Page 74 of Shattered Throne
I could win this. Whatever history they had, whatever Cole Matthews thought he could offer, I could do better. I was Xavier Dubois. I was charming, persistent, and I'd already made Kim smile more times than I could count. I had an advantage here. I had proximity. I had?—
"How long ago was this?" I asked.
"Six years." Cole's voice was quiet. "We haven't seen each other in six years."
My heart dropped through the floor.
Six years.
Zoe was five.
The math wasn't complicated. Even I could do it. If Kim and Cole had been together six years ago, and something had ended badly, and then nine months later...
What if he was Zoe's father?
The thought hit me like a punch to the chest. Kim never talked about Zoe's dad. Not once. Not a single detail, not a single hint. I'd assumed he was out of the picture entirely—dead, maybe, or just gone. I'd never imagined he might walk into my office wearing a ten-thousand-dollar suit and talking about making amends.
How was I supposed to compete with that?
What could I offer Kim? Stability? I was a fake boyfriend with an expiration date. A future? I was playing pretend so I could collect my inheritance.
Cole Matthews was... what? A second chance? A father for Zoe? The man who'd broken Kim's heart coming back to put the pieces together?
"Mr. Dubois?" Harrison Webb again. "The conference room?"
I snapped back to the present. Forced a smile. "Of course. Right this way."
We walked down the hallway—me, Harrison Webb, the eager associate with the briefcase, Cole Matthews, and his lawyer, a thin man with sharp eyes who'd been so quiet I'd almost forgotten he was there.
Gerald Morrison was already waiting in the conference room, documents spread across the table in neat stacks. The old man had been handling Dubois legal affairs—personal and corporate—since before I was born. If grandmother trusted him with her will, Sebastian trusted him with the company.
I pulled out a chair and sat down, trying to focus. This was supposed to be my moment. Twenty million dollars. The deal that would prove I was more than a family name. The first real success I'd achieved on my own.
But all I could think about was Kim.
"Before we begin," Cole said, settling into the chair across from me, "I have to ask. Harrison mentioned something about a child—a little girl who was in the office during one of your calls. Is she..."
"Let's focus on the contract," I cut in. My voice came out sharper than I intended.
Cole raised an eyebrow. "I apologize. I didn't mean to pry. She just looked so much like?—"
"The contract." I pulled the stack of papers toward me. "Harrison, walk me through the key terms."
Harrison Webb exchanged a glance with his associate. The atmosphere in the room had shifted, tension cracklingbeneath the surface of professional pleasantries. But they were businessmen. They knew when to push and when to let something go.
"Of course," Harrison said smoothly. "As outlined in section three..."
He began his explanation. Investment structure, equity percentages, board representation, milestone payments. I nodded in all the right places. Made notes I wouldn't remember. Asked questions that probably made sense.
But my mind was elsewhere. My mind was in the stairwell with Kim, wondering how far she'd run, wondering if she was okay, wondering what the hell had happened six years ago that could make her flee like that.
Cole kept watching me. I could feel his gaze, measuring, calculating. Trying to figure out what I was to Kim. Whether I was a threat.
Good. Let him wonder.
"...and if you'll turn to page forty-seven," Harrison continued, "you'll see the termination clauses?—“
“Mr. Dubois, do you think I could speak to Kim?” Cole suddenly cut in. I hated the way he said her name. “I just need to…”
