One Last Mistake: A Billionaire Romance (The Ironwood Billionaire Series Book 3)

by Ellie Danes

  “And now your views are different?”

  I nodded, smiling at her. “Now my views are totally reversed. It feels like I'm a new man, as if I've been able to start life afresh, with a clean slate. I no longer have even a single shred of desire to live life the way I used to. In fact, all I can think about, the only thing that keeps me going, the thing that fires my blood and fills me with a driving, powerful energy, is the desire to be with you. To please you, to make you happy, to have you by my side always, now and forever. I want to marry you. I really couldn't think of a better way to spend my life than with you by my side until the end of our days.”

  She smiled at me again, tears glistening in her eyes. “That's beautiful, Kyle. I think that that might be the most beautiful thing that anyone has ever said to me. And I can't deny that I feel the same. I really couldn't imagine any other future now than one spent by your side.”

  “So,” I said, “are we gonna do this?”

  She smiled, tears of joy running down her cheeks. “I really, really think we should, Kyle.”

  I smiled and kissed her. “Then it’ll happen in the future. Maybe in the near future...”

  Chapter 21

  Meredith

  I arrived at work the next day with a fresh sense of purpose and drive. Everything felt totally different than it had the day before. While it had really felt as if my entire world had come crashing down around me when the Financial Times article had broken, now I felt as if I'd been given a second chance. But not only that I had been given a second chance—no, I had created a second chance for myself.

  I was determined to do my part in taking Hendrikson, Inc. down, and in boosting our sales and profits to heights never before achieved. I had ideas for a killer new marketing campaign, and I was positive that it would net us sales through the roof.

  I got to work early and saw that Kyle had come in early as well. A few of our coworkers were just arriving, and we didn't want the news about our relationship to be too public, in light of the damage caused by the scandalous article. He and I walked past each other with a few coworkers looking on, so we just gave each other a formal nod as we passed.

  In his eyes, though, I could see a deep, burning desire for me, even though he kept a calm, deadpan expression on his face. I'm sure he could see the same intense, fiery desire mirrored in my eyes, too.

  Still, we couldn't openly display or acknowledge these feelings—not yet. Not until we had ridden out this storm. But we were diving in, and we were ready to kick some serious ass. I strode into my office, sat down at my computer, and started to get to work.

  * * * * *

  “Hi, Meredith, it's me,” said Kyle as I picked up the phone on my desk. “Can you come over to my office?”

  “Sure thing,” I said.

  I put down the phone and headed straight across to his office, and walked in without knocking. I beamed out a huge, almost seductive smile as I opened the door, and started to say, “Hey, handsome,” but was cut off with surprise and more than a little embarrassment when I saw Linda in there with him.

  I blushed and kinda paused halfway through the door. Kyle, however, simply chuckled, and Linda grinned at me.

  “Don't worry, Meredith, she knows about us.”

  “And I'm not going to tell anyone,” added Linda, smiling. “My loyalty lies with this company and the Williams family. And I understand that this is no simple fling. I've been around for a few years, and I know love when I see it.”

  Both of us smiled at this comment, and a slight blush reddened my cheeks.

  “I, uh, thanks, Linda,” I said.

  “Come in,” said Kyle to me, “have a seat. We have strategy to discuss here.”

  We talked for the next half hour about various plans and strategies, and both of them approved greatly of my fresh marketing ideas. One of our new campaigns was going to be aimed directly at many of Hendrikson, Inc.'s customers... and I had a feeling that we'd be poaching quite a few of them.

  “These are fantastic ideas,” said Linda to me. “You truly are an asset to this company. And, to tell you the truth, I really was worried yesterday when that article broke. I didn't know if you would have the spirit to fight through it. Honestly, it had the potential to break a woman. And I have to admit, I didn't think that you would be able to rise above it. But you've proved me wrong.”

  “Thank you, Linda,” I said. “I'm quite surprised myself that I was able to rise above this. But I can't take all the credit myself. Without my friend Ella’s counsel, and Kyle's support and leadership, I don't know if I would have gotten through this as well as I have.”

  I could see Kyle swelling with pride as I said this, and Linda glanced across at him and smiled.

  “You know, Kyle, for the longest time I underestimated you, too,” she said. “I thought that your father was making a mistake in handing the company over to you. I thought that you'd never be able to handle the responsibility, that the weight of it was going to crush you. I thought that you'd be stuck in the playboy lifestyle you were living, and that trying to juggle that and the enormous weight of running this company would ultimately break you.”

  “But then...I proved you wrong,” he said.

  She nodded. “And then you proved me wrong. And I don't think I've ever been happier to be wrong about anything in my life.”

  He chuckled. “You know, I thought a lot of those things myself. For the longest time I doubted my own ability to lead this company. I entertained horrible thoughts of how to escape this. But then I realized that, in fact, I could do it. I found a new strength, a strength I never knew I had. And that strength gave me determination and filled me with inspiration and courage.”

  He then turned a piercing, intense look into my eyes. “And I don't think that I could have done it without you, Meredith. In you, I found courage and strength. And I no longer wanted to push my problems and fears away. No, I wanted to tackle them head-on and grind them into the dirt.”

  “That's the spirit, Kyle Williams,” Linda said proudly. “You are a true CEO now.”

  Kyle nodded. “Thank you, Linda. And now, speaking of grinding problems into the dirt, we have an innovative marketing campaign to launch. Hendrikson, Inc. doesn't know what's about to hit them. Is everything in place, Meredith?”

  I nodded. “The files have been sent to the designers, the web ads are ready to be launched, TV ads are in the process of production, and billboards are being prepared right now. Is everyone on the sales team ready to handle the influx of calls and emails?”

  “I've given all of our sales managers a pep talk,” Kyle replied. “They're ready.”

  “As is everyone in accounts,” added Linda.

  “Well, then, it's all ready,” Kyle said. “So, let's hit it.”

  “Let's hit it!” I said, excitement rushing through me.

  And that was it—the first shots of the battle were fired.

  * * * * *

  “This is simply unbelievable,” Kyle murmured three weeks later, a huge smile on his face. “The sales figures. They've surpassed even my wildest hopes!”

  Excitement was coursing through my veins, along with a healthy dose of pride. “I knew the campaign would go well—I just didn't realize how well it would go!” I exclaimed.

  I leaned across his desk and kissed him, pressing my lips up against his. Then suddenly we were kissing passionately, and surges of arousal were heating up my blood. I wanted him badly, and my heart was beginning to pound in my chest with the intensity of my desire...but then another voice unexpectedly interrupted us.

  “Ahem,” said Linda as she walked in. “I hope I wasn't, um, interrupting anything.”

  Kyle and I paused, both breathing hard—and grinning like a pair of guilty teenagers caught in the act.

  “Hi, Linda,” he said sheepishly. “I didn't hear you come in.”

  “You did leave the door half open,” she said with a wink. “If you wanted some privacy perhaps you should have shut it properly. Although we
are still technically supposed to be working, you know.”

  “I know, I know,” he said, “and what you just saw wasn't planned.”

  “Yeah,” I added, still blushing, “it was just a spontaneous celebration.”

  “Well, there's a lot to celebrate,” she said. “These figures have just gone through the roof! You two have done an outstanding job. Your father will be overjoyed when he sees these sales figures, Kyle.”

  “Overjoyed, and proud,” boomed a new voice.

  We all turned around at the sound of this intrusion, and saw Ronald Williams standing in the door, beaming at Kyle. And as he looked at Kyle this way, I saw pride glowing on Kyle's face.

  “Thank you, Dad,” he said, standing to acknowledge the old man's presence.

  “I'm proud of you. And you know who else would have been proud?”

  “Who?”

  “Your brother Jimmy.”

  Kyle nodded softly. “I think he would be...at least I hope he would be.”

  “You and I both know very well that he would be. I know how much you looked up to him as a role model growing up. I know how badly you wanted to impress him, how you wanted him to be proud of you. Don't think I never noticed that.”

  “I've done my best,” Kyle said simply.

  “And not only have you done your best, but your best has surpassed any and all expectations. You were the right son for this job.”

  A look of genuine surprise came across Kyle's face. “Wait...you're...you really think that?”

  Mr. Williams nodded, smiling, and there was both pride and sadness in his smile.

  “I know that it must have seemed like I was playing favorites when you two were growing up,” he admitted. “I had Jimmy earmarked from the day he was born to take over this company. But there was something that I never considered—what he wanted. And the older he got, I could see that he wasn't the right man for the job. His head was in the clouds, and he lived in a different world than you and me. He wanted what he wanted, and it wasn't wealth or power. He just wanted to live a simple life, to dive in his beloved oceans, and to teach diving. And I willingly blinded myself to this. I saw myself far more in you than in him but I had clung so stubbornly to this dream that my eldest son would take over that I refused to acknowledge the reality of the situation. And that stubbornness—my stubbornness—was the cause of his death. I pushed him too far. If I had simply allowed him what he wanted to do instead of trying to force him to be someone he didn't want to be, and wasn't capable of being, he would still be here with us today. I drove him to the desperation that caused that accident. It wasn't you, Kyle. I know that you've been carrying the burden of that guilt for years now, but you really don't need to any longer. I now accept that what happened to Jimmy was caused by me alone.”

  The old man's eyes were filled with tears now, and so were Kyle's. Indeed, I felt a lump rising in my own throat as I observed this.

  “And I wanted to tell you that, to admit that here,” Ronald continued, “in front of Linda, and in front of the woman you love.”

  He turned to me and nodded, smiling sadly. “You'll be good for my son, Meredith. I was a selfish, stubborn old fool to have thought that Tracy Hendrikson could possibly have made my son a happy man. Again, it was because I was so caught up in my own dreams, which I now realize are far divorced from reality.”

  I nodded, returning his smile. “Thank you for saying that, Mr. Williams.”

  He chuckled. “Call me Ronald, please. After all, if we're going to be family soon, we should be on first-name terms, shouldn't we?”

  I chuckled and blushed.

  “I told him we'd been thinking about getting married,” admitted Kyle.

  “I can see that now,” I replied, laughing.

  “And everyone thinks it's a great idea,” Linda commented with a smile. “Myself included.”

  “Come here, son,” Ronald said, opening his arms.

  Kyle walked over to him, and the two men embraced tightly.

  “I'm proud of you,” Ronald whispered hoarsely. “And I'm sorry for everything.”

  “It's okay, Dad. I mean that,” said Kyle as he hugged his father.

  I felt tears rolling down my cheeks as I witnessed this beautiful moment, and I could see them glistening in Linda's eyes as well. Eventually, Kyle and Ronald disengaged from their embrace.

  Ronald rubbed his hands together. “Now there's something else I have to tell you—all of you.”

  “What's that?” asked Kyle.

  “My lawyers and I have set the date for our court case against Marsha Hendrikson. A month from now the battle is going to begin. But there's more—we've also managed to force the Financial Times to issue a retraction of their article, and to publish an apology stating that it was all lies. My private investigator found that the journalist who wrote the article was bribed by Marsha to spread those lies, and he's been fired.”

  This was excellent news, and happiness billowed through me. My reputation—and Kyle's reputation—were saved.

  “I'm happy to hear that,” I remarked.

  “I'm sure you are,” replied Ronald. “That article was a terrible stain on your reputation, and it was totally undeserved. Now your reputation will be restored to what it was.”

  “I'm glad about that,” I said.

  “I think you'd all like to see the look on Marsha's face when she finds out about this,” remarked Ronald. “So, let's do that. Son, get Skype going on the projector. I'll give Marsha a call right now, and we can all enjoy the spectacle.”

  Kyle set up the projector so that we could watch what was about to unfold, and then Ronald sat down to make the call. Marsha answered, unaware that the rest of us were in the room with him.

  “Ronald,” she said, her face twisted into a sour expression. “What do you want?”

  “It's all over now, Marsha,” he said coolly. “Your attempt to ruin my son's reputation, and the innocent young lady's, have failed. We found out about the reporter you bribed, and he's been fired. The Financial Times is going to issue an apology and retract that article. And my lawyers have set a date in court. We have a watertight case against you, Marsha. The journalist you bribed has agreed to testify against you as well. It's over for you.”

  Her face crumpled into an ugly frown that was half defeat, half rage. “Well, my lawyers will see your lawyers in court, Ronald.”

  “You can't win,” said Ronald. “No matter what you try, you can't win.”

  “We'll see about that,” she said, but her defiance sounded hollow and hopeless. “Goodbye.”

  With that, she cut the call off, and all of us laughed.

  “She's finished,” said Ronald, “and she knows it.”

  Linda had her phone out now and was peering at something on it. “The quarterly earnings charts are out,” she announced. “And we're at the top!”

  We all cheered, and I jumped up and hugged Kyle, unable to contain my joy, and I started planting kisses all over his face.

  “We did it!” I cried, overwhelmed with joy and triumph. “We did it!”

  * * * * *

  “Goodbye, Dad,” Kyle said, waving as his father stepped into the limo to be whisked away.

  “Goodbye, son, goodbye, Meredith,” he said. “I'll see you all soon.”

  “Goodbye, Mr. Will—I mean, Ronald,” I said. “Thank you for the lovely dinner.”

  “It was an occasion worth celebrating!” he answered. “And I'm sure there will be many more celebrations in the days to come!”

  With that, he left, and Kyle and I faced the one remaining couple at the Lovehouse, a fancy restaurant near the Ironwood. Jace and Marie. They were the couple that Kyle knew from the Ironwood, and I’d never met sweeter people—other than Ella, of course, who had been here earlier with her boyfriend.

  “You two are perfect for each other, I can tell,” Marie said, smiling at me. “Your happiness just shines from your faces when you look at each other.”

  Kyle leaned over and kissed
my cheek, and I felt myself blushing.

  Jace kissed Marie, too, then took her hand. “All right, sweetheart, should we head home?”

  “Sounds good,” she said.

  What she had said about me and Kyle—I could see that happiness between her and Jace, too.

  They held hands as they left the restaurant, and Kyle and I were left alone.

  He turned to me, grinning. “You look stunning, Meredith. You're a real vision, utterly amazing. I can't take my eyes off you. I haven't been able to the whole night, really.”

  “And I haven't been able to take my eyes off you, either,” I said. “You look dashing in that tux.”

  “I think we must look like a picture-perfect couple right now,” he said with a grin. “Where are the paparazzi when you need them?”

  We both laughed but then my eyes caught his, and a surge of attraction and arousal ripped through me at the heated look he shot my way.

  “Let's go back to my place,” he suggested, his deep voice gravelly.

  “Yeah, let's do that.”

  A limo picked us up and took us to the Ironwood. I'm sure the sight of Central Park on one side was picturesque but I was too busy making out with Kyle to notice. Things were getting steamy in the limo, and we had to do everything in our power to prevent ourselves from ripping off our clothes and going at it right there.

  We got out of the limo, still sneaking kisses, and walked up to the tall building. The doorman, Javier, greeted us.

  “It's a nice hot evening,” he remarked.

  “That it is,” Kyle agreed, squeezing my hand.

  I giggled and waved to Javier as Kyle and I made our way to the elevator.

  Once inside, Kyle kissed me gently. “You know, Javier was right. It is a warm evening. What about a swim in the infinity pool?”