Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
A set of keys that is about to be handed off to someone else.
He holds the door open for me, and I step inside, pulling my cloak over my body as I do. I lift my hood, covering my hair, and spot the two chairs that will be running tonight’s torch-passing ceremony.
Candles are already lit around the room, and a single gold velvet throne sits in the center. And it’s exactly how I remember it from when Connor and I were initiated into our head Double C positions five years ago.
But now that we’ve closed the college chapters in our lives, both of us heading into the real world of adulthood and careers, it’s time to move on.
Both of the chair members have their backs turned to us, their gold cloaks covering their bodies. And while I don’t know who will be handling tonight’s ceremony, I do know who the next sitting president of Double C will be, and it wouldn’t feel right if one chair, in particular, weren’t here to witness the passing of the torch.
“This is wild,” Connor whispers toward me. “I can’t believe we’re done with college. Done with Double C.”
I look over at him and smile. My emotions are a mix of excitement and nostalgia. “I know. We’ve had some good times with Double C, haven’t we?”
He grins. “Too many.”
My phone vibrates in the pocket of my jeans, and I reach beneath my cloak to grab it. Seeing as the ceremony hasn’t officially started, I discreetly pull it out to check the screen.
I’m expecting it to be Blake, sending me something funny or sexy or a combination of both, but my brow furrows when I see it’s from my lawyer.
Caplin Hawkins: Medivanta agreed to all provisions. Their legal team is signing the contract now. And while this is off the record and completely out of character for your very professional—and incredibly talented—lawyer to say, as your Uncle Cappy, I have to say it. I’m so fucking proud of you. Congratulations.
Oh my God. I stare down at my phone, my eyes wide with surprise and elation and all the myriad emotions that come with finding out the news. This is huge. So huge that I’m not sure I’m going to be able to fully process it all until I see Blake’s reaction when I tell him later tonight.
I just sold something I made for thirty-two million dollars.
And now, I can officially start my own company and continue to do what I love—creating software and apps and technological advancements.
Lexi Winslow, CEO and owner of LexLink. Soon, that’s going to be me.
Holy hell.
I look over at Connor, my mind desperate to tell someone the good news, but just before I can open my mouth, I clamp it shut. It doesn’t feel right telling anyone but Blake first. He’s…my person.
I guess that’s what happens when you love someone. I never understood what my mom would mean when she’d say that about Wes, but now, I get it.
It’s not scientific. It’s not logical. But it is fact.
Blake is my person. He’s my lover and my favorite confidant and my biggest support and my loudest cheerleader. He’s my best friend. I don’t know how one person can play all those roles at the same time, but that’s what he does for me.
One of the chairs walks toward the secret door at the back of the massive room, and I slide my phone back into my pocket, forcing myself to focus on the ceremony that’s about to start.
I can’t make out the chair’s face as they guide Double C’s next sitting president out of the secret room that I know from Connor’s early text confirmation, he’s been waiting in for a good forty-five minutes.
His face is blindfolded, but a perpetual full-toothed smile is etched on his lips. Fucking kidnapped with little to no explanation and the bastard is still smiling—I swear, only him.
When the chair guides him to sit in the gold velvet throne in the center of the room, her hood shifts a little, and I spot her familiar dark-brown hair and pretty eyes and her proud but mischievous smile.
Oh man, the family’s all here. This is going to be good.
“Ace Tobias Kelly, I’d like to welcome you here tonight,” the other chair—whom I recognize as a very well-known billionaire who was once on a mainstream television show that allowed everyday people to pitch their company in front of a board to try to get investments—starts to announce, walking around where Ace still sits blindfolded on the velvet throne. “This is going to be one of the most important nights of your life. Are you ready to take on the challenge?”
“I’m ready,” Ace chatters excitedly. “I’m so ready.”
Connor and I stay put in the corner of the space, but both chairs step directly in front of Ace’s perched spot on the throne. They drop the hoods of their cloaks, revealing their faces, and the male chair—aka the billionaire—steps forward to remove Ace’s blindfold.