Bound To Fall

We Are A Team

Sterling

The elevator doors opened and I walked towards my office. Eve's eyes connected with mine and it became apparent that she already had something to tell me. So, I continued making my way over to my office but I stopped at her desk.

"What's up?" I asked as I raised a brow.

"Your father wants to meet with you." Eve informed me. "From what I understand, sooner rather than later."

"Okay." Drawing in a deep breath, I exhaled it. "I'll go see him, while I do that I need you to print off some documents. The name for the bakery has been decided and I need to get things prepared so it's official."

Eve nodded. "Yes Sir."

I turned around and began heading for my father's office. Stacey let me right inside and as I entered, my father looked up at me from his desk. He straightened his posture as his eyes watched me take a seat in front of him.

"Eve said you needed to see me." I know my father well, it's best to get straight to the point with him. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to discuss your promotion." He informed me. "I was thinking it could be done within the next few weeks."

Swallowing hard, I exhaled a low breath as I responded. "No."

"No?" His brow knitted together as his confusion became apparent. "What do you mean no? Have you changed your mind about taking on a higher position here?"

"It's not that." Another low breath escaped my body as I started to explain myself. "I just would like to wait on it for now."

His confusion remained. "Why?"

"A few reasons." I proceeded to start with the main one. "First off, I'm still working on getting everything up and running for Isabelle's bakery. I haven't even told her about the promotion because I want her to be the top priority, if she were to know about it then she would either rush to get the bakery done or force me to go on with it."

He gave a small nod, showing he understood me. "Very well."

I was thankful that this was one thing he wasn't going to try and battle me on. Of course it helped that he's been in a similar situation before. When it came to Amethyst, he wanted to see it succeed as much as I want to see this bakery succeed.

On top of that, I know he would never want to take such a big moment away from Kaydence. Which is why I'm not doing the promotion until Isabelle gets to have her moment. She deserves to have all of the attention on her when those bakery doors open.

His eyes met mine again. "When do you think the bakery opening will take place?"

"I'm going to be getting a final list from Isabelle on the changes needed by the end of the day." I explained. "Once I have that, the contractors can get in there. I've got them on standby at this point. I'm thinking we can have it ready to open within a few weeks to a month."

"Alright." He placed his hands on his desk and the look in his eyes grew a little more intense. "You said a few reasons, what are the others that have made you decide to wait?"

"I'm still waiting for more information from Luca on Mr. King." I could feel irritation stirring inside of me as I answered. "While Isabelle is my main focus, I need to keep some of my attention on him. I feel like taking on more and dealing with all of the event stuff will take away my ability to keep an eye on things, which then gives him the upper hand on either hiding what he's up to or trying to strike against me."

My father's face was serious, I could tell he was thinking about my words. I couldn't tell what was going through his mind because as always, he makes it impossible to read his features.

"That makes sense to me." He finally responded. "Has there been any more information regarding what he's up to?"

"Not besides what I already know." I exhaled a low irritated sigh. "We're still trying to track down where the money is going and what it's used on."

"Still?"

The irritation inside of me was growing even more the longer we discussed Mr. King. The last thing I'm in the mood for is my father to give me his opinion on how much time this has taken.

"Yes." I didn't give him a chance to interject. "He's clearly not a stupid man, he's covering his tracks and it's annoyingly difficult to find even the smallest bit of something."

"You need to be careful then." I noticed a flash of concern and worry in his icy blue eyes, but it quickly faded away.

My brow raised. "Why?"

My father isn't usually the type to be concerned over someone like this. While Mr. King is powerful, that power only is in his city and a small portion over his state. It's not like our family where the Tipton name is powerful worldwide.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "Because if he's hiding things this good, it usually means whatever he's up to is more dark and twisted than you can imagine."

The irritation I was feeling quickly dissipated as I felt a pit of nerves developing in my stomach. My father knows better than anyone how people in this world work and I know in my gut he's right on this.

"You take all of the time you need." His gaze remained focused on me. "The promotion will be waiting for you. Just don't hesitate to ask for help if you end up in over your head in this."

"This is my battle." I don't know what Mr. King has against me, but I know my father has nothing to do with it. "I can't ask for you to take this on with me."

"You're wrong." He leaned forward in his chair as the intensity in his eyes grew. "Your battles may be your own, but I will always come in to help no matter what. My job as your parent never stops and I will always have your back because we are a team. Understood?"

I nodded, knowing that whatever I say won't matter. He's clearly determined and having him as backup is never a bad thing.