Blakely's father and I have been partners for over a decade, and while his mentorship influenced many things in my life, there's one thing he couldn't change about me—I just don't care about impressing people like Hugh does. I couldn't give a shit about what anyone thinks unless I need to impress them to sell one of our companies for a huge profit.

After growing up on food stamps in Compton, where most adults didn't have a job and addiction was rampant, you'd think anyone with business acumen would have impressed me. I'd escaped the gangs and pitfalls of poverty in the absence of anyone molding me into a successful young man. Yet most of the entrepreneurs I came across didn't strike me as anything special.

Then I met Hugh. I was in my late twenties and he was in his forties. Our first discussion led to a six-hour meeting. I impressed him for my age, and I was craving a business mentor even though I didn't realize it at the time.

Hugh was different. He would speak of things I hadn't heard of or show me new ways to manipulate others to get deals done. When I told him the story of how I got scholarships and put myself through school to get my MBA in finance, he instructed me to never speak of it again. He claimed successful people—rich people—wanted to know you were born with money. So I listened to him, and he created a backstory about me growing up in Northern California, which was just far enough away that no one ever questioned it.

Within a few months, we created an investment capital firm. Hugh had money and I had grit, along with an unquenchable work ethic. Slowly, I've earned my shares and we're now fifty-fifty partners. And even though I've always done more work than Hugh, including finding and closing almost all the deals over the last five years, I wouldn't be here without him. You have to have money to make more, and Hugh had plenty at a time when I had none. The combination of his start-up resources and my overzealous determination to be the best allowed us to create a dynamic partnership. Our start-up firm is now the largest in the country and a global name.

It's the exact reason why nothing can happen between Blakely and me. I'll forever be loyal to Hugh for giving me the chance and knowledge to create my life. So she's off-limits. And the last thing I need is to have daddy's little girl run to him, crying about how I broke her into submission and didn't marry her afterward.