It was time to say good-bye to Jasper and the life they once shared. She was ready to move out into the real world and discover who she could become if she had never hidden herself away in an ivory tower.

It was the morning of the vote to buy Carnegie Steel and merge it with ten other mills to form the United States Steel Corporation. Patrick expected it to be a stressful day, but he hadn’t realized he’d spend the final hour before the meeting in the men’s washroom of Blackstone Bank, helping Liam battle the nerves that were getting the better of him. Liam was sweating so badly he’d had to wash his face, and he was now leaning over the green marble washbasin with gold-plated taps.

“Don’t be so nervous,” Patrick counseled Liam. “The vote is a foregone conclusion.”

Liam closed the taps and blotted his face with a towel handed to him by a uniformed attendant. What sort of place had staff in the washrooms to hand out towels? Whenever Patrick thought he’d gotten used to the foibles of the Blackstones, something like this rose up to smack him in the face.

“Yeah, but I’m not used to double-crossing people,” Liam said. “I’m scared to death about what Frederick is going to say when he finds out I’ve flipped to Oscar’s side. I feel sick to my guts about it. Andrew Carnegie is going to be here. J.P. Morgan too.”

For the past hour Patrick had been using kind, priestly counsel to gently build Liam’s confidence, but none of it had worked. Perhaps it was time to change tactics. He grabbed Liam’s shoulders to jerk him upright and toughened his voice.

“If you want to serve on the board of directors, these are the kind of men you’ll be working with every day. Stand up straight, look them in the eye, and treat them like equals.”

Liam glared. “They’re not equals; they’re the enemy.”

“Knock it off,” Patrick ordered, his voice loud enough to echo off the tile. “As of today, they are your business partners. Start acting like it.”

Liam took a bracing breath, then blew it out and stood up straight. “You’re right.” He adjusted his collar and tugged down the vest of his insanely expensive suit.

Just before leaving, he tipped the washroom attendant. “You didn’t hear anything, right?” Liam said to the man.

“Of course not.” The attendant flashed Liam a wink. “Good luck, sir.”

They rode in an elevator with turquoise and jade inlaid on the marble floor. Patrick watched the brass dial above the door rotate with each floor they climbed until they arrived at the top level and the attendant cranked the doors open.