Brett's POV

Riley pulls back from our embrace, her hands still resting on my chest. "Tell me about the business. About how you went from an eighteen-year-old aging out of the system to this." She gestures around the penthouse.

I move to the couch, suddenly exhausted. "You sure you want to hear this?"

"I'm sure." She sits beside me, close enough to touch but giving me space to breathe. "I need to understand all of it."

"The first few years were hell. I slept in parks, libraries, wherever I could ...