"No."
"Are you planning to?"
"She made it clear she doesn't want to talk to me."
"So you'rejust giving up?"
"I'm giving her what she asked for. Space. Distance. The absence of me complicating her life." I lean back in my chair. "It's what she wants, Logan."
"Is it? Or is it what you want to believe because it's easier than fighting?"
I don't answer. Logan's quiet for a moment, studying me with those sharp green eyes that miss nothing.
"This is classic you," he says finally. "Someone gets too close, things get messy, and you retreat. Convince yourself it's noble. That you're doing them a favor by disappearing."
"She said she regrets telling me about the baby."
“I’m sure she said that because she's hurt and scared. Not because she means it."
"You don't know that."
"Neither do you. But instead of finding out, you're sitting here martyring yourself." Logan stands. "Look, I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I've known you twenty years. And this? Hiding in your office,convincing yourself you're respecting her wishes? This is just you running away with better branding."
"I'm not running away. I'm giving her space."
"Keep telling yourself that."
After Logan leaves, I sit in my office for a long time, staring at the city skyline as it darkens.
Maybe he's right. Maybe I am running away.
But what's the alternative? Chase after Emma when she's made it clear she doesn't want me? Force my presence on her?
No.
The kindest thing I can do is respect her boundaries. Give her the distance she's asking for.
Even if it's killing me.
My phone buzzes. Margaret.
MARGARET: Your 5 PM is here. The lawyers.
Right. The lawyers.
Ischeduled this meeting yesterday, in the cold aftermath of Emma's words. Because if she's going to leave Titan, if she's going to pretend I don't exist, the least I can do is make sure she and the baby are taken care of.
Financially, anyway.
Since I've apparently proven incapable of taking care of them any other way.
David Walsh—Titan's general counsel—and his associate arrive with briefcases and professionally sympathetic expressions.
"Donovan," David says, shaking my hand. "Margaret mentioned you needed to discuss some personal legal matters?"
"Yes. Sit."
They sit. I remain standing, too restless to stay still.
