Pete bristled. “That’s not how our firm operates.”
“Maybe it should be,” I said coolly. “If she’s expected to stake her entire life on this deal, she deserves full authority over the work she’s already been doing for years.”
Courtney’s gaze flickered between us, discomfort flashing openly in her eyes.Good. Someone in this room should look uneasy because this is fucking insane.
Pete’s jaw tightened. “Kate is already positioned to inherit?—”
“I’m not talking about someday,” I cut in. “I’m talking aboutnow. She’s a person with feelings. Nothing happens without her complete agreement.” I glanced around at everyone again, eyes narrowed. “Why am I the only person in the room trying to protect Kate?”
“Because you’ll make a fine husband,” Pete said, nodding.
I growled in frustration. “Only if she wants me.”
My father leaned back in his chair, studying me like he was recalculating an equation that should’ve been familiar but had suddenly changed variables. Alex exhaled slowly through his nose.
When I started toward the door, he finally spoke. “We have a lot more to discuss.”
“I’m done discussing it for now. Not without Kate.” I was already turning away.
Alex’s chair scraped behind me as he stood. “Nate, you don’t get to walk out when this involves both companies and?—”
I paused at the door, glancing back at them all over my shoulder. “Either we do this the right way or we don’t do it at all.”
Before anyone could respond, I strode out without looking back again. When I reached the street, the wind had picked up, whipping between the skyscrapers cold enough to bite through my suit jacket, but it barely cooled the heat under my skin.
My head was buzzing too loudly, every thought crashing into the next. Kate’s face when I told her. The betrayal in her eyes when she’d realized her father had approved Hinds’ idea. The way she’d looked at me like I was the executioner instead of the guy chained to the same damn chopping block.
By the time I reached the St. Regis, my jaw ached from clenching it so hard. I rode the elevator up and slowed when I reached her door. The urge hit me to knock and make sure she wasn’t spiraling alone.
Surely, I could come up with something to say that might soften the blow I’d just delivered to both our lives. My hand twitched at my side to do just that, but instead, I just exhaled a harsh breath and went to my own door instead. I didn’t even know how to soften the fucking blow on myself, let alone a woman who didn’t even like me and had been told she’d be spending the rest of her life with me anyhow.
Once I was in my apartment, I tugged off my tie, letting it fall wherever it landed, and shed my jacket in its wake. After I’d opened at least half my buttons, I finally felt like I could breathe again, but I still braced both hands against the kitchen counter. My head dropped between my shoulders as everything I’d been holding back slammed into me at once.
They’re planning my wedding. A marriage. Our families are deciding our futures like it’s just another clause in just another contract.
And Kate, fierce, impossible Kate, was standing in the center of it all with me whether she wanted to or not. My chest felt like it was on the verge of collapse, guilt clawing deeper with every breath, yet one thought cut through the chaos in my mind.
Emma.
I pushed upright.
I have to talk to Emma.
I’d only heard her voice a handful of times over the years. Most of our relationship lived in emails—long, rambling messages sent at odd hours, stitched together with confessions and half-finished thoughts neither of us would have ever said out loud or to anyone else.
Texts were for quick check-ins, but phone calls were rare. She almost never answered and I’d never pushed it. Tonight, I didn’t have the luxury of patience, but I also didn’t want to risk her not picking up if she was at work, so I settled for middle ground, grabbing my phone and typing the most important text I would ever send.
Me: I know I’ve already asked but I need to see you. I’ll fly to NYC right now if you can meet with me. It’s important.
I hit send, my pulse drumming in my ears. The message felt reckless. Desperate. Completely unlike me and yet, right then, reckless and desperate sounded about right.
I’d barely set the phone on the counter before it buzzed.
Emma:I’m actually not there at the moment. I’m in Chicago.
I stared at the screen like the words might rearrange themselves into a phrase that was less shocking.She’s here?
Another message popped up before I could even begin to get my head wrapped around the fact that she was here, in my city. In all the time we’d been talking, she hadn’t been here once as far as I knew. On the other hand, I hadn’t known she was here now either.
