The Guardian and the Escort

But now, I could see that nothing held me there but myself. She hadn’t blocked me in, she’d merely seen me hiding and asked me to take her hand, and I was too damn scared that I had nothing to offer her. She thought I did, but so did Juliette, and look how that ended.

The bottom line was that I hated being alone just as much as her, but I’d spent the last couple years hiding from my demons while Rose was ready to face them. She was ready to let someone in—let me in—and just like before, I’d let her down.

She’d spent most of the past six years alone because of me—because I pushed for a marriage that was falling apart before Rose ever showed up. I let her down again because even after the divorce, I stayed away. I didn’t know how to be there for her. How I could even start to fill the shoes Alec asked me to step into.

I didn’t think I had anything to offer, assuming she was better off alone with the occasional email checking in.

But I had something to offer now. I wouldn’t blame her for never speaking to me again, but I could at least do something to atone for my absence. I had to.

Snapping into action, I fired off two messages. One to my assistant, letting her know to clear my schedule for the rest of the week. The next, I sent on my way to my car, ordering my lawyer to make time because I was on my way, and it’d be a late night.

The next day, I waited for Rose to leave for The Berkshire. She probably assumed I’d gone back to avoiding her, and I hated how it must hurt her on such a big day, but I had to keep my head on straight. I had to prepare for every scenario, and one of those was failure. If I failed before giving her hope, then so be it—no loss. But I knew if I saw her, I’d lay out every detail in my plan just to ease the exhausting weight she carried around, and I needed to be sure before I got her hopes up.

Also, Rose softened me—in the best way—and I need to be the devious shark I’d always been. The one Alec honed into a lethal opponent. At least lethal to a business.

I wore my most expensive suit in all black, wanting to have every inch of superiority I could. Giving my tie one last adjustment, I smiled in the mirror, looking like the devil himself. It’d been a while since I’d gone to battle. Most people didn’t want to after the reputation I gained for winning.

Not that this adversary had challenged me directly, but I hadn’t liked him for years, and now that he’d gone after something important to me, I had no problem grinding him to dust if need be.

I parked my car and walked into the modern foyer like I owned the twenty-floor building. Depending on how the meeting went, I may actually own it by the end of the day. A few people called for my attention to check me in or see where I was going, but with a simple look, they backed off.

I exited the elevator on the top floor and smiled politely at the receptionist.

“Hello, Mr. Black,” Felicity greeted.

I’d met her a few times over the years Phillip worked with Alec. “Felicity. Is he here?”

“Um, yes,” she answered carefully. “But he’s on a phone call.”

With another polite smile and nod, I walked right into the office, slamming the door on her objections behind me.

Phillip looked up with wide eyes behind thick-rimmed glasses, sitting up taller when he realized I wasn’t slowing my pace to his desk. He gestured to the phone and waved his hands, telling me to leave. Yeah, fucking, right.

Instead, I leaned over his desk, resting one hand over whatever file he had open while the other reached across to cancel the call.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he shouted. “That was an important call. You can’t just come in here and—”

“I can,” I assured, giving him a smile in greeting too. This one just came slower, hinting at the devil that came to play. “Now, stop your whining. We have business to discuss.”

“I don’t have any business with you,” he sneered.

Ignoring his comment, I stood, taking my time to look around his gaudy office as I spoke. “You have business with Miss Berkshire, and as her guardian, that means me, too.”

“She’s an adult. Not some kid whose assets you can try to claim.”

I stopped my perusal of his bookshelf full of untouched books and smiled over my shoulder. “You’re a difficult man to get a hold of, Phillip.”

“I’m busy.”

“And yet, here you are.”