“I can’t trust you!You left me.I needed you, but you weren’t there.”
“You’re right.I failed.I wasn’t there.I can never make up for it, but I also can’t walk away again.I need you, Audrey.”
“Go to hell!”
He closes his eyes, takes a deep, measured breath, and turns back to the steering wheel with carefully controlled movements.
I miss his touch.
I hate him.
I need him.
I cross my arms over my chest, clench my teeth together, and turn to the window.
He pulls away from the curb and drives back to the office in silence.
My entire body feels like jelly, but I exit the vehicle and stomp to the elevator.He joins me with my bags over his shoulder and crowds me into the back corner.I glimpse my reflection in the shiny metal doors.A ghost has darker pigmentation than I do.
Brennan selects the floor above the lobby and leads me to a smaller meeting room for our first post-lunch gathering.My sluggish mind recalls how full every afternoon docket is for the next two weeks.
I reach for my bags, but Mr.Diamond pushes them behind his hip, guides me into a chair by my shoulders, and places my tote and briefcase at the far end of the table.When he exits into the hallway, I stare at my bags but can’t muster the energy to retrieve them.
Time scratches and warbles like an old record player.Mr.Diamond returns with a lunch tray from the cafeteria.He sets the pile of food in front of me and juggles three drink bottles—water, orange, and apple juice—onto the table.
I blink.
“Eat before the meeting.”
His gruff voice still rumbles through me as he disappears into the hall.
The rawness in my soul infects my throat.I turn my attention to my plate and push the urge to sob down with food.
A young woman skips through the door, shuts it behind herself, and settles in the chair beside me.
“Hi!My name is Brittany, and I’ll be your private tutor for the next two months.”
I take a sip of apple juice and clear my throat before I respond.
“Private tutor?For what?How old are you, Brittany?”
“I just turned nineteen, and we’re studying for your GED.Don’t worry, I just graduated high school, so everything is still fresh in my mind, and Mr.Diamond hired me through a legit app, which is perfect timing because I donotwant to go back to working retail until my internship ends.”
“Where are you interning?”
When she names Brennan’s largest company, compassion floods my heart.
The blood drains from my face as I realize I won’t be able to lie to myself for much longer.
Brennan Diamond is slowly chipping away at my defenses.Soon he’ll reclaim all the parts of me I’ve locked away over the years.
He’s not the monster I’ve built up in my nightmares.
There’s still too much unspoken grief and pain between us, but I can’t deny the truth for much longer.
I want Brennan Diamond in my life.
I want to crawl into his lap, share my burdens with him, and taste the hot, all-consuming passion in his kisses.
