Scandalizing the CEO

“Why haven’t you called Ainsley back?” Steven asked.

“Malcolm doesn’t talk to press.”

“This isn’t press. I have arranged a series of interviews with Fashion Quarterly magazine and I think the promo will be great for our company.”

“Sounds good,” Edmond said.

“It would be better with Malcolm. Will you ask him if he will answer a few questions?”

Edmond cleared his throat. “You know he—”

“Just ask him. Say it’s the only thing that his son has ever asked of him.”

“I will, sir.”

Steven hung up—he was going to end up as Ainsley had painted him, but he hadn’t realized that before this moment. He was going to end up alone with only his business partners at his deathbed.

And he didn’t want that.

He wanted a different future. He wanted to have a wife and maybe a few kids with large violet eyes and pretty dark hair.

He wanted to have something to come home to and have Ainsley in his arms every night. And that was never going to happen unless he won her back.

And there was only one way to do that. He had to figure out how he could have her and not lose himself.

But after a lifetime of running away from attachments and emotions, he wasn’t sure where to begin. He only knew that if he didn’t he was going to end up like Malcolm Devonshire and he didn’t want that.

He’d spent his entire life trying to prove to himself that he was better than his father and it was time he took the one risk that his biological father never had—love.

Ainsley didn’t attend the rugby match, but sent her reporter instead with Freddie. They both had a wonderful time, which she gathered from Freddie’s tweeting of the event. It got them some nice advance publicity for the articles that Bert was writing. He’d even wrapped up his piece on Henry. And she heard from him that he’d spoken to Steven and Geoff there as well.

The Devonshire heirs could be Freddie’s show now. She didn’t want to have to see any pictures of Steven; it was too hard. She woke up in the middle of the night missing his arms around her and that made her mad because before him she hadn’t had anything to miss.

She’d spent her entire life alone, and had expected to continue it that way. But Steven had given her a glimpse—a hint—of what life could be, what it would be like to share her life with someone. And she wanted that.

She still craved his presence; she still needed him and loved him.

So when she got a DVD by special courier she wasn’t sure what it was. It was marked “Devonshire Heirs,” and when she opened it up and popped it into her DVD player she saw that it was a BBC One special interview with the Devonshire heirs. At first she was worried the interview would be similar to theirs, but luckily, the focus of the interview was different from the one she had Bert writing for their magazine. But the TV coverage certainly wouldn’t detract from the articles they were running.

When the camera zoomed in on Steven, she was surprised to see how tired he looked. She took a few steps forward toward the screen, not even turning around when she heard her office door open.

“I think the main thing I’ve taken from my life was that I needed to be better than Malcolm. I wanted to make my own life—a better life. But I never realized that I was following the same path. Making the exact same mistakes,” he said, looking directly into the camera.

She felt as if he were speaking directly to her.

“What mistakes have you made?” the interviewer asked.

There was a knock on her door and she paused the DVD.

“Yes?”

“It’s quitting time and happy hour has come to you,” Freddie said.

Cathy entered the room behind him with a pitcher of margaritas on a tray. “I’m not sure…”

“I am. This is your friend talking and you need a break.”

“What are you watching?”

“An interview with the Devonshire heirs. Steven is about to talk about his mistakes.”

Freddie put his arm over her shoulders without a word. He took the remote from her hand and pushed play.

“Being a workaholic and keeping everyone at arm’s length. That made me successful in business, but it has left me rather isolated,” Steven said.

“I’m sure there are women everywhere ready to help you fill your lonely nights.”

Steven shrugged. “There’s only one woman for me…if she’ll still have me.”

She couldn’t believe what she heard. She stopped and replayed it. She watched it again and then pushed pause. “Is he talking about me?”

“I’m sure of it. You said he was going to come back to you some day,” Freddie said. “It looks like that day came sooner than you thought.”