He Bet My Life and Lost Me Instead novel · Chapter 20 of 32

Chapter 20: The Boardroom

"Ask you what about the stairs?" I said.

Lydia's smile didn't move.

"Not here, darling. Not in front of the donors."

Hotel security had reached the stage, two men in black suits, and they took her by the elbows.

She let them.

At the top of the steps she looked back at me, over her shoulder, and her eyes were perfectly calm.

"Soon," she said. "When you're ready to hear the answer."

Then she was gone, and the ballroom was loud.

Sam was waiting at the bottom of the stage steps, and he did not reach for me.

He looked at my face and held out his hand, palm up.

I took it.

The boardroom at Mercer Freight was on the fortieth floor, with a view of the river and a table that sat twenty.

On Monday morning I walked in alone.

Sam had driven me to the lobby and turned off the engine.

"I'll be in the truck," he said.

"You could come up."

"I know I could." He looked at the steering wheel. "I thought about what you said on the porch. About being afraid and asking."

"And?"

"And I'm asking whether you want me up there. And I'm waiting for you to answer, and I'll be fine with either."

I kissed him.

"Stay," I said. "I'll come down when I'm done."

Eleven directors sat around the long table.

The chairman was at the head with his cane across his knees.

Dylan sat at the far end, in a gray suit, with no folder.

Nobody else spoke when I came in.

"Ms. Doyle," the chairman said. "Please."

I didn't sit.

"I'll keep it short," I said. "You've watched two recordings and a livestream, and you've read a lab report. You know what happened to me."

I looked at the vice president of operations, a woman I had trained.

"I ran your freight network for six years. We moved four hundred million dollars of cargo last year. I did that while taking a steroid inhaler that was salt water."

← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend