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I want to tell her that I’m not, but not for the reason she’s asking.
I’m miserable because I know I’ve lost her. I deserve it. The sun has gone out of my life, and I miss her in my bed and in my arms. I miss talking to her, having someone who has seen the innermost sanctum of my soul and not just accepted it, but kept it safe.
I want to tell her that I don’t want to be the King empire’s crown prince. I just want to be the man she deserves.
I just want her.
But instead, I give her a half-hearted smile. “I’m fine.”
Isabella searches my face, and for a moment, I think she might stay. But she just nods and returns my smile, a sadness behind her own. “Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. We talk to the DOJ first thing in the morning, and then there’s the board meeting. Get some sleep. You’ll need it.”
“You’ll be there? At the board meeting?” I ask, suddenly afraid she won’t come.
“Of course.” This time, her smile isn’t so sad, it’s more determined. “I’m going to see this through to the end.”
She’s coming to finish the job we hired her to do.
“See you tomorrow, Sebastian.”
She’s a few steps away when I find myself calling out to her. “Isabella!”
She stops and turns; her head tilted in question.
“Why did you really come today?”
She hesitates before answering. “Because I knew this would be difficult for you.”
I watch her turn and disappear into the sea of foot traffic on the New York City sidewalk.
38
SEBASTIAN
The board has assembled in the top floor boardroom at the headquarters of the King Corporation.
Aaron sits on one side of me, Jesse on the other. Isabella stands back near the wall, an observer to the proceedings. She isn't supposed to be in the room for the vote, but she saved this company, and I refuse to ask her to leave.
Dad sits on the opposite end of the table, a guard standing behind him. He is out on a conditional bail that cost him his passport and his freedom. He has an ankle monitor, and all of his personal assets have been frozen. He’s wearing a charcoal pinstripe suit that probably costs more than the average American’s annual salary. His hands are folded neatly on the table. He looks nothing like the man who was sitting across from me wearing an orange jumpsuit just forty-eight hours before.
“The motion before the board is twofold,” Evelyn announces. The look she flicks to me is cool and detached, and I can’t learn a damn thing from it. “First, the permanent removal of Julian King as president and CEO of the King Corporation. Second, the appointment of Sebastian King as president and CEO, effective immediately.”
Dad clears his throat, leaning back in his chair to drape one leg over the other, revealing his ankle monitor. “Before we vote, I want to remind the board that the King Corporation is Julian King, and I’d also like to remind you of everything—” he says, his eyes landing on each board member in turn, “I have done for you. The markets reacted poorly to my arrest, but what do you think will happen if you hand the power to someone who has spent the last week collaborating with the very people trying to dismantle us?”
He looks at me, and for a second, the mask slips. The rage is there, raw and burning.
“A son who betrays his father isn't a leader, Evelyn. He’s a parasite.”
“I didn't betray you,” I say, taking a deep breath to steady the anger rising within. “I just stopped helping you hide.”
“Enough,” Evelyn says, her tone leaving no room for argument, even from my father. “We will vote by secret ballot. The secretary will tally the results.”
The next ten minutes are agonizing. The scratching of pens. The folding of paper.
The secretary, a silver-haired woman named Moura, who has worked here since I was in diapers, gathers the ballots in a silver bowl.
I notice her hands are shaking.
Jesse’s leg jumps under the table, and he fidgets like he can’t find a comfortable position. Aaron looks like he could be made of stone. I don’t dare look back at Isabella, though she’s standing calmly, as far as I can see in my periphery.
