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“Sorry I didn’t mean—“
I touched his hand instinctively, and he gave me a wry smile
“Don’t worry about it I know it comes across that way But it’s more than that A lot rown into an empire, and not because of dirty money or
exploitation, but through a lot of hard work and luck and honor”
I pushed the ice pack away froht He wore an expression halfway between shame and determination
“Honor?” I moved closer to hihtly, like he was going to hold me, but he stopped himself
“Yeah,” he said quietly “That’s really what it’s about It’s our faood—they’ll have no choice but to take the company public And who knohat a board of directors will do with it? My father always, always pressed upon rity in business”
I was feeling a bit impressed myself, but I wasn’t wholly convinced “Jayce seems to think that your plans for the company drift toward the dark side”
He made a face and waved his free hand “Jayce is a sih money, he can save the world What he doesn’t understand is that the whole gaes once you hit a certain income bracket Money is liquid, ephemeral—very rarely is it solid You can’t just buy apartments out from under a billionaire slum lord and turn them into eco-friendly condos with a handshake and a wire transfer”
“Why not?”
“Like I said, e When billionaires talk, money is chitchat They don’t need y Does that make sense?”
“I think so,” I said slowly “You have to offer the that means more than money in order to make a deal”
He nodded “Which is e invest in oil and politics A oes than an eco-terrorist A can contributor has the politician’s ear more than their constituents The system is corrupt, sure But that doesn’t mean that all of the players in it have to be”
I put my hand on his chest and felt his heart beat He was as passionate about this as Jayce was about—well, everything Kingston’s arhtened around me and sparks fleeen us
“Tell ,” I murmured