Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(62)

We did have options. The headquarters was a luxury. It was outfitted with amenities that would keep our employees happy and our clients impressed. But it was just our expansion into the East Coast. We could run a bare-bones operation out of a garage if we had to. It would be a lot harder like that to draw the best talent to our company, but it was possible.

The headquarters was more of a problem because it was costing us money. We had projects on hold, employee relocations planned, materials being custom-built and stored until we were ready, and dozens of construction contracts lined up. A delay this big could throw a massive, expensive wrench in the middle of everything.

It should’ve had me on the verge of a mental breakdown. A month ago, it would have. I probably wouldn’t have put my phone down for days until I was done chewing through every last available option.

So why did I feel so calm about it all? It had to be Kira. For so long, work had been my life. Nothing had ever been able to compete. Until now, apparently.

Whether I was calm or pissed, I still had my brothers to think about. I also had to think about our employees. People might have taken me for a hard-ass who didn’t care about things like that, but I knew the guilt would eat me up if I neglected them. So I made a few calls, and two hours later, I was touring a mostly vacant business park in West Valley. I didn’t get where I was by rolling over and taking it when somebody put an obstacle in my way. If my parents wanted to halt construction on our headquarters, I’d show them the building itself was nothing but a convenience. Our new employees could work out of these offices. They were a step up from garages, at least.

After finishing my business at the office park, I met Stella at my place. I felt bad when I realized I hadn’t even been making an attempt at selling our “relationship” lately. A quick internet search brought up countless pictures of Kira and me. Some showed us at the restaurant and getting into the helicopter, and others showed us holding hands at the fair. As usual, the headlines were entertainingly bad.

Billionaire’s New Baby Mama: Knocking Up the Schoolteacher. Billionaire Power Couple Splits, or Was It a Raunchy Affair? Richard King Enjoys Southern Hospitality a Little Too Much.

It all made me want to roll my eyes. Silly or not, the fact of the matter was that the ruse Stella and I had been putting on was over, and I needed to at least apologize for my part of what had happened.

Stella was uncharacteristically fidgety. She sat across from me on the couch, and she kept picking at the nail polish on her thumb while her leg shook violently.

“Has your father started asking questions?” I asked.

“No. I almost wish he would. Just to get it out of the way.”

“You still don’t think telling him would be a good idea?”

She laughed. “That depends. Do good ideas usually lead to you getting disowned?”

“No. Not usually.”

“Then, no. Rich, I do appreciate that you gave me this long to get off the dating carousel, and I don’t blame you for going after Kira. So all this,” she said, gesturing to her face. “It’s not because I’m upset with you. I’m mostly pissed at myself for being too chicken to come clean to my dad, and because I know what comes next.”

“Any chance you’re wrong about how he’d react?”

She made a dismissive sound. “Our parents are pretty much the same. The thing my dad wants most in the world is for his legacy to be preserved. Second to that, he wants his reputation to be more impressive. I can help both of those by marrying someone in the right family. Take a guess what my coming out and getting in a relationship with a woman would do to his legacy and his reputation.”

“Yeah. I can see what you’re saying. Well, hey,” I said suddenly, “I’ve recently been disowned. It’s not so bad.”

She snorted in a very unladylike way. “Yet. All they’ve done is fire a warning shot. I’m sure there’s more to come. Do you have any plan to get them off your back, or are you just hoping to weather the storm?”

“I have a plan, but it’d require a pretty big favor from you. And it’s going to require some good luck on my part. And I’m almost positive it’s not going to get my parents off my back, but it’s going to feel so goddamn satisfying that it’ll be worth it anyway.”

Stella looked uneasy. “Usually, I can hardly believe you and Cade are brothers. Right now, though . . . I can see the family resemblance.”

I grinned. “You’re right. This plan is probably straight out of Cade’s playbook. So, want to hear the details?”

“I’m sure I’ll regret this, but yes, I do.”



Kira didn’t ask me to, but I stopped by her school to help her and the students work on the play. It was probably a mark of how far I’d fallen for her that I’d already memorized her schedule and the class times. For once, I was okay with admitting that I cared about her.

No. I was short selling it. The way I felt wasn’t just caring about her. It was much more.

Principal Lockett had managed to catch wind that I was on campus before I even made it ten steps past the lady who worked the front desk. He intercepted me as I entered the school courtyard.

“Mr. King,” he said. His voice was lacking the usual bubbly, chipper energy I’d come to associate with the man. He even stepped partway in front of me to make me stop walking.