The drive home was quiet. My apartment was quieter. I stripped off my jacket, loosened my tie, and collapsed onto my couch in the dark.
Kim.
I couldn't stop thinking about her. She was a good mother. That was what struck me most. The way she put Zoe first, always, without hesitation. The way she worked herself to exhaustion to provide for her daughter. The way she'd built a life from nothing, with no one to help her, no safety net, no model for what a family was supposed to look like.
Kim would never abandon Zoe. That thought kept circling back, again and again. She would never leave her child the way my biological mother had left me.
Helena wouldn't either, I realized. My stepmother had taken me in, raised me as her own, and loved me without condition or reservation. She'd never made me feel like an outsider, never treated me as less than Sebastian or Isabelle.
I'd been so focused on my biological mother's abandonment that I'd forgotten what I had. What I'd always had.
Kim was like Helena. Strong. Loyal. The kind of person you wanted in your corner, the kind who would fight for you even when you didn't deserve it.
Maybe one day I could be like that too. Responsible. Dependable. The kind of person who showed up, who stayed, who didn't run when things got hard.
Would I want to be a father?
The question surfaced unexpectedly, catching me off guard. I'd never thought about it before. Kids had always been a distant concept, something that happened to other people, not to Xavier Dubois, who couldn't commit to a dinner reservation, let alone a lifetime.
But spending time with Zoe had changed something. Watching her laugh at my kite disasters. Feeling her small hand in mine. The way she'd hugged me goodbye, her arms tight around my neck, her trust absolute and unearned.
Maybe I did want that. Someday. With the right person.
Kim's face flashed through my mind.
I pushed the thought away. It was too much, too fast, too dangerous. This was an arrangement. A business deal. I couldn't afford to forget that.
But as I lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, I couldn't make myself believe it anymore.
The next morning, I threw myself into work.
The call with Titan Ventures was scheduled for ten. I spent the hour before reviewing every document, every clause, every number. If this deal fell through, Sebastian would never let me hear the end of it. More importantly, I'd prove everyone right—all the people who'd said I was a screwup, a playboy, a waste of a VP title.
I wasn't going to let that happen.
At ten o'clock, Kim connected the call and exited the room swiftly. Cole Matthews's face appeared on my screen, his expression neutral, unreadable.
"Mr. Dubois." His voice was smooth, professional. "Shall we get started?"
"Let's."
We went through the contract line by line. Revenue projections. Risk assessments. Timeline for construction. Marketing strategy. Every point he raised, I had an answer for. Every concern, I addressed with data and confidence.
"The profit margins look ambitious," Cole said, leaning back in his chair. "Your projections assume a ninety-two percent occupancy rate in year one. That's optimistic."
"It's based on market analysis of comparable properties in the Miami area. The Peninsula and the Faena both hit similar numbers in their first year." I pulled up the relevant slides. "We're targeting the same demographic with a superior location and more competitive pricing."
Cole studied the numbers. I held my breath. "And the timeline? Eighteen months seems aggressive."
"We've built in contingency for weather delays and permit issues. The construction team has a track record of delivering on time. I can send you their portfolio if you'd like to review it."
Silence stretched across the call. Cole's eyes moved across his screen, reading something I couldn't see.
"Alright," he said finally. "I'm satisfied with the terms."
I exhaled slowly. "So we have a deal?"
"We have a deal." A hint of a smile crossed his face. "I'll have my team draw up the final contracts. We can sign next week. Say, Thursday?"