Love At First Touch (Love Comes First 4)

His face twists up in confusion. “What?”

“It doesn’t matter. The point is it was an accident.”

“You ruined my show! The critics hated it and it was all your fault.”

“Whoa!” I say as I put my hand up. “We did not ruin your show. We all know you didn’t need any help from us to do that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Those clothes were ridiculous!” I can feel my tone rising. All these things I’ve been holding back are starting to burst out of me. “Eighty million for that monstrosity? Are you kidding me, Gabriel?”

“It was an investment!” he snaps back. “It was supposed to make money!”

“And how much of that eighty million dollars did you make back? How big was the order that the ‘largest buyer of designer clothes in Europe’ placed?”

He’s silent as he glares at me.

“Was it zero?”

He drops his eyes as a look of shame passes over his face.

“Did you sell any clothes?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Oh, Gabriel,” I say softly. “You know this wasn’t what Dad had in mind when he let you take over.”

He runs a hand through his hair and lets out a deep sigh. “I know. I just wanted to have my own thing… to be successful like him.”

Westin quietly backs away and gives us some privacy. I’ll have to remember to thank him for that later.

“I’m a failure,” he says as he drops his chin to his chest. He can’t even look at me. “It’s all been a big colossal, massive failure. I’ve put Dad’s life work in danger. I let our employees down. I let you down. That’s what hurts the most.”

My brother is breaking before my very eyes. I wrap my arms around him and pull him in for a hug as he starts to crumble.

“Dad should have put you in charge,” he says with a cracking voice. “That was his one mistake.”

“The company is not dead,” I say as I rub his back. “We still have some clients and we can try to get the others back. We should be working together on this. Drop the clothing business and out of control spending and get back to the basics. Build on the foundation that Dad left us, not burn it down and start a new one on the ashes.”

“See?” he says as he finally looks at me. “You’re better at this than I am. You’re the one Dad should have groomed to take over.”

“Aww,” I say as my heart swells in my chest. It’s been a while since my older brother has said something nice about me. “I hate that we’re fighting all the time. I want my big brother back.”

He hugs me this time and says he’s sorry. “I was trying to be a man that Dad would be proud of but I screwed everything up. I miss him so much. I feel lost without him here.”

“So do I. I miss him too, but we still have each other to lean on. Let’s not fight anymore.”

We hug each other as the tears come and I realize that we haven’t had a moment like this yet. A moment to grieve together over our father’s passing.

It feels nice and I feel closer to him than I have in a long time. Maybe since he punched Alex Sullivan in the face after he threw a snowball at the back of my head when I was nine years old. It’s nice to have my big brother back.

“I’m stepping down as CEO,” he says with a firm nod. “That’s a decision that Dad would be proud of. He always taught us to know our limitations.”

“Who should we promote?” I ask, running through the executives at work in my mind.

“You,” he says. “You have it all, Vicky. Strength, smarts, tenacity. You’d make an amazing leader. A leader Dad would be proud of.”

And just like that, my nightmare is over and a new chapter at our company begins.

Chapter Ten

Victoria

“Are you sure it’s okay that I’m here?” I ask as the elevator arrives on the top floor.

“Of course,” Westin replies with a look like I’m crazy. “You’re family now.”

“I’m not family yet.”

He has that sexy grin on his face that I love and a knowing look in his eyes. “You will be soon. You can be sure of that.”

I can feel my cheeks blushing as the doors open and we step onto the top floor of Cline Corp. I love it when he talks to me like that.

The past month with this man has been absolutely perfect and all I want is for it to last. I’m fully in now—heart, mind, body, and soul—and I know I’d be absolutely crushed if he were to end it.

I’ve been eagerly waiting for the ring that he keeps hinting is coming, but I won’t feel totally secure about all this until the warm metal is wrapped around my finger. It just feels too good to be true.