Chapter 16

SIXTEEN

ROWE

Being held in Bash’s strong grip made me feel treasured, protected, safe . Like anything was possible and I was strong enough to take on the world. I wanted to stay exactly like this for hours. Days. I didn’t want to question any of it… but I couldn’t help it.

“How can you believe me so easily?” I asked into the side of his neck. His cologne smelled amazing, and I didn’t want to pull away from him, even though I knew I should. “I lied to you most of the time we were together.”

To my surprise, Bash laughed. “Rowe, I truly hate to break this to you, but you’re a terrible liar. Not only did I know you couldn’t possibly be Sterling—”

“Since there is no Sterling…”

“Right,” he laughed. “But also, your whole body tenses up when you lie. Your voice changes. Which is how I know you told the truth a lot more than you lied.”

He was right, and I really loved that he knew that. “There go my dreams of being an international spy,” I mock-sighed. “I’ve been a horrible liar since childhood. Remind me sometime to tell you about the time I nearly drowned while pretending to drown.”

He laughed again, and it rumbled through me, lodging deep in my chest. “I definitely will. For now, just know that I trust you. And we’re going to work together to get as much evidence as we can for the legal team. I don’t suppose you happened to secretly watermark any of the documents with ‘Property of Rowe Prince’?”

“Uh, no.”

“I didn’t think so. Know why? Because you’re the most honest liar ever.” He gave me a pointed look, and I flushed. “At least Austin doesn’t know we’re onto him, which might make things easier.”

I chewed at the side of my lip for a minute. “He recognized me, sorta. Downstairs. Even with the mustache on. He said he’d seen my picture and wanted to know my name, but I didn’t tell him.”

Bash’s face was stormy for a moment. “Good. We’ll figure out a way to get you out of here without him seeing you.” He touched my face in a way that suggested he wanted to be touching other parts of me but was holding back.

I hadn’t even thought of how I’d get out of here, and it melted me more that Bash had. It had been a long, long while since I’d felt like someone was looking out for me. Like I was part of a team. But nothing had really changed from that hotel back in Philly—this was all still temporary, all going to be snatched away any moment.

The only difference now was that running away wasn’t an option as long as Bash needed me to prove his case.

“I can get all of my research and notes,” I volunteered. “I have a ton of information Austin wouldn’t have, along with all my contacts. That will help.” I started to climb off Bash’s lap, ready to go and collect all the notes and files from Joey’s place that would now be evidence.

“Not yet.” Bash grasped my hips, trying to hold me in place.

During the brief, halfhearted (on my side, at least) struggle that ensued, someone knocked on the door, and the dark-haired man from the hallway pushed his way in and leaned back against the door to close it.

“My eyes are closed,” the man said in lieu of a greeting. “Super tightly closed. I’m seeing nothing.”

“Kenji,” Bash growled. “I told you—”

“Not to disturb you. Yes. But Silas is here, and he’s on the way up.”

“Silas? Why would he— Oh, for god’s sake, open your eyes! Nobody’s naked, unfortunately . Why the hell is Silas here?”

“Because Dev called earlier, and I may have mentioned the situation with Austin…” Kenji opened his eyes and saw me half-perched on Bash. “And your new friend Sterling Chase. And then he lit up your group chat, and Silas got involved.”

Bash sighed, letting his head fall back onto the sofa cushion. “Kenji, this is Rowe Prince. Rowe, this is my assistant, Kenji. Do not give him that look, Kenji,” he warned. “Rowe’s had a fuck of a day already, okay?”

Kenji’s skeptical expression didn’t waver one iota. “So, then, I shouldn’t observe that Mr. Prince has royally disordered everything around here?”

“Kenji, shut it.”

“Or that you’ve been walking around here like a sad Bella Swan since Rowe did his disappearing act?”

“I have not.” Now, Bash used his grip to push me off him, like he was going to jump to his feet and kick Kenji out bodily.

Before he could, I jumped up and extended a hand to Kenji. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you. Sorry if I’ve messed things up.”

Kenji glanced from my hand to my face for a moment before shaking it. “You don’t need to apologize to me . But you’ll find that I’m very—”

“Protective of Bash.” I nodded. “I get it. He’s way too nice.”

Bash made a disbelieving noise, but Kenji’s lips twitched. “I’m glad you realize it.”

“Kenji,” Bash said, exasperated. “Did you hear back from Legal?”

“I did—”

“Bash! What the fuck is this nonsense I’m hearing about Rowe—” Bash’s friend Silas walked into the office, dressed in perfectly tailored jeans and a button-down, and stopped short. “Prince,” he finished in a smaller voice.

“Hello.” I felt my face go red. “Nice to see you again.”

“Lock the door behind you, Silas,” Bash instructed. “Since you’re here, you can help us plan.”

“Plan what ?” Silas demanded after making sure the door was secured. “What’s going on? Kenji said something about intellectual property theft.”

“Exactly. MRO was not Austin Purcell’s idea.” With a hand on my shoulder, Bash led me across the room to lean against the front of his desk while Kenji sat in one of the visitor chairs, and Silas stood in the center of the room with his arms folded over his chest. My discarded sombrero lay on the floor by his feet, and I had to swallow down a nervous bubble of laughter.

Bash quickly filled both of them in on everything I’d told him, as well as some things he’d learned from Austin earlier that day, keeping me pressed against his side the entire time. I hadn’t heard about his conversation with Austin, and the idea that he’d not only stolen my project but my story—Daisy’s story—made my blood pressure spike.

I’d been willing to let my claim to the project go—I didn’t need to get the glory, and the money still seemed impossible to me—but the idea that he was taking on my pain, my sister’s death, as part of his act? That wasn’t something I could let slide.

As Bash spoke, Silas’s gaze flickered between us, and though he nodded along to show he was listening, the look he gave me was distinctly unfriendly. I could tell he didn’t believe what he was hearing. Though I hadn’t expected any different, it made my stomach queasy. Bash had sounded so firm before when he spoke about believing me, but I knew how much he loved the friends he considered his brothers. How likely was he to stay on my side if it meant risking their disapproval?

When Bash was done, Silas set his jaw. “You know, I heard from Landry about your plan to take a more public role at Sterling Chase again. That you’re dissatisfied about the direction the company’s going in—”

“That has nothing to do with this,” Bash insisted.

“Doesn’t it? It’s very convenient that all of this is happening at once, Bash. Almost like someone’s been putting ideas in your head.”

Bash ran a hand over his face. “Rowe isn’t Justin, Silas.”

“How would you know?” Silas threw out an arm toward me. “You’ve known this man a week—”

“And you knew Justin a whole hell of a lot longer than that,” Bash shot back angrily. “And he still fucked you over.”

I had no idea what they were talking about—Justin? As in, Justin Hardy? Whatever it was, Bash seemed to score a direct hit. Silas’s face registered shock and hurt before he smoothed it out into the polite, urbane expression I remembered from the gala.

“Silas,” Bash said apologetically. “I didn’t mean—”

“No, of course,” Silas said stiffly. “Perhaps we should all just become irrationally attached to perfect strangers. Perhaps that’s where I went wrong last time.”

Bash closed his eyes and tilted his head back, like he was silently begging the ceiling for patience.

“I understand why you don’t believe me,” I offered in a small voice. “I’m not asking you to take me at my word. I have proof. Extensive notes. Research. Contacts. Recorded interviews from as far back as five years ago. An app I coded. I can provide you with all of that.”

Silas nodded once. “Good. But proving you came up with Daisy Chain is a very different thing than proving Austin did anything wrong.” My confusion must’ve shown on my face because Silas huffed impatiently before explaining, “You can’t trademark or patent an idea. And people come up with similar ideas all the time. Austin can, and probably will, claim that he was working on MRO long before he ever heard of you.”

“But he stole the story about my sister!” I insisted.

“Or he had a similar experience with a friend, exactly as he told Bash. It would be very hard to prove he didn’t.”

I knew Silas was right, that what he said made sense, but I could feel my anger ratcheting up anyway in the face of his cold, emotionless presentation.

Bash put a hand on the small of my back and rubbed his thumb in soothing circles. “It’s convenient that Austin’s earliest documentation is missing from our servers when he should absolutely know better than to delete anything.”

Silas inclined his head, granting Bash that point. “Still doesn’t prove anything.” He looked at me, narrowing his eyes. “What specifics can you provide showing that Austin personally received the paperwork you submitted?”

I blinked. “I have his rejection emails.”

“Which only shows that he rejected a project called Daisy Chain. You can’t prove he received your second packet containing all the background documentation. You can’t prove that he stole anything. It would be his word against yours, and frankly…” He shrugged.

I knew exactly what Silas wasn’t saying out loud. That anyone looking at my lackluster resume, especially someone who knew that I’d lied about being Sterling Chase, would give my claim serious side-eye.

Bash’s arm closed around my waist protectively, and he bristled with anger, but I laid a hand on his thigh before he could say something he might regret. “Silas is right. We need to connect Austin to Daisy Chain somehow.”

“Still no results on the search for the term Daisy Chain in our current project files,” Kenji inserted quietly. “If there ever was any, it might have been in Austin’s missing documents—”

Kenji broke off as someone knocked on my locked door.

“Hey, hey!” a voice called from the hall. “Bash? I was sorry you couldn’t make it downstairs, but I brought you a burrito. Do you have time for a quick chat?”

“Austin,” Bash muttered under his breath. “Fuck.”

Kenji’s teeth ground together audibly. “It’s like the man doesn’t understand what a closed door means. Insufferable. ” In a louder voice, he called, “Bash and I are in a meeting, Austin. Drop the burrito on my desk and walk away.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Kenji reminded me of Daisy. I thought he was someone I might like to be friends with, under other circumstances.

“Rowe and I need to get out of here if we want to keep Austin from getting wind of this,” Bash said, nodding toward the door. “We’ll work remotely.”

“You mean from your apartment?” Kenji rolled his eyes. “Where I can only assume Landry is, at this moment, throwing a sex orgy for every male model in the area since that’s his favorite pastime when he’s not gorging himself on my desk candy? I don’t know why you didn’t insist on him getting a hotel when he followed you home from Philadelphia.”

“Shit. I’ll take Rowe to my Hamptons house instead. It’s private there.”

Bash looked at me as if waiting for an argument, but he wasn’t going to get one. For one thing, I was in this now, and I didn’t want Austin to get away with his crimes. For another, I’d googled the Hamptons this week after Bash mentioned having a house there and found some interesting information thanks to Real Housewives that made me really want to see the place for myself.

And, okay, yes, I also wanted to spend every possible second with Bash while I could, but I was going to pretend that wasn’t actually a factor in my decision.

Silas’s exhale had attitude this time. “Sebastian, can I speak to you privately?”

“Fine.” Bash gestured Silas toward the door. “Make sure Austin’s not out in the hall, and I’ll meet you in Kenji’s office.” He kissed me softly on the cheek. “I’ll be back in a minute, then we’ll swing by your cousin’s place to get your stuff, okay?”

I nodded and tried to give him a smile, though my stomach roiled with nerves.

Once the two of them left, Kenji remained seated, his eyes on me. “Bash likes you,” he said at length. It sounded a little like an accusation.

“I like him,” I admitted. My gaze darted toward the closed door like I was searching for one more glimpse of Bash. “Possibly too much.”

“Then you should know Bash doesn’t do relationships. He doesn’t fall for people. Not in the whole time I’ve known him.”

I nodded. “And he certainly wouldn’t fall for someone like me. I get it. You don’t need to warn me off, Kenji. I’m very aware that he exists in a different world than I do. I don’t have any long-term expectations. No hopes of a fairy-tale romance.”

Oh, look who’s decided to be a lying liar again. I only hoped Kenji couldn’t read me as well as Bash could.

He leaned closer. “I’m not warning you off. Not at all. You seem… nice. Dedicated. Despite the lies—metric fuck tons of them, mind you—there’s something strangely authentic about you. And I have to admire the way you knocked Bash’s perfectly tailored life off kilter. He needed some excitement.”

I snorted. “We’re talking about a man who climbs mountains and jumps off cliffs. I don’t think he was lacking excitement.”

“Mmm. Maybe. But I think that stuff was just a mask for what he was missing: something, someone , in his life who was worth taking a real risk.”

My heart beat faster with a combination of fear and excitement, but I shook my head firmly. “This… Bash and me… it’s not like that. We barely know each other. It’s not real at all.”

“Isn’t it?” He tilted his head. “Well, if that’s the case, I am warning you off. Sebastian’s falling for you. And if you don’t feel the same, you need to tell him so immediately… Because if you hurt him, Rowe Prince, be aware that I have a line item in my budget dedicated to you and a bunch of contacts Upstate who can make a body disappear.”

I knew exactly which part of that statement sent a shiver through my body… and it wasn’t the part about me likely ending up in a shallow grave.

Still, I threw back my shoulders. “Bash is an adult. And his personal life is his own business. He’s strong, and smart, and more than capable of taking care of himself. I appreciate that he has people who care about him and want to protect him, Kenji— really , I do—but he’s too nice to draw boundaries with you, so I will: you need to mind your own beeswax and back off.”

“The kitten has claws.” Kenji’s face creased in a smile, and he pressed his hands to his knees before standing up. “Oh yes, you’ll do,” he murmured nonsensically. “You’ll do just fine.”

I was still blinking at him in surprise when the door opened and Bash and Silas walked into the office, still arguing.

“No, Sebastian, I do not understand. Running off to the Hamptons right now is the worst thing you could do. If you want to get rid of Austin, fire the asshole and be done with it,” Silas said angrily.

Kenji scooted behind them to close the office door before glaring at Silas. “Would you like to give the entire office a heads-up that this is happening? Keep your voice down.”

Bash rounded on his friend. “And I told you, this isn’t just about getting rid of Austin. Jesus, Silas. I liked Austin. I trusted him. I would much rather that none of this had happened, but it did. He stole this idea—I’m convinced of that, even if you’re not—so the person you should be angry at is Austin , not Rowe.”

“I’m not angry at Rowe!” Silas yelled back. He caught himself and gave me a look that was half-apologetic. “I’m not. Your story is very plausible, Rowe. I believe you invented Daisy Chain. But… I’m worried about all of this. I’m worried about the attention it’s going to bring to the company and any legal exposure we end up battling because of all this.”

“So am I.” Bash propped his ass against his desk again and crossed his arms. I took a moment to appreciate how sexy this man’s forearms were in a business shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Linden, Indiana, didn’t have much of that, so I may have stared a little too intently at his exposed forearms. “Which means we need to do things by the book. We need to remove critical documents from Austin’s reach and prove that he stole Rowe’s IP first. If we fire him now, he’ll think he has a perfect right to take his MRO idea with him to his next company. And he might even pursue a wrongful termination case. A very public one.”

Silas’s shoulders fell. “You have a point. But… shit, Bash, I want to be involved. I want you to stay in town so I can help,” he admitted quietly. “I can’t believe another jackass is threatening our company— your company—even if this one wasn’t due to my fuckup.”

Silas’s words took a minute to sink in. Our company. Your company . As in… Silas and Bash felt proprietary since they were on the board of directors? Or were they shareholders in the companies that owned Sterling Chase? Or… my breath caught as the idea hit me, so clear and so right that I knew it was a fact immediately.

Bash and his friends had invented ETC. They had founded the company. And they’d hidden it from everyone.

Holy fucking shit. That explained so much, particularly why such a random group of people—a thrill seeker, a horse trainer, an uptight businessman, a rock star, and a dilettante—had been selected for Sterling Chase’s board of directors.

I must’ve made a startled noise because Bash tugged me closer to his side.

“The situation with Justin wasn’t your fault, either, Silas,” Bash said. “You trusted him because that’s the kind of man you are. Justin was an asshole who was willing to lie, cheat, and steal to build his company. That’s the kind of man he is. I really wish you could find a way to let it go.”

“Yeah.” Silas blew out a breath, but the tension in his shoulders didn’t change. “I’d rather go kick his ass.”

Bash snorted. “I’m down. Though I don’t think you’d need help unless the asshole fights dirty.”

I barely paid attention to the conversation. I was pretty sure they were talking about Justin Hardy, and I was distantly glad I hadn’t followed through on my plans to pitch my idea to Justin. He sounded like a douche—a dangerous one. I couldn’t muster much curiosity for the full story, though, since I’d already reached maximum capacity for shock.

Sebastian Dayne and his friends own the company . That meant he wasn’t just a millionaire from family money; he was a… a… a billionaire … in his own right. The divide between us had already seemed wide as an ocean. Now… now it was something that would require rocket fuel to cross.

“One last thing,” Kenji said, “before Silas and I leave you to all your Mission Impossible covert operations… I do believe Austin needs a new project.”

That got my attention. “Unless Dev needs some horse shit mucked, I wouldn’t trust that guy to do a damn thing,” I said.

Silas snorted. “Dev wouldn’t let Austin near Trigger. Especially not since he’s already decided he’s very Team Rowe.”

“He is?” I looked at Bash, but he seemed as surprised as I was.

“Jesus,” Silas muttered. “Sebastian, you really need to pay attention to the group chat. But yes, he, Zane, and Landry all suggested I calm down and give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“How’s that working for you?” I asked sweetly.

“Don’t fuck with my friend, Bandito, and you and I won’t have any problems,” Silas shot back.

I had the momentary urge to tell Silas off the way I had with Kenji but quickly dismissed the idea. I wouldn’t be around long enough for Silas’s opinion of me to matter. Bash might be “falling” for me, but who knew what that even meant for a billionaire? He’d told me in his own words that he owned entire houses he rarely visited and traveled around the world whenever he grew restless. What if it was only a matter of time until he lost interest in me, too?

“As I was saying, boys,” Kenji cut in, “Austin can’t just be left to his own devices. Legal has been informed that you’re delaying MRO, but it won’t be long before Austin questions it.” He tapped his lip thoughtfully. “You know, I bet Clarissa is getting pretty lonely in Sierra Leone.”

Bash laughed. “Devious. But it’s true that she could use the help. Send Austin out to Sierra Leone tomorrow, and make sure he stays gone for a couple weeks.”

Silas shook his head. “He’s going to want to be here for the Innovation Awards presentation at Lincoln Center a week from Saturday. Austin was nominated for his work on CaffApp, remember? He won’t miss it.”

“Fuck that.” Bash grimaced. “He doesn’t get to receive awards. Let Clarissa have his ticket. Austin can fly home Sunday. We’ll call a board meeting for Monday, where we can present our case against him. Kenji, notify the others as well as HR, okay? And follow up on those background checks. We need them ASAP.”

Silas and Bash shook hands, which quickly turned into a back-slapping hug that showed all was forgiven. Silas held out a hand for me, which was probably a huge concession since I knew he still didn’t trust me fully, but I couldn’t make myself feel much of anything about it.

A billionaire . The guy I lo—liked more than I’d ever liked anyone—was a freaking billionaire . That was a number I couldn’t even comprehend. That was more hairs than I had on my head. More stars than I could see in the sky. More minutes than I’d been alive. Enough money to buy the entire town of Linden, Indiana.

I vaguely heard Kenji promise to order Bash a car and Bash telling Kenji that he’d be bringing a plus-one to the awards thing before Kenji led Silas from the room.

When we were alone, Bash turned and studied me for a long moment.

“Okay, what’s going on in your brain right now?” he demanded. “Did I do or say something to upset you? Because if you’re punishing me for Silas’s paranoia, you might want to reconsider.”

The low, commanding tone of his voice made me shiver against my will. It also made me imagine him taking that tone with me in bed while I was naked and eager to please him in any way he wanted.

“Guh.” I made another embarrassing sound before blinking rapidly while trying to get my mind out of the gutter and retain my dignity.

“Silas was hurt very badly by Justin Hardy, and he doesn’t trust easily anymore. This issue with Austin and the IP is bringing up a lot of things for him,” Bash went on.

I nodded. “Understandable.” Frankly, I understood Silas’s mistrust a lot better than I understood how everyone else—including Bash himself—seemed to be taking it in stride that Bash Dayne had allied himself with Rowe Prince, the criminally poor guy from Bobby’s Tech Barn and occasional Burrito Bandito.

That wasn’t me feeling sorry for myself, either. I knew exactly who Rowe Prince was, and I liked him fine—nervous rambling, terrible lying skills, impetuous hyperfocus, and all. But I also knew I wasn’t meant for a life centered around galas and polo matches and air-kisses.

“Are you worried about the awards banquet? Because it won’t be worse than the Coalition for Children gala, and you survived that.”

“No, I hadn’t even thought about… wait.” I frowned. “I’m the plus-one you told Kenji you were taking?”

“Of course.” His lips tipped up in that irresistible smile. “You really have to be there. Constance will expect a certain quirky billionaire to approve her outfit.”

“Oh, god,” I groaned. The idea of impersonating a billionaire while on the arm of an actual billionaire fried my brain. I was going to have to beg Joey to borrow the bunny tux again.

“You’d better not be thinking of running away again,” Bash warned softly.

I glanced up at that. “I didn’t run . I made a logical, rational choice to leave you in Philly.” And if I were smart, I’d have stuck to that decision. But I couldn’t make myself regret it, either. Not when Bash was close enough that I could smell his cologne and feel the intensity of his gaze on me. Not when I could have one whole week with this man that would sustain me through a hell of a lot of lonely nights to come. I swallowed. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to see this through.”

“Good.” Bash gripped my jaw in both of his hands and pressed a slow, gentle kiss to my lips. “Because if you run from me again, Rowe, I’ll come after you.”