Page 17 of Fake Dating Mr. Prince

My arms dropped down by my sides, my fists instantly clenching. I blew out a frustrated breath. There was no way in hell I was letting the board push me around.

Slowly, I tilted my head and met my father’s gaze.Shit. Yes, I would.

If I couldn’t make this work and play nice with the board, Dad wouldn't retire. If anything happened to him, my mother would kill me. And I would never forgive myself.

My father gestured at the chair I’d vacated.

I sat down with a slight thud. “Okay, what do I need to do?”

He grinned at me. “I knew you’d see reason.”

“Don’t rub it in,” I growled.

“We have a new investment opportunity in Paris, D’Amboise Bridal. The owner has quite the operation. He’s well-liked and respected.” My father paused and steepled his fingers together, gathering his thoughts. “I’ve heard he’s contemplating selling, and I want to expand into France.”

I shrugged, not seeing the correlation.

His lips twitched. “He’s a bit old school.”

Now things were becoming a little clearer. Our conversation about why I needed to clean up my act wasn’t only for the board's consideration.

“And he’d seen the various tabloids about your nightly escapades and wasn’t sure he could confidently sell to us with you at the helm.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

“And he’s seen the interview with Simone.”

White-hot fury ran through my body. Seven years, and I couldn’t forget how Simone, the wanna-be actress, made her push to stardom off my back. At the time, she’d lacked in public sympathy, and then her fucking weasel of an agent had suggested she cry about her recent, terrible breakup.

With me.

During her interview with a popular late-night talk show host, people connected with the poor sobbing beauty and vilified me. When she came to me afterward, she couldn’t understand why I was so angry. She didn’t understand how her lies made me look. I knew I was done with her. Hell, I’d known the moment she threw me under the bus on live TV we were officially over.

“There’s got to be a statute on how long someone can ruin your life,” I growled.

“Dean, I’m sorry.” And he was. He hated that her lies had almost destroyed me.

“Fuck her.” One thing Simone had taught me was that loving someone wasn’t worth it.

My father raised an eyebrow and gave me a minute to rein in my temper. I hated that this was getting to me, but I’d worked my ass off to be where I was. I’d been offered positions in other companies over the years but had always turned them down.Thiscompany was what I wanted. I’d be damned if other people’s opinions and my asshole of an ex took that from me.

“Dean, you and I know you can do this. And if you can win over Jules D’Amboise, it would go a long way to reassuring our board you’re capable.”

“And to do that, I need to be squeaky clean.” I wasn’t as bad as the tabloids made me out to be. They just always seemed to show up at the wrong time.

“Yes. And situations like you running around in a towel aren't going to fly.”

My jaw clenched at the reminder of last night.

“Do we have an understanding?”

What choice did I have? “Yes, sir.”

“Perfect. I know it’s last minute, but I’ve booked you a flight for tomorrow morning to Paris.”

“Tomorrow? Why so soon?”

“There are already other people looking to buy D’Amboise Bridal. We need to be there first.”