I blinked, unsure whether she was fucking with me or deadly serious. It was always hard to tell with Isabella. āUmā¦ā
āThink about it.ā She glanced to the side, clearly distracted by the arrival of another movie star. āIāll send you her backlist so you can get a feel for her books. I really think itāll be a fun event!ā
Then she was gone, leaving me to shake my head. āI thought she was going to ask me to host a preview of her new book, not Wilma Pebblesās.ā
āOh, Isaās love for dino erotica runs far deeper than her own career ambitions,ā Sloane said, her grin widening. āTrust me.ā
For my own sake, I declined to ask for further information.
Halfway through the night, Sloane and I split to mingle with different guests. I personally thanked everyone whoād helped me get the Vault off the ground, including Dominic Davenport, who seemed to be surgically attached to his wifeās side, and Sebastian, whoād pulled through with the catering.
āYou pulled this off, man.ā Sebastian clapped a hand on my shoulder. āNow I owe Russo ten grand.ā
āYou bet against me?ā I asked with mock offense.
āI had faith in you, but Lucaās usually wrong.ā He laughed. He glanced over my shoulder, and his smile turned into a smirk. āSpeaking of Russos, Iāll leave you to this one. Good luck.ā
He disappeared before I could respond, and Dante took his place.
We hadnāt talked since his holiday gala, but he appeared much more at ease tonight than he had at Valhalla. Perhaps he was finally settling into the rhythm of parenthood, or perhaps it was the near-empty glass of scotch in his hand.
āThis is impressive,ā he said, skipping the standard greetings. āI had my doubts about you, but you pulled it off.ā
āEveryone keeps saying that,ā I grumbled, but it was hard to stay annoyed when the night was going so well. āThank you.ā
Dante inclined his head, his gaze flicking to the bar where Vivian was talking to Sloane, Isabella, and Alessandra. It lingered on his wife for a soft moment before it returned to me and hardened.
āI have to admit, part of me was hoping youād fail,ā Dante said with surprising frankness. āI havenāt forgotten about Vegas, Miami, or the dozens of questionable situations youāve dragged Luca into. Howeverā¦ā His voice turned dry. āIf my brother can clean up his act after years of useless partying, I suppose you can too.ā
Dante Russo, the king of backhanded compliments.
āI wouldnāt say the partying was useless,ā I drawled. āIt gave me the experience I needed to do this.ā I gestured around us.
Danteās eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. Then, to my shock, he let out a genuine-sounding laugh.
āKeep that same energy tomorrow,ā he said, brushing past me to rejoin Vivian. āYouāll need it.ā
Tomorrow. My first evaluation. The fate of eight billion dollars.
I would be lying if I said my stomach didnāt sink an inch at the reminder, but tomorrow was tomorrow. Iād done my best, and there was nothing I could do between now and morning that would move the needle in a meaningful manner.
So instead of worrying, I grabbed a drink from a passing serverās tray, tossed it back, and simply enjoyed the rest of the night.
Iād earned it.
Judgment Day took place the following morning via videoconference. Considering the pomp and circumstance that surrounded the reading of my fatherās will, it seemed pretty anticlimactic for the fate of eight billion dollars to be decided over Zoom, but everyone was too busy to travel to BogotĆ” for an in-person gathering, so Zoom it was.
Sloane and I were both at my house, but for optics reasons, we took the call in separate rooms. I was in the library; she was in the living room.
Five faces stared back at me from the screen as I explained my business plan, my rebuilding efforts after the fire, and the openingās smash success. The only thing I didnāt tell them was the fire sabotage part. Alex had sworn me to secrecy, and itād raise more questions than it answered, especially after he told me he found the saboteur but ācouldnāt disclose their identity at this time.ā All he said was they had ties to a mercenary group that was targeting certain members of the business community for āconfidential reasons.ā
Part of me wanted details so I could take revenge on the person whoād caused so much strife, but a larger part was happy to keep the fire in my past and let the professionals deal with it.
General rule of life: donāt go looking for more problems than you already had.
After I finished my spiel, Mariana spoke first. āBefore we proceed with our evaluation, we would be remiss if we didnāt acknowledge the biases of certain committee members.ā
The chairwoman of the Castillo Groupās board was petite and sturdy-looking with glossy black hair and an air of authoritative competence. Sheād never liked me; she thought my behavior reflected poorly on the company, and while she wasnāt exactly wrong, I wasnāt going to let her railroad this meeting or slander Sloaneās character.
Obviously, that was who she was talking about; Mariana was staring straight at Sloaneās square on the screen. To her credit, Sloane didnāt blink an eye at the scrutiny, but I was less forgiving. āI assume youāre referring to my relationship with Sloane. If so, thatās a non-issue,ā I said coolly. āWere it an actual issue, you or another committee member shouldāve raised your concerns beforehand.ā
Mariana gave me a thin smile. āIām not accusing anyone of anything,ā she said, her tone matching mine. āIām simply reminding all those present that you two are, in fact, dating, and anything Ms. Kensington says will be influenced by that relationship.ā
āYouāre right.ā Sloane cut in before anyone else could respond. Her eyes glinted, and I hid a sudden smile. Mariana was about to get her ass handed to her. āWhat I say will be influenced by our relationship. Iāve worked with Xavier for three and a half years, and Iām the only person on this call that has watched him build the Vault from the ground up. Iāve watched him grow from a hedonistic degenerateāā
Whoa, a bit harsh, but okay.
āTo someone with passion, pride, purpose. Thatās the man I fell in love with, and when I cast my vote, those will be the reasons behind it. My vote wonāt be biased because Iām dating him; itāll be biased because I know firsthand how hard heās worked to launch the Vault. If he wasnāt the type of man whoād do that, we wouldnāt be dating in the first place.ā Sloane pinned Mariana with a steady gaze. āAlbertoās will stated Xavier āmust fulfill the chief executive officer position to the best of his abilities.ā In my opinion, heās done that and more.ā She addressed the rest of the committee. āIt should come as no surprise, then, that I vote yes.ā
My hidden smile blossomed into a full-fledged grin.
In five minutes, Sloane had undercut Marianaās sneak attack, redirected the committeeās attention to the purpose of this call, and added the first tally in my column.
Thatās my girl.
Mariana looked like sheād swallowed a gallon of raw lemon juice, but there was nothing else she could say on the topic.
The vote proceeded apace.
āI agree with Sloaneās judgment,ā Eduardo said. āWhat Xavier has accomplished in six months is extraordinary, and the coverage has been glowing. I also vote yes.ā
My heart rattled in anticipation.
Two out of five. One more vote, and I was in the clear.
āThe timeline is impressive, but Iām not convinced of the Vaultās longevity,ā Mariana said. āNightclubs come and go, and in my opinion, itās a lazy concept to start with. Despite having a silent partner, you answer largely to yourself. Thereās no board, no shareholders, nothing youāre truly the CEO of. Fulfilling CEO duties to the best of your ability means choosing something that isnāt an easy win. I vote no.ā
Easy win? I locked an acerbic reply behind clenched teeth. Arguing wouldnāt be smart, but she was voting in bad faith. Iād also addressed her later concern in my presentation, which included plans for expansion if the New York location was successful enough.
But I hadnāt expected Mariana to vote yes anyway, so I didnāt push back.
The next vote, however, did shock me. āIām sorry, Xavier,ā TĆo Martin said. A feeling of dread curdled in my chest. āAs proud as I am personally, Mariana made some good points. I also vote no.ā He didnāt elaborate or meet my eyes, and I knew with sudden certainty that, for all his fairness, he wasnāt immune to domestic manipulation. Heād obviously voted no to placate TĆa Lupe. Two versus two. It was a tie, and there was one vote left. All eyes swung toward Dante.
He rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip, his expression pensive. Our short conversation last night gave me some hope, but I had no idea whether it was enough to overcome his long-seated dislike toward me.
The minutes ticked by.