Elena winced at the bitter accuracy of his assessment. “It’s not like that?—”
“Then what is it like, Elena?” Reed moved to his desk, putting more distance between them. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re only here because you need something.”
“That’s not true,” Elena said desperately. “I’m here because you’re the only person I trust. You’re the only one who can help me stop this before more people die.”
“Trust?” Reed’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “That’s rich, coming from someone who faked her own death.”
Elena felt the familiar weight of guilt settle on her shoulders, heavier than ever in the face of his pain. “I know you hate me?—”
“Hate you?” Reed’s voice cracked slightly. “Elena, I don’t hate you. I wish I could. It would be so much easier than this.”
The raw honesty in his words made Elena’s breath catch. For just a moment, she could see past his anger to the hurt beneath—the same hurt she’d carried every day since she’d been forced to leave him behind.
“Then help me,” she said quietly. “Help me fix this, and then I’ll disappear again if that’s what you want. You’ll never have to see me again.”
Something flickered across Reed’s face—pain, maybe, or regret. But when he spoke, his voice was steady and professional. “Tell me about the threat.”
Elena blinked, surprised by the sudden shift to business. “What?”
“You said people are dying. You said the technology is being misused. Tell me about the threat.” Reed’s expression had shuttered, becoming unreadable. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To discuss business?”
Elena realized with a sinking heart that Reed was retreating behind the walls she’d once helped him tear down. His previous militant way about him, had clearly been refined into the businessman he now was. This veneer was taking over and he pushed aside the broken-hearted man who’d just confronted his dead girlfriend.
“Reed—”
“Dr. Martinez,” he responded pointedly, using her false name like a weapon. “I assume you have a presentation prepared? Evidence? Data?”
The formal tone was like a slap, but Elena forced herself to respond in kind. If this was the only way he would listen to her, then she would play by his rules. For now.
“Yes,” she said, opening her portfolio with hands that only trembled slightly. “I have everything you need to understand what we’re dealing with.”
But even as she began laying out documents on his conference table, Elena couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d already lost the most important battle.
She’d come here hoping for forgiveness, or at least understanding. Instead, she’d found a man who looked like Reed Star but spoke to her like a stranger.
And despite the professional mask he was wearing, she could see the truth in his eyes: the man she loved was still in there somewhere, still hurting, still angry.
Still alive, just like her.
Could they find their way back to each other before the people hunting her found them both?
Reed listened with patience as they went over everything, then he said, “I can’t help you.”
She was floored. “What?”
He stood and moved to the door. “Please go. I can’t help you.”
“But… did you not hear the presentation?”
He grimaced. “Go.”
Elena scrambled to get her things together, then rushed past him, hating the fact she had to hold back the tears that wanted to be released. Hating the fact she had thought he would understand. Hating the fact... that she still loved him.
CHAPTER 2
Reed stood frozen in his office doorway, watching Elena’s retreating figure disappear around the corner toward the elevators. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to call her back, to run after her, to tell her he was sorry. But he couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think past the roaring in his ears.
He’d done it. He’d actually sent her away.
