I swore I saw Augustus roll his eyes. “You will soon be head of this company, as you are my sole heir. Consider yourself in the same shoes as Miss Montgomery, effective immediately. Your current position is still in effect as you work well there. However,” he stood, lighting a cigar and dismissing his man in wait from behind him, “you two must get to know each other. As you are both the future of this entire enterprise. Both companies are intertwined, you see.”

My hands faltered a bit with confusion. Was he saying that we were to work together? “I’m a little lost.”

Also, no way! I just told myself that I wanted nothing to do with this playboy!

The smoke filled the air, a scent of vanilla and tobacco filling my senses. It was a calming sensation—which is why I assumed he lit it up in the first place.

He found his words after a few puffs and vague hand gestures. “You two are assigned together as business associates of sorts. Brent will be in a similar position as you—learning how to be a proper CEO. I will be the guide based on the experience your mother and I bring.”

Brent tapped his foot in frustration. “Sounds like a merger is in order, then, sir.”

Taking small strides around the room in thought, a smile on his face, I could tell he’d been brewing a plan of his own. “Not out of the question entirely, boy. We’ll talk when she’s taken rightful place at the head of the table.”

A merger? Was that the long game here?

Brent’s eyes met mine and I held my breath for a showdown between them. “Tentative position accepted. What’s the next step?”

The build-up for this meeting with Augustus Vaughn was the worst part of it all. When he dealt with others, he seemed to be brutal and calculating. He was sharp for an older man.

What I didn’t expect was him to be soft with me and treat me well, even though that’s how it seemed he treated my mother throughout their working relationship. I wondered what the two of them working together was like. What did she say about me to him?

Had I met Brent before? As a baby or something?

Augustus broke up my thoughts with two words. “Cleaning house.”

​Chapter 34

Fallon

I think I’ve lost my mind.

I sat in the back of the car with my face in my hands, resting my elbows to my knees.

“How did everything get so fucked!” I huffed into my hands.

This year turned into something I never asked for. My mom was dead, and I couldn’t even grieve her five years later. In a matter of weeks, my worldview had been shattered into unfixable pieces.