24 1/2 Kisses (A Bashir Family Romance) by Kennedy Claire Read Free Book Online Page B

with all the pomp and the power and the money surrounding him, he suddenly looked weak, ashamed—just for a moment. I wanted to ask him, really ask him , what had happened. Just how involved was he? Did he really have no soul left that he could be so calloused? Did his relationship with his real father—Gerald Franklin—cloud his judgment?
    But I knew I wouldn’t get any real answers from him today. Probably never. The wall between us was too high for me to breach.
    His cell rang again and a look of relief covered his face. I listened as he got another update on the stock price.
    “You’re kidding? We broke three hundred? It’s barely eleven.”
    I watched him return back to his normal self, in control, focused like a laser beam on his sole objective: making money and expanding his empire. As he talked about stock splits, record numbers, press releases and potential mergers into his phone, I looked out the window and soaked up the view of Lower Manhattan.
    I remembered when Dev and I used to walk around these same streets, and the gleam he would get in his eye like he had a secret he wasn’t telling me. Did he know back then that he would become one of the most powerful men in the city? Did he know about his father? I wanted to ask him, but I couldn’t. His lawyers made it a condition of the interview.
    He hung up the phone.
    “Okay, where were we? Something about Franklin Bank being the cause of all the world’s suffering?”
    I scanned my list of questions. I knew I wouldn’t get any closer to knowing the truth about Zambia, so I decided to move on.
    “Why did Gerald Franklin make you CEO at such a young age when there were other more obvious choices?”
    “Nicely veiled insult, Scarlett. Did you learn that in journalism school? Didn’t they teach you that honey attracts more flies than vinegar?”
    “You cannot deny that it was surprising when you were made CEO so abruptly after Gerald Franklin stepped down. You were a director at a very young age and with little experience. You’re still very young now. Please tell us why you’re uniquely qualified—or what Mr. Franklin saw in you that the rest of the world did not—besides your aptitude for using well-worn idioms of course.”
    He snorted at my icy tangent of words.
    “I guess he saw that I—and only I—had what it would take to rebuild Franklin Bank into something worthy of the name.”
    “And what is that?”
    He shifted in his seat, crossed his arms and rubbed his chin in thought—like he always did when he was thinking hard on some problem. It almost seemed like he was really searching for the answer, and I was curious to hear what he would come up with.
    After a moment, he had his answer.
    “Some people are born with…a drive, an energy, a hunger to do something great in the world. It’s a uniqueness that isn’t easily defined with common words, but you know it when you meet someone with—with it. Quite simply, it’s a certain quality that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary.”
    “And you have this quality?”
    He looked at me closely before answering. “There are a few of us in the world.”
    For a moment I was looking at the Dev I used to know.
    Then he pulled out something from his black leather briefcase and set it on the table in front of me. It was my book.
    “That reminds me, could you sign my copy of your book?”
    It was the last thing I expected him to do and I was completely caught off guard, but a tiny bit of hope sprung from my chest at his gesture.
    “You… read my book ?”
    He snickered. “I didn’t say I read it. I happen to know how hard it is to find signed first edition books, so if you don’t mind.” He pushed the book across the table. “It might be worth something one day.”
    I felt my face go hot. He was toying with me. Years ago I imagined what it might be like to celebrate my first published book with Dev—and even what heartfelt inspiring inscription I might write in the copy I would