The door falls closed behind us, drowning out some of the rabble from the sea of reporters outside.
“See what you can do to get rid of them,” Sterling says to Denver.
I peek out from behind my hand, then let it drop.
“On it, Boss.” Denver turns and goes to talk to Jenson and Killian.
“Do you think Rory did it?” I look at Sterling’s set jawline as he marches us toward the elevators.
“I don’t know, but I’ll damn well find out.” His lips twist as he presses the thumb scanner for the private elevator that serves the penthouses on the top levels.
“It’s too late. There’s nothing we can do. I just wish I’d had the opportunity to tell my clients myself. I wanted them to hear it from me.”
“They can still hear it from you.” Sterling scrubs a hand around his jaw as he leads me into the elevator, and we ride it up. “You can tell them in your own words exactly what you wanted to, just as you planned.”
“An email seems kind of… it’s not enough. Not now.”
I chew my lower lip, unease skating up my spine, climbing higher just like the numbers on the elevator display.
“Record a video. Send them that. Be yourself and be honest. Your clients come to you foryou, Hallie. Remind them who you are.”
I blow out a shaky breath. “You’re right.” I lean into his side, snaking my arm around his bicep. “You always know just what to say to stop me freaking out. Thank you.”
He dips his head to press a kiss to my hair. “I love you. It’ll be okay.”
We step out into a private hallway, and he unlocks the front door.
I’m hit by the scent of fresh flowers. A bouquet the size of a small country is on display on the circular table in the center of the entry space.
“Sinclair?” he asks as I pluck out the card.
“Yep. She’s so sweet,” I murmur, reading her message welcoming us home and saying how excited she is to see us. She must have put these here before the news broke.
“I should call her again,” Sterling says as he takes his wallet and keys from his pocket and places them down on the table.
He pulls his cell out from his jacket pocket and puts it to his ear as he walks up behind me, sliding a hand around my stomach and dropping a kiss to my shoulder.
“Sweetheart? Yes, we’re home now.”
Home.I turn and look at him as he holds me.
“Mm-hm.” His eyes narrow in question, and I signal I’m going to go into the other room.
I step out of my heels and pad into the living room, sinking down onto the sofa.
This is it. The day I’ve been dreading. The day everyone finds out I’m a fraud. My clients will know I was married once, and that I took New York’s most eligible bachelor for myself.
I could lose my business.
I wait for the fear to take over and twist its way around my torso.
I wait.
“It’ll be okay, Hallie. We’ll deal with it together.”
I clasp my hands in my lap as Sterling’s voice plays inside my head.
A tremor of cold slithers through me. But it’s like an underwater river, not having broken the surface. Maybe… maybe there’s a way through this. A couple of weeks ago the thought of this day terrified me. But so did the thought of telling my parents about Vegas.
