“You don’t have to be sorry.”
Tears burned in my eyes. I pulled my legs into my chest and buried my face in my knees.
I was, though.
I was sorry for walking away like that. I didn’t even know how to explain it to him…how did I tell him how good his family was? How goodhewas?
“I’m going to be leaving soon,” I said dully, squashing down all the emotions drowning me.
“I know,” he answered, with almost the same lack of emotion.
“It’s what’s best. I—I don’t have a purpose here anymore.”
His hand tightened over mine. Tension radiated from his body. I didn’t look at him, though. I kept my face buried, pressed against my kneecaps.
“I don’t know if that’s true,” he whispered.
“Why not?”
There was a long pause.
“You would do amazing things no matter where you were. No matter what case you were working on…or who you were working for.”
A weight pressed down on me until it felt like my bones might crumble under the pressure.
“I’ve been working toward partner at my firm for—for years, Graham.” I bit my lip. “I really don’t even know if Preston can just fire me like that. I have to have options…maybe legal ones.”
He shifted beside me, leaning closer until his arm pressed against mine. “I’m sure you’d succeed no matter what you decide to do.”
I wasn’t sure why it made my heart fall.
Something unsettled lingered in the silence that followed, like he was going to continue speaking.
“What?” I snapped, when he didn’t continue. “You don’t think I should work so hard? That I shouldn’t fight for everything I’ve worked toward?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
He was holding something back. I could sense it.
He let out a soft breath. “Is that what will make you happy, Quinn? Making partner?”
I lifted my head, twisting to look at him. He stared at me, his eyes steady and blue like the water of the river on a calm, still morning.
“Make me happy?” I repeated, like the thought had never occurred to me.
Graham’s mouth pulled down at the corners, but he nodded. “Yes.”
Then he took the hand that had been covering mine and touched it to my cheek. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve tobe fulfilled and love the life you have built for yourself. The life you have worked so hard on. You deserve the whole damn world, Quinn.”
I blinked at him, my eyes stinging. But it was the emotion in his face—the utter sincerity—that choked me. He meant every word.
I tried to swallow, but a lump was stuck in my throat. I stared at Graham, my stomach stirring like there were a billion fluttering wings inside it. “I—I’ve never really thought about it.”
His brows pinched. “What do you mean?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Happiness has never been a priority for me. I’ve always had goals. Motivations. Places where I wanted to go and things I wanted to achieve. Happiness had little to do with it.”
