Balotelli Bale Series Book #5: The Other Man Part 2

Chapter 8: From One CEO to Another

Keira's POV
Is it easy for a mother to leave her child?

If I have Theo's baby and I leave him, how will the child fare? Will I ever forgive myself? Will it be enough to take the twins and leave another child behind?

I strolled into my office feeling sleepy from tossing and turning all night.

"The son of Troy's King Priam fell in love with a woman. Her name was Helen." I paid attention to where the voice is coming from. My high back chair is facing away towards the floor to ceiling windows facing the ocean. "She wasn't just any woman. She was the wife of a Spartan King. He took her back to Troy as his and thus began the Trojan war, a ten year long conflict that led to the fall of Troy."

My eyes met the woman seated in my chair. She looks comfortable; like the owner of the office.

"Mrs... Miss... Uh... Miss Bale!' I struggled to attach a title to her name. Is she single? Is she married?

"So this is what the fuss is all about." She gracefully rose up stalking her way towards me. She has an aura of power and authority in every stride. She is as tall as I am. She stopped a few inches away tilting her head to observe me. "What a pretty thing. Pardon me, not pretty. Tragically beautiful. The kind of beauty that doesn't only render a man speechless but makes him fall foolishly in love. Have you heard of the story of Troy, beautiful?"

I have seen her face in magazines. I am reading her book on how to crash the business world in a skirt. I never thought I'll be in the same space with a woman as iconic as Helena Bale. She's exactly what every female CEO would want to be. The epitome of power.

"No I haven't." I answered.

"I'll send you the book. Do you like reading? Nickolas does. I'm sure he knows the story." She stepped back breaking the sharp eye contact. She stood by the ceiling to floor windows facing the Port of Sinclair. "When I told Nickolas to pursue what he wants with passion and relentlessness, I wasn't referring to a woman. I meant Bale Industries. You my dear, you have torn down everything I built up in a span of a few months. Tell me something," she looked at me. "How?"

"I don't follow." I spoke with an utterly dry throat. Her gaze is intimidating. It's like looking into Nick's eyes.

She sat in my chair. I got closer, sitting across the table. "I had to punish him for his recklessness. It wasn't fun for me to rip away everything he worked hard for but lessons had to be learned. Tell me how you wrecked twenty eight years of hard work in a span of weeks."

"I can't answer thwt. Were you punishing him for falling in love with a married woman?"

"No. Love can't be tamed. We love without boundaries. It's what we do with that torrid destructive emotion that counts. He exposed my empire to a vicious enemy. I had to cast him out to protect my legacy. In my opinion, if King Priam would have thrown Paris out, the war could have been avoided. If he would have told the boy to give the woman back to her husband... well you understand what I'm getting at. What you two had was forbidden and riddled with consequence. Nickolas chose emotion over reason. I did not raise him to be subjective to the weakness off the heart."

"Love is not weakness."

She smiled ruefully. "Love is a powerful weakness that belongs in the heart. The mind should always be trained to rule over the heart. He wasn't thinking. But I'm not here to discuss my grandson's failures. I have something for you."

She reached into her black jacket and laid out a photograph. The silver fox on the photograph is familiar yet I have never met him. "Who is this?"

"Alexander Christos. That is my weakness. I didn't win the battle in case you're wondering. Death ripped him away and saved me from a foolishness of my own. Of course you know Nathan." She laid another photograph on the table next to Alexander. And then, Nickolas. Look at these three men. Isn't the Christos blood heavy? Three generations of good looking strong willed men. Is it Christos or Bale blood? What do you think?"