“And who’s that? Someone with a lot of money?”
“Someone who might have a sister out there who cares about him. Someone who is a great CEO. Think about all the people who work at Cain Enterprises who you know and care about. Jenna and Peyton and Marion. Are you really just going to walk away from them? You’re just going to abandon the company? You’re really going to do that?”
“So that’s your big plan for the future. We keep searching for the heiress. I stay on as CEO of Cain Enterprises.” Suddenly, as he spoke, his meaning was blaringly obvious. The fog had cleared. “And you’ll be right there by my side. Because, presumably, once I’m worth close to half a billion dollars, you’ll get over this fear of being the EA who sleeps with her boss.”
Okay, so he wasn’t playing dumb, he was being dumb.
“You think I’m after your money?”
“Oh, I think you win either way. You’ve said all along you were in this for job security. So either you get to stay on as the assistant of the CEO of a company or you end up married to the CEO. Either way, your financial security is pretty much guaranteed, right?”
“That’s what you think?” she asked. “That all I care about is the money?”
“Why else would you be so damn desperate to convince me to find the heiress and to stay on as CEO?”
“Because I want what’s best for you, you dumbass. Did it honestly never occur to you that I just wanted you to make the best decision for you?”
“No. That never occurred to me. And you wanna know why? Because if you do know about Hope2O and you really understand what I’m trying to do there, then you’d understand that nothing would make me happier than funneling all that money into a worthy charity.”
“Oh, I understand all right.” He made her so mad, she wanted to launch herself at him and strangle him. Instead, she satisfied herself with merely stalking across the pristine lawn and getting right up in his face. “I understand perfectly well that your family has you so emotionally messed up that you think no one will ever love you for yourself alone. So you think the only way to earn redemption or respect is to pour all your money into a worthy cause.”
“I don’t—” He made a meager protest, but she didn’t let him finish.
She was too furious to stop midrant. “I get that. And that would be so convenient for you, wouldn’t it? Because then when someone fell in love with you, it would be just you on the table. And you’d never have to wonder whether or not they really loved you. And you would never have to suck it up and just learn to trust someone on their own merits. That would be perfect for you, right?”
He was stubbornly silent, refusing to acknowledge the truth to her words.
So she went on. “And maybe that would have worked out for you if your father hadn’t come up with this damn contest for Cain Enterprises. But he did and it screwed up all your plans. Because regardless of whether or not you want to admit it, you care about this company. You care about these people. And if you walk away from it now, you will end up regretting it forever. You know what will happen if you don’t play Hollister’s game, don’t you? Cooper doesn’t want Cain Enterprises. He has his own empire to run. So Cain Enterprises will end up reverting to the state. Sheppard Capital will probably swoop in and dismantle it bit by bit.”
“Cooper—”
“I’m not done yet,” she interrupted him again. “Yes, you’ll know that whatever woman you end up with down the line will really love you for you—you will damn well guarantee that because you’ll both be living in sub-Saharan Africa on the salary of an international aid worker. But guess what? To guarantee your personal happiness you will have sacrificed the jobs and livelihoods of countless people you really care about.”
Finally, finally, she was done with the barrage of anger that had rushed out of her. Her! Sydney, who never lost her temper. Who had never been angry at him, not even when he’d told her about the background check.
But she’d lost her temper now because he was being so damn dense about himself, about what he really needed.
And now he just stared at her, like she’d lost her ever-loving mind. So she asked, “Are you really going to sacrifice all of Cain Enterprises, just so you can have some sort of guarantee that you’re loved? Are you really willing to make that sacrifice?”
“What if I am?”
“Then you’re not the man I thought you were.”
“And let me guess…if I am that guy, if I’m that guy who can walk away from millions of dollars, then you don’t want to be with me.”