24. Maxine
CHAPTER 24
maxine
T he orchids were dying. I stood in my father's conservatory surrounded by potted Orchids that were once my dad’s pride and joy, my fingers ghosting over wilted petals that once bloomed vibrant under his care. Three weeks had passed since the arrests, and I still couldn't bring myself to follow his careful watering schedule that was written in faded ink on a notecard by the door.
"You're supposed to be getting ready." Sebastian's reflection appeared behind me in the glass. "The board meeting starts in an hour."
"I know." I didn't turn around. "I just needed a minute."
He moved closer, careful not to touch me. He'd been giving me space lately while staying close enough to catch me if I fell. Part of me loved him for it. Part of me wanted to scream that I wasn’t made of glass.
"Have you read it yet?" His eyes drifted to the unopened letter on the potting bench. My mother's handwriting, elegant even on prison stationery.
"No." I picked up Dad's watering can instead. "Maybe after the meeting."
"Max..."
"I know what it'll say." My words came out sharper than I intended. "More excuses. More justifications. 'We did it for the company’. 'We did it for the family’. As if murder could ever be an act of love."
His hands settled on my shoulders, warm and steady. "You don't have to read it. You don't owe her anything."
"Don't I?" I leaned back against his chest, letting his strength support me for just a moment. "She's still my mother. Even after everything... there must have been some truths in all those years. Some real moments between the lies."
"Maybe"—he pressed a kiss to my hair—"but that doesn't mean you have to carry her burdens."
A soft knock interrupted us. Brooklyn stood in the doorway, already dressed for battle in a crisp suit that made her look much older than eighteen.
"Car's here," she said. "And before you ask, yes, I triple-checked the presentation and, yes, I have backup copies of all the financial projections."
"What would we do without you?" I managed a small smile.
"Crash and burn spectacularly." She eyed my yoga pants and oversized sweater—Dad's old Oxford pullover. "Please tell me you're not wearing that to convince the board that they should keep control of a multimillion-dollar company in the family."
"Give me ten minutes."
"Make it five!" she called as I headed upstairs. "And nothing black! We're going for confident future CEO not gothic heroine in mourning!"
I paused at Sebastian’s bedroom door. Well, my bedroom now, though, I still hadn't moved my things. The suit I picked out last night hung ready. A deep blue, like the color my dad wore to close his biggest deals. His lucky color, he used to say.
The woman in the mirror looked too young to run a company, too fragile to carry a legacy. But when I fastened my locket around my neck, I saw something else in my reflection. His eyes. His determination.
"I wish you were here," I whispered to the empty room. "I wish you could tell me if I'm doing the right thing."
"He'd say you're doing exactly what you should."
I turned to find Sebastian in the doorway, looking handsome as ever in his charcoal suit. His eyes softened as they met mine.
"How do you know?"
"Because I remember what he told me the day he made me intern in operations." He moved to help me with my blazer, his fingers lingering on my shoulders. "He said, 'my daughter has my heart, but she also has my head for business. All she needs is someone to watch her back while she proves it’."
"And that someone is you?" I meant it to be teasing, but it came out more vulnerable.
"Me. Brooklyn. The whole team we're building." He turned me to face him. "You're not alone in this, Max. You never will be again."
"Promise?"
"Promise." He sealed the promise with a kiss that made me forget about board meetings and dying orchids and unopened letters. For a moment, I was just a girl being kissed by the man she loved.
"If you two are done making out"—Brooklyn's voice drifted up the stairs—"we have a company to save!"
Sebastian laughed against my lips. "She's never going to let us live this down, is she?"
"Never." I straightened his tie before letting my hands rest on his chest. "Ready to shock some stuffy board members with our scandalous stepsibling romance while simultaneously proving we're the best choice to lead the company?"
"With you? Always." He offered his arm. "Shall we go make your father proud?"
I took one last look at the room, at the life that was. The pain was still there, a dull ache beneath my ribs, but it was joined by something else now. Purpose. Determination. Love.
"Yes," I said, taking his arm. "Let's go build something new."
The orchids might be dying, but other things were beginning to bloom. And this time, I'd be the one tending the garden.