Chapter 13: Let's Begin

Zake's POV

"Good morning!"

The door burst open at six fifty-three AM. Jayden stood in the doorway in his pyjamas, hair completely chaotic, holding what appeared to be a toy car in one hand and looking at the room.

"Jayden." Kiera's voice came from the bed, muffled. "It's six AM."

"I know." He walked straight in. "I decided to wake up."

"That's not how it works." She said.

"It worked." He looked around the room saw me on the couch, and stopped. Those eyes went from me, to the couch, to the bed, and back to me. "Why did you sleep there?"

"I wanted to," I said.

"That doesn't make sense." He frowned. "The bed is bigger."

"Jay..." Kiera started.

"You should've slept with Mommy." He said. "That's what the bed is for. Mama always says sharing is..."

"Jayden." Her voice was sharper now. "Come here."

He went to her side of the bed and she pulled him into a hug that was mostly her face pressing into his hair. He tolerated it for four seconds before wiggling free.

"We need to get ready," he announced.

"It's six AM," she said again.

"It's your first day." He looked at her seriously. "You have to be prepared."

She stared at him.

"That's what you always tell me before my first day of things." He said. "Can I come? To work?"

"No, baby you can't." She said.

"Just to see it?" He pleaded. "I won't touch anything, I'll just stay quietly like in London and..."

"I'm sorry baby, this isn't like London." Her voice was soft. "This place is bigger with a lot of people, and they don't know you."

"Okay." He said quietly. "You'll tell me about it after?"

"Yes I will," she said.

"I'll go now. You should get ready." He was already heading for the door. "I'll wait for you two downstairs."

"Okay, you go brush your teeth, now." She said.

He left. The room went quiet.

She was sitting up in the middle of the bed, hair loose around her shoulders, wearing an oversized shirt that hit mid-thigh. She looked beautiful even when she was a mess.

"You should get ready," I said, looking away.

She looked at the ceiling.

"I know." She didn't move immediately. "What time is the meeting?"

"Nine." I said.

"What do I need to know walking in?" She asked.

"They will test you in the first five minutes. They tests everyone, it's not personal, it's habit. Answer directly, don't over-explain." I sat up. "Daphne will be watching everything and saying nothing, don't read into the silence."

I stopped, letting it all sink in.

"Finance will have questions about your background." I stood. "Your events company, have the numbers ready. Revenue, growth rate, client retention. They respond to numbers."

She lowered looked at me. "You prepared for this."

"So should you." I picked up my jacket from the back of the chair. "Shower's yours first. I'll use the other bathroom."

"Fine," she said, and got up.

Jayden was already downstairs when we came down, sitting at the kitchen table with his toy car and a very serious expression, watching the housekeeper make breakfast.

"She's using too much butter," he told me when I walked in.

"It's the right amount," the housekeeper said, without turning around.

"It's a lot," Jayden said.

I poured two coffees. Set one on the counter near where Kiera was going through something on her phone, still in her robe, hair damp.

She picked it up without looking, took a sip.

"Quarterly reports are a mess," she said.

"Which quarter?" I asked.

"All of them." She scrolled. "What was he doing with the China market portfolio in Q3?"

"Restructuring." I said. It looks worse than it was...give me the phone."

She handed it over. I pulled up the breakdown and turned it back to her. She studied it, and I watched her actually read it. Her brow pulled together slightly.

"Okay," she said. "That makes more sense."

"There's a full brief on the drive." My voice came out even. "I had it pulled last night."

She looked up at that. "Last night."

"You were going to need it." I said.

She held my gaze for a beat, something moving through her expression that she put away before it became readable.

Jayden appeared between us. "Are you fighting?"

"No," we both said.

He looked between us. "You look like you're fighting."

"We're working," Kiera said.

"At breakfast?" He asked.

"Yes." We said it at the same time.

He climbed onto his chair and started on his eggs, watching us. After a moment he looked at me.

"You know, mommy worked really hard for her company," he said. "The one in London. She used to stay really late and I'd fall asleep at her desk sometimes." He ran the car along the table edge. "She's really good at it."

Kiera had gone still with her coffee cup halfway to her mouth.

"You should tell people that," Jayden said to me. "At the new place. So they know."

"Yeah," I said. "I will."

"I need to get ready." Kiera set her cup down and looked at her phone and walked upstairs.

She came downstairs thirty minutes later, in a fitted black blazer over a white silk blouse, dark tailored trousers, and heels. Her hair pulled back into a low knot at the back of her neck, with small gold earrings and red lips.

It looked so simple and yet elegant at the same time.

Jayden looked up from his book.

"Whoa," he said.

She stopped. "How do I look?"

"You look really beautiful." He stood up and went to her. "You're going to be the best one there."

"You think?"

"You're always the best one." He said it like it was obvious.

"My baby is so sweet." She kissed his forehead. "Be good for the nanny."

I will." He smiled.

She straightened, looked at me. I was already standing, jacket on.

The cameras were outside the building.

She saw them the second the car stopped and I watched her chin go up, the expression settling into something steady and deliberate.

I stepped out first, came around, and stood beside her.

She glanced at my hand and then at my face and understood what it meant for the cameras and the story we were supposed to be telling. She slipped her hand into mine without a word.

We walked in.

Eyes tracked us as we crossed the lobby, conversations pausing. The elevator was quiet.

"They're already talking," she said.

"They have been since yesterday." I looked at her. "It matters what they say after."

The doors opened on the executive floor.

Derek was waiting. "Mrs. Langston." He nodded. "Conference room's ready."

She walked ahead.

I fell into step beside her, and watched the floor react as she moved through it, heads turning.

At the conference room door she stopped.

Through the glass panel I could see the board already seated.

Kiera looked through the glass for exactly one second, then she looked at me.

"Whatever happens in there," I said quietly, "you belong at that table."

Something moved across her face. She didn't answer.

She pushed the door open and every head turned.

She walked to the head of the table, set her folder down, and looked at the room.

"Good morning." Her voice was even. "Let's begin."