Page 69 of Big Daddy to Go
Epilogue Two
Kane
It’s my last day at Infinity Investments. They’re throwing me a retirement party next week, even though technically, I’m not retiring. I’ll still be managing my investments outside of the company, but I’ll be doing it discreetly.
Of course, the president of Infinity Investments wanted to throw a huge, grand, ballroom style party for me, but I politely turned him down. I wanted something more intimate and low-key with just the people I work with.
After cake is served, I pull Joel aside.
“Have you given my offer any more thought?” I ask.
Joel smiles. “I would love to work with you and Lexi.”
I pat his back. “That’s great news. Lexi will be so happy.”
Lexi and Joel had really hit it off when they met. If he weren’t gay, I would be jealous. Joel didn’t want to work for some other CEO, and I didn’t want anyone else looking out for Lexi and me in business. We offered him a competitive salary and a fun, laid back work environment.
“Are you nervous about tonight?” Joel asks.
“A little,” I admit.
“Lexi doesn’t suspect anything, right?”
“I don’t think so,” I say, hoping I did a good job at hiding her surprise.
After work, I head to Lexi’s office and am more than surprised to see her talking to Jason and some skinny bitch. Running into Lexi’s ex-fiancé today of all days strikes me as odd. The universe’s timing is impeccable. Jason seems even more pathetic than how Lexi had described him. There was somethingsmallabout that guy, both in stature and personality. Some men will always be boys, I guess.
But I couldn’t resist taunting Jason and rubbing it in his face how happy Lexi is with me. And how royally he screwed up. I won’t let anyone hurt Lexi ever again. I’m fiercely loyal and protective of the people I love, and there is no one I love more than Lexi Smith.
Lexi and I are on our way to The Drunken Bucket. We haven’t been to the old dive bar in a while. We moved our Friday night happy hours to a Midtown pub instead since Ricky got a new job, and The Drunken Bucket is now out of the way for all of us.
But for tonight, I got Melanie to convince Lexi we needed to return to the old hangout for nostalgia’s sake. After all, my relationship with Lexi began at The Bucket, and so did Melanie and Ricky’s.
“I still don’t know why Melanie is so set on us coming all of the way to The Drunken Bucket for happy hour,” Lexi shakes her head as the driver pulls up to the front of the familiar dive bar.
“Yeah, but I kind of miss this place, don’t you?” I ask.
“Well, yeah. But it’s super inconvenient,” she laughs as the driver opens her door.
She gets out and I follow, tipping the driver before taking Lexi’s hand in mine. My nerves start to eat at me as we approach the entrance. I open the door for her and allow Lexi to walk in first.
“Surprise!” the crowd yells.
Lexi jumps back, and I grab onto her. She looks up at me as I smile at her.
“Surprise?” she wonders, looking back at the crowd.
My parents and her mother are on the left, along with Melanie and Ricky. Joel and his boyfriend are also there, along with Mike and his wife and a couple of our other close friends.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asks, hugging our parents. “What’s going on?”
I can’t help but laugh at her confusion as I get down on one knee behind her. I pull the ring box from my pocket as Lexi is still greeting people. She doesn’t see me because she’s chatting excitedly with people.
“So, I don’t get it. What’s the surprise about? I mean, other than you guys being here, which of course, is a huge surprise …” Lexi trails off, trying to figure out what’s going on.
“Turn around, sweetie,” her mom says.
Lexi turns around and sees me kneeling in front of her holding a ring box. A princess-cut diamond ring sits inside the box, which is pointing toward her.