A Billionaire's Mistake

65|Person of Interest

"I don't... I mean, I just can't believe he has a sister. His mother was so concerned about her reputation that she gave up her other child? A child that could have grown up in a home full of loving individuals? Who knows what horrors she's faced growing up in the system." A shudder racks through my body, causing Lincoln to pull me in tighter.

"I'll find out more, okay? I'm waiting for this guy to call me back with more details."

"Linc..." Swallowing a bite of croissant, I twist in his lap to hook my arms around his neck. "You're exhausted. You need rest."

"We have the plane ride home for that." This man and his damn work ethic. I know it's ironic as soon as the thought pops into my head, but coming from someone who works non-stop, he needs the next couple of hours to relax. There won't be time for it when we return to New York.

"Can you at least take a bite of this for me?" Holding the croissant to his mouth, he relents and bites an edge off. A hint of chocolate remains on the corner of his lips, and when he darts his tongue out to lap it up...

"Sweet and sugary," he hums, a smoldering glare settling into his eyes. "You know what it reminds me of?"

"Eat a whole one, and you can show me rather than tell me."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm fine, Sienna. Truly. I'm close to figuring something out, and there's no second to waste."

I stare at him with the papers sprawled around us, the multiple coffee mugs, and the rigid set of his jaw in his tired yet determined expression. This version of him is like noticing him in a brand new light.

"Have you ever thought about giving the company to Jett?"

His eyes snap to mine. "What?"

"Giving the company to Jett," I repeat. "Have you ever seriously considered it?"

"Why would I give my father's company over to Jett? You've heard my mother's concerns about him using Carmen to get his shares. Imagine what he'd do if he owned the company."

"I understand her concerns, but what do you want? Before taking over the company, you wanted to be a cop, Linc. That's all you dreamed of being. This..." I wave around at the various papers. "This is you in your element. I've never seen you so..."

He arches a brow, willing me to continue.

"Enamored with something."

He scoffs. "You've seen me enamored with something. I'm enamored with something right now." Squeezing my hip for emphasis, I bat his hand away.

"Something, not someone. I just can't help but wonder who you would have been if everything with your father hadn't happened." I hold my breath, realizing I'm walking on a thin line, but Lincoln doesn't seem angry or upset, just confused. "If you hadn't hung onto the guilt you felt about not doing what he wanted and taking over the company, who would you be?"

"A cop," he answers. "I would have finished school and lived out my dream career, but those weren't the cards I was dealt."

"Just because these were the cards you were dealt doesn't mean you can't pick new ones and start the game over with a fresh hand."

"I—" He pauses, letting that sentence marinate as if he's never thought of his situation having such a simple solution. "If I gave up my father's company, I'd be letting him down. The second Jett took over, he'd run it into the ground or, worse, sell it. I can't let that happen."

"But couldn't your mother ensure that didn't happen? She could hire someone else to take over the company, right? Or she could run it until she felt Jett was capable of taking over it. All I'm saying is you don't have to be stuck, Linc. There's a way out of this. You know as well as I do, your mom would never ask you to stay in a position you didn't want."