Coldhearted King: Chapter 43

I walk into Roman’s office without knocking. He looks up at me, surprise lighting his eyes for a brief second before he shuts it down and leans back in his chair. “To what do I owe this pleasure so early on a Monday morning?”

I stride to the leather seats in front of his desk and drop into one, stretching out my legs and crossing them at the ankle. “It’s over.”

One dark brow rises. “What’s over?”

“Jessica. Me. I’m done.”

His eyes narrow and he leans forward. “She has a ring on her finger.”

“She can keep it or sell it. Whatever she wants. But it no longer represents a commitment from me to her.”

“Jesus Christ, Cole,” Roman snaps, and it almost feels good to see the anger on his face instead of that implacable indifference. “We had an agreement, for fuck’s sake. When did you speak to her? It might not be too late to turn this around.”

“I spoke to her last night. And it is too late, because I will walk away from this company before I marry her.”

I see the closest thing to shock on his face that I’ve seen since we were kids. “You can’t seriously tell me you’re so repelled by Jessica that you’d give up your shares in this company to avoid marrying her.”

“It’s not Jessica.”

“Then what the fuck is it?”

“It’s Delilah.”

Roman explodes out of his seat, planting his hands on his desk and leaning over it to stare me down. “No. You are not risking this company for a woman you had a fling with.”

I smooth down my tie, far calmer than him in this moment. “It’s funny,” I say. “When something is right, when you know deep down that it’s right, nothing else matters. Not money. Not power. Nothing.” He stares at me as if I’m crazy. “I don’t expect you to understand. Hell, if you’d said the same thing to me six months ago, I’d have thought you were crazy. But Delilah changed all of that. She changed me. And there’s no going back, even if I can’t convince her to give me another chance. I don’t want to walk away from the King Group, because this is our company and I want to be a part of its future. Maybe there’s even some hope for this family going forward. But I will trade it all for more time with her.”

Deep creases form in his forehead. “So you’re willing to end up with nothing?”

“Even if I walk away, I’ll be far from destitute, but if you’re talking about me having no part of this company, then yes, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. But it would be good if that weren’t the case. I think if you, me, and Tate sit down, we can figure out a way to salvage Berrington’s investment that doesn’t rely on me marrying Jessica. He’s a smart man. He might want to think he has a personal stake in a company, he might be happy pandering to his daughter to get it, but first and foremost, he’s a businessman, and he’ll listen to what we have to say.”

Roman regards me with steely eyes for a moment, then sits down again.

He drums his fingers on his desk with a look of consideration on his face. I wait patiently for his response. “I don’t pretend to understand your position,” he eventually says, “but I don’t want to lose you. If you’re determined, then let’s get this sorted out.”

My shoulders relax as he picks up his phone. “Tate, do you have a moment to come to my office?” He listens. “Good. See you in a minute.”

He hangs up, then steeples his fingers under his chin as he scrutinizes me, something that almost looks like amusement flickering in his eyes. “You have hope for this family, huh?”

My lips tug up, but I shrug casually as the door swings open and Tate walks in. “It’s never too late,” I say.

“What’s it never too late for?” he asks, making his way to the chair next to me.

“Second chances.” I might be answering his question, but it’s dark hair and green eyes I see.

Tate eyes me curiously, then turns his attention to Roman. “What do you want to talk about?”

I focus on my brothers. The three of us are going to work this out, and then I’m going for Delilah. I’m getting her back, and I don’t care what it takes.