I bend and push the envelope underneath the door, my breath coming in tightly drawn tenses of my lungs.This is nothing to do with me.
I stalk back to the elevator, hitting the button harshly. Iwrap my arms around myself, rubbing at the goosebumps that have skittered up over my skin.
The doors slide open, but my feet don’t move.
I whip my head to his door. Maybe it’s Molly. Maybe something happened.
My heart’s in my throat as I race over and scan my thumb to let myself in. Relief sags my chest as it unlocks with a click. He hasn’t shut me out completely. Not yet.
The envelope crumples beneath my feet as I step on it in my haste to get inside. I ignore it, leaving it sitting on the floor like a ruined scrap of something worthless.
“Sullivan?”
I head into the living area, but it’s deserted. The piano sits in silence like a dark, oppressive mass, its stool upended on the floor.
The sounds of choked whispers spills from somewhere close by and I follow it on autopilot until I come to a stop outside Sullivan’s closed office door.
“I’m so fucking sorry. She’s lost her mom now… I can’t do this without you.”
There’s no other voice, only his.
I breathe in slowly and open the door.
Blue eyes meet mine, stealing my breath. As long as I live, I know I will never be able to forget the way he looks in this moment. He’s sitting on the floor, propped up with his back against his desk like he’s collapsed there and doesn’t have it in himself to get up again. He’s wearing his usual shirt and suit pants but lacking the suave sophistication that usually fills out the designer fabric.
It's like seeing a shell of the man he is.
“Sullivan?”
Tears course down his cheeks and he shakes his head.
“T-Tate? I don’t… I c-can’t…”
I fall to my knees, pulling him to me without an ounce of hesitation. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
His phone drops from his hand, thudding on the plush carpet as he puts his arms around me and grips me hard, sinking his face into the crook of my neck.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, fighting to keep my own emotions from bubbling up at seeing him like this.
Wracking sobs shake his torso, and he falls apart in my arms.
“Molly’s mother is dead. She died of an overdose. I gave her the fucking money. I wanted her gone. And now she is. I took Molly’s mother from her.”
“What do you mean, you gave her the money?”
“She came here looking for Molly. She was drunk and I wanted her as far away as possible. I gave her two million dollars to never come back. And now she never will.” His voice cracks. “I k-killed her.”
“No,” I say with force. “No, you didn’t.”
Sullivan’s told me about Molly’s mother’s addictions. And as awful as this is, he needs to understand this wasn’t his fault.
“Sullivan? Look at me,” I urge.
He pulls back and the broken man I see makes my heart bleed for him.
“I didn’t know that’s what she’d do. But I should have. I should have seen it coming. I should have protected Molly from this happening.”
“You did protect her,” I say, begging him to believe me. “You could never have known what would happen. You were doing what was best for Molly at the time.”
