“It’s Connor. He rented the house for December.”
CHAPTER TWO
CONNOR
Laney gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, her attention moving toward me. Her gorgeous eyes lacked their usual warmth or joy, and seeing her sad gutted me, leaving me without any rational thought except wanting to know how to fix it.
A flash of anger danced behind her eyes, and my chest ached. I loved feisty Laney. It wasn’t a side she showed often. I just wasn’t familiar with being on this end of it.
“What is it?”
“You rented the house next door?” She slammed the coffee down in front of me and spilled it on the table. “You can’t stay there.”
“Why?” I figured it was the perfect place to stay to win her back.
Her face reddened as she spat, “You just can’t.”
“Not sure that’s the rule, babe. I paid, and it’s happening.”
She gritted her teeth. “Are you hoping to torture me?”
“The opposite.” I smiled briefly. “I’m here to fight for you.”
“What about… your job? The cyber breach? You can’t take off work.”
“I’m the boss. Of course I can.” I shrugged. I needed her to truly understand that this wasn’t an off-the-cuff choice.
My dad hadn’t heard about the event yet, which would lead to me getting an earful, but this was my wife we were talking about. My other half. It still didn’t make sense that no one in my life thought that her leaving was a big deal.
Laney sniffed, and I knew I’d said the wrong thing. Her face crumpled, and her shoulders slumped. A gnawing ache formed in my gut, and I stood there, helpless, as she let out a humorless laugh.
“If you can take off work whenever, then how am I supposed to feel about when I asked you to come to a photography show? Or the weekend trip to see my college friends? Or the anniversary dinner you forgot about? Your words and actions don’t align, Connor, and it’s exhausting and devastating to think you’ll never change.”
Before I could respond, she pointed to the door. Her chin wobbled, and I hated more than anything that I put that tremble there. The way she swiped under her eye with her finger, not able to hide her tears… that was my fault.
She was right. I hadn’t prioritized those nights. One of our employees had been involved in a sexual assault case that involved another colleague, and then Petra—my executive assistant—learned her mom passed, and she’d needed help. Both reasons seemed solid at the time, but hearing them from Laney now…
What if I can’t save this?
“Please, leave. I can’t make you go back to our… your condo, but please, leave me be. I know you care for me and hate seeing me cry, but every time we talk, that’s all I want to do, okay?” She ran her hands over her face before opening the front door. “I don’t know why you’re making this so much harder on us.”
There was one thing I had learned from being the CEO of a multimillion-dollar business for the last decade: it was when to argue, when to be quiet, and when to be patient. Laney wasn’t in the place to talk this out and figure out solutions. Her pain was too loud and fresh. It’d just hurt us if I spoke up, so I sighed and stopped right in front of her.
“I’ll be next door. We’ll talk soon.”
Then, without kissing my wife, I walked out of her parents’ house with my heart beating in my throat. The brisk Illinois air hit my face, the sting welcome as it distracted me from the growing pressure in my chest. This was just unacceptable. Our marriage wasn’t ending.
I’d convince her. Hell, I’d won over executives ten times more terrifying than my wife. But was that even the same thing?
I entered the rental and slammed the door shut. That didn’t go as planned. I foolishly thought seeing me would help… When did things get so bad?
It was barely 10:00 in the morning, and I needed a damn drink. The house wasn’t stocked at all. In my rush to get here, I had shoved three outfits into a suitcase. I’d need more if I was going to stay here.
Like clockwork, my emails pinged with media requests.Where is the CEO during a breach? Is it worse than we think?
I dove in, welcoming the distraction while I figured out what to do about my marriage.
I knew peace wouldn’t last long. My dad would find out about me leaving, and sure enough, a few hours later, he called. I shoved the late lunch I had ordered to the side and answered the call, steeling myself for a berating.
