"You knew Kingsley was considering the round," I said.
"We were told a senior rep might attend. Not *him*."
"Not my grandfather."
"If Kingsley pulls interest because of this—"
"I'm not asking him to pull anything."
"You don't have to ask," Derek said. It was honest, and that honesty stopped me cold.
He leaned both hands on his desk, head down. "I know how this looks."
"No," I said, "I don't think you do. This isn't about you losing an investor because you hurt me. That would almost be easy — you could tell yourself I cost you something. That I used my family to punish you. But you're afraid of losing money today. I lost a marriage a long time before I signed those papers."
Something close to grief crossed his face — for a second he looked like the man who'd once walked six blocks in the rain to bring me cold medicine because I insisted I was fine.
