit a week after we found out I was never going to see again.”

She changes tactics. “But look at you, Flash! You’re moving around so well. You’re running board meetings here at the company? I never thought…” She trails away, and I can tell that she’s biting her bottom lip. The way she did so many times in the past.

She never thought I’d come back swinging as a blind man.

“Three years, Poppy. Three years and an engagement ring, and all it took for you to toss it all away, was me losing my eyesight. What, you didn’t sign up for hard times?”

She’s quiet for a moment, and I take that opportunity to command Nitro to get moving. As I make my way past her, she grabs my arm. Her fingers feel like worms wrapped around my skin, and I suddenly make a mental comparison between her and Arden. It’s wrong, but I can’t help it.

Never, in our three years together, did Poppy lift me up and make me feel like I could soar. The way Arden makes me feel? Even when I’m the man who can’t see, the man who needs accommodations and assistance in almost every aspect of my life…Arden makes me feel like I’m a rock, like I’m someone capable of moving mountains in her life.

The difference between the two women is staggering, and I’m beyond grateful that Poppy showed her true colors before I went and married her.

“Let go, Poppy. You said everything you needed to say a long time ago.”

There are tears in her voice when she answers, but there’s also something else. Determination. “I made a mistake, Flash. That much is clear. Look at you—you’re a force to be reckoned with. You finally decided to take over your parents’ company. I was wrong about everything.” She moves closer, pressing against my arm in the way that used to make me hard. Now, it just makes me pissed. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

Laughing, with nothing except bitterness in my tone, I yank my arm from her grasp. “I think you have a lunch date. What, did you think Manheim was your next ticket to the top? Wrong, Poppy. He might be the president of the company, but I own it. And I will never again make the mistake of trusting you.”

Nitro and I make our way to the elevator. Locating the button, I press it and step on, feeling nothing but satisfaction, and a sense of relief, as the doors close behind me.