"Henny." His voice shifted, losing the teasing edge. "Talk to me."
"There's nothing to talk about. The situation is handled. You're safe. That's all that matters." I rubbed my free hand over my face, feeling the exhaustion creeping in now that the adrenaline was fading.
"You should come to the casino when you're done."
"Okay." No questions or teasing. "It might be a while though. This is a whole production."
"That's fine. Just… when you're done."
Another pause. "You sure you're okay?"
"I will be when you get here."
I heard him exhale. "Alright. I'll make it as fast as I can."
"Pip."
"Yeah."
I almost didn't say it. There were a million things left to do. But I couldn’t hang up just yet. I didn’t want to lose the connection with him.
"I’m not happy about you disarming a bomb, but I’m happy everyone made it. You saved a lot of lives."
"Don't get sentimental on me, Henny. I'll get hard and then Rel will think I’m into him.”
A laugh burst free at his words. I couldn’t help it. He was being ridiculous.
“We’ll talk later.”
He hummed. “Yes, later.”
The call ended, and I sat in my office, staring at the wall, trying to get my breathing under control. Pip was safe. He was coming here. Everything was fine.
So why did my hands still shake?
I forcedmyself back to work. Reviewed security footage, checked in with department heads, made sure things were safe enough for guests to go back inside. On the surface, I was handling it. Professional, efficient, in control.
Inside, I was coming apart.
Every time my phone buzzed, I grabbed it hoping for an update from Pip. Every minute that passed felt like an hour.
Far later than I wanted, my phone rang. It was Pip.
“I’m on my way to you. Where do I need to go?”
“They’ve allowed us to go back in the building. Come to my old suite.” We hadn’t gotten rid of the place despite having our own house together. I was thankful in that moment since I couldn’t truly leave the grounds until Pharrell was back.
“Ok, I’ll come up as soon as I get there.”
I dropped everything I was doing to get upstairs. Pierre could navigate the rest of it. The big stuff was taken care of. The minute I reached my floor, I froze. I didn’t want to go inside without him. It didn’t feel right.
Leaning against the wall across from the elevator, I waited for Pip to show up. Within minutes, the elevator dinged.
It could have been anyone. But I knew it was him.
The doors opened, and sure enough, there stood the man I was undoubtedly in love with. One look at him and I could sense how tired he was. His clothes were rumpled, there was a smudgeof dirt on his jaw, and his hair was more chaotic than usual. But he was standing, breathing, solid and real.
"Hey," he said, stepping out. His eyes scanned my face. "Henny…"
