Chapter 20 I'm Done Kneeling
Briar's POV
I didn't respond—just hung up immediately.
The storm hit Emerald Bay just before midnight, transforming the peaceful waters of Puget Sound into a churning mass of whitecaps and spray. I jerked awake as thunder crashed overhead, my heart hammering against my ribs as I blinked into the darkness of my new bedroom.
Rain lashed against the floor-to-ceiling windows and I could see the curtains billowing inward where the sliding glass door had blown open. I stumbled out of bed and crossed the room, grabbing the door handle to pull it shut against the wind.
The door stuck halfway, the track jammed with something I couldn't see in the dark. I yanked harder and suddenly my vision went white, Julian's face filling my mind as his fingers closed around my throat and slammed me against the wall of his penthouse. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't do anything but feel the pressure building behind my eyes as he squeezed tighter.
Selene whimpered deep in my consciousness and I felt my eyes burn. I let go of the door and stumbled backward until my shoulders hit the wall, then slid down to sit on the floor with my knees pulled up to my chest.
My phone lit up on the nightstand and I forced myself to focus on the screen. A message from Lucian appeared, asking about a reorder of the chamomile blend and requesting samples of any new products I might have developed.
I picked up the phone with shaking hands and started typing out a response, then hesitated with my thumb hovering over the voice call button.
Thunder exploded directly overhead and my finger spasmed against the screen, accidentally hitting the call button. I stared at the phone in horror as it began to ring.
Lucian answered on the third ring, his voice rough with exhaustion. "Hello?"
I cleared my throat and tried to sound professional despite the way my hands were still trembling. "I apologize for the late hour. I thought it would be more efficient to discuss the options directly."
Another crack of thunder made me gasp involuntarily and I heard Lucian's tone shift from annoyed to alert. "Is the storm bothering you?"
The words stuck in my throat because lying to him suddenly felt impossible. I pulled my knees tighter against my chest and stared at the rain hammering against the windows.
"What else are you afraid of?" Lucian's voice had gone quiet and careful.
The question broke something loose inside me. "I'm afraid that one night when I'm crossing the street Julian's car will be there waiting for me. I'm afraid the Apex bid is just a joke and Montgomery Medical will crush us without even trying. I'm afraid that no matter how hard I fight or how far I run, I'll end up right back in that old apartment with silver cuffs around my wrists."
Silence stretched between us before Lucian spoke again, his voice low and steady. "If you're tired of being afraid, stop giving fear so much power over you. You got Vance Botanicals qualified for the Apex bid completely on your own. The Briar I know doesn't give up just because the odds look bad."
"Could you stay on the line until I fall asleep?" The words came out barely above a whisper and I immediately wanted to take them back.
Lucian let out a soft laugh that sounded almost fond. "You have the nerve of a rhinoceros when you're negotiating business deals, but asking for basic companionship makes you sound like you're confessing to murder."
My face burned and I bit down hard on my lower lip. Before I could formulate a response, Lucian sighed. "I didn't say I was hanging up."
He started talking about mundane things, his cat Nyx destroying another section of his office sofa, Kai complaining that the chamomile tea knocked him out during afternoon meetings, a new bakery near his building.
I climbed back into bed and set the phone on the pillow next to my ear, letting his low voice wash over me as the storm gradually faded to background noise.
The last thing I remembered was Lucian describing Ash's latest terrible cooking experiment before exhaustion finally pulled me under.
---
Seagulls screaming outside my window dragged me back to consciousness at seven forty-two. I blinked at the ceiling for several seconds before my sleep-fogged brain registered that my phone was still on the pillow next to me, the call duration reading three hours and fifty-one minutes.
My face went nuclear and I sat bolt upright, staring at the screen in absolute horror. Selene stretched languidly in the back of my mind, her mood unusually calm and content.
I typed out a message before I could overthink it: [Thanks for last night, Lucian. I owe you one.]
His response came back almost immediately: [Your snoring could wake the dead. My ears are still ringing.]
I made an outraged noise and immediately called Ash to demand whether I actually snored, only to have him laugh so hard he couldn't breathe while insisting I definitely did not. It took another few minutes before I realized Lucian had been teasing me, and the knowledge settled something warm and unfamiliar in my chest.
He hadn't mocked my weakness or tried to use my vulnerability against me. He'd stayed on the phone until dawn and then deflected my gratitude with humor instead of making me feel small.
Maybe he wasn't as opposed to my presence as I'd thought. Maybe there was room to build something more than professional distance between us.
I opened a new note in my phone and typed out two lines.
Phase 1: Build trust.
Phase 2: Make myself indispensable.
---
At eight forty-seven I stood in front of the bathroom mirror applying concealer to hide the shadows under my eyes, then sent out a company-wide message scheduling an emergency meeting for nine thirty. I made sure to add a specific note for Owen to personally inform Eric Thorne that his attendance was mandatory and that the Lunar Stabilizer formula would be the centerpiece of our discussion.
The conference room felt oppressively tense when I walked in at nine twenty-eight. Mara from finance sat hunched over a budget spreadsheet with her eyebrows drawn together. I took my seat at the head of the table and began tapping my fingers against the polished wood.
Eric strolled through the door at nine thirty-three carrying a coffee mug, his expression radiating boredom.
"Eric , glad you could join us. Traffic?"
Eric shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "Just didn't see the urgency. We all know Apex is a long shot at best."
The room went absolutely silent and I felt Selene snarl in the back of my mind. "Then let's discuss why you think your formula isn't worth fighting for."
I forced myself to sit back and listen as each department head delivered their reports. Marketing had completed eighty percent of the proposal but couldn't identify a clear differentiator. Finance confirmed we'd paid the deposit but warned that additional investment would drain our reserves. Research reported that clinical data would take six months when we only had three weeks. Operations assured me the supply chain was ready but cautioned that failure would leave us with half a million in unusable materials.
When the last person finished, I folded my hands on the table and swept my gaze across every face. "I've heard all your concerns. Now hear mine. If we don't try, we'll never know if we could have succeeded."
Eric slammed his mug down hard enough that coffee sloshed over the rim. "With all due respect, Miss Vance, your optimism doesn't change reality. Montgomery has resources we can't match."
"This company has survived for years by playing it safe. Small contracts, reliable clients, zero risk. Now you want us to bet everything on a bid we're almost guaranteed to lose?"
His voice dropped lower. "We've been on our knees begging for scraps for so long. You really think we can suddenly stand up and run?"
I rose to my feet slowly and met his glare head-on, feeling gold bleed into my eyes as Selene roared. "You're right, Eric. We have been on our knees too long. And I'm done kneeling."