"Oh no, one of those," she said.
“Yes, he was a real winner. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with his lies anymore.”
“I’m not sure what this has to do with the interview, so let’s focus back on the subject.”
The level of discomfort in Gabe was well worth derailing the interview.
“I can assure you it’s relevant.” I faced him, sitting back in my chair. “You see, it made me more resilient being a single mother, raising my son by myself with no help. I could have moved home with my family, but it pushed me to move to Boston, where I climbed my way up the ladder until I was ready for a new challenge, which I took on at Bradman. They saw my potential, and I helped turn the company into one that others see as a model when studying its financials.”
That clenched jaw didn’t ease up.
“If that bastard, pardon my language, hadn’t left me in the middle of the night, I might have been content to spend the rest of my life never reaching my potential.”
“And would you have been happy then?” he asked me, folding his hands and leaning onto his desk.
“Yes, I would have. But that’s not the way my cards played out.”
I detected a flicker of regret in his amber eyes and dropped my sight to my hands, hating how it teased my unruly heart.
Tina turned the conversation, asking a few more questions before the interview ended.
“I’ll walk Victoria out,” Gabe said, as we stood. I didn’t really want to walk out with him or be stuck in an elevator with him, but that’s exactly what happened.
“Why did you really leave Bradman?” he asked as the doors closed.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not getting the job, not that I’d want it now.”
He turned to me. “I don’t care what happened in our past. If you’re the more qualified candidate, you’ll get the job.”
“I’m sure your girlfriend would love to know I’m working with you.”
A frustrated growl came from him. “I don’t know why you think I left you for another woman, but I didn’t.”
“Then you got over me fast.” The door opened, and I stepped out quickly, not wanting to be that close to him anymore.
“Tori,” he said, catching up to me.
“Thank you for the interview,William. I’m sure you’ll be in touch, but I won’t get my hopes up.” I put my hand out to shake his, knowing the contact would only remind me of how my heart still belonged to him.
“Tori, there was no other woman. There never has been.”
“No more lies. Just shake and say goodbye.” I heard the fracture in my last word, the emotion that seeped into it.
He took my hand, the shake lingering as his eyes held mine. The intensity of the moment reminded me of our time together, causing flames to leap in my chest.
“Goodbye, Gabe.” Letting go, I left him there, feeling his eyes on me as I made my way out of the building. I didn’t look back, didn’t stop to think about how everything he’d told me had beena lie and I’d never known him at all, until I was on the train to get Reid.
William Icinda. The billionaire’s son. How could he have kept that from me? And why? I hated to go back to that time, to think of him when I was in my delusional state of bliss, planning to walk down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams. But he had been nothing more than an illusion. A carefully crafted lie that I’d fallen for.
“So, did you get it?” Cash asked as I climbed into his car. With the train station so close to their home, he and Brandi had set up a schedule to pick Reid up in the morning and me when the interview was done. We’d set up the same for several days in case I had a second interview. The company had booked the hotel for the week, and I had intended to use it until I’d found out the truth. I should have packed up and checked out when I left the interview, but I hadn’t thought it through. Maybe I’d take Reid back to the toy store in the morning and check out in the afternoon.
“That’s doubtful.”
He glanced at me as he pulled out of the lot. “What happened? You were so confident yesterday.”
“William Gabriel Icinda happened.” Just saying his name caused my chest to spasm.
“The CEO?”
