He had already talked to her. I wondered if he had come here right after.
“Y-you talked to her?” I asked, hating how my voice betrayed me with its stammer.
“Of course, I did. She’s mydaughter, and she’s made a damn mess of her life.” He sighed before looking back to me. “I want you off the property within the hour.”
“Mr. Harold, please—” I said.
“I never want to see your face again, do you understand?”
“Please, let me just…”
I wanted to fix this. Not only this, but tell him about the missing money. It was the least I could do to try and remedy at least one thing. But Mr. Harold wasn’t about to listen to another word. That much was apparent by the furrow of his graying brows and the redness in his neck that crept up to his cheeks.
“You’ve done enough.”
He was too angry to be reasoned with. My heart lurched slightly about how this same conversation must have gone with Gabriella. It must have taken her by surprise like it had me. It must have jolted her entire world. I could only imagine what he said to her in his anger, and how much that had seeped into her, his only daughter, who had spent her life seeking his approval. I felt awful.
I suddenly had the urge to call her. Hell, I wanted to put the mess between us aside, and to go to her just to hold her and listen. I didn’t care about myself in that moment. I only cared about her, and that was when I realized that we were more than I had beenwilling to admit. I think I had known it for a while, ever since our late night here in this very office.
It hadn’tjustbeen sex. It went deeper than that. My keeping my distance from her wasn’t just to keep things easy, it was because I was trying to protect her. These feelings were foreign to me. I didn’t know what to do with them. Because of that, I would probably only ruin things between us. It was my same reasoning when it came to the baby. I didn’t know the first thing about what a good father was, so how was I supposed to be one? I figured everyone would be better off without me in their lives.
Now, I wasn’t sure how to stay away, even with the threat of her father right here in front of me.
“I’ll go,” I said with a firm nod. “Without a fight.”
I turned and strode for the door, eager to get the hell out of there.
“Your things…” he said.
“I’ll have movers here within the hour to collect my belongings.”
“Good. I want every trace of you gone from this building. I want it to be as if you never existed.”
I swallowed hard at the venom in his voice, but I understood. He was a father protecting his daughter. I would do the same ifever caught in that position. Hell, I wanted to protect her too. Desperately.
I walked out the door, leaving everything behind with Mr. Harold who had resumed his pacing in the office I once called mine. It felt like everything had just been ripped away from me, as I walked numbly through the office. I wondered if anyone here knew what had just happened. I wondered how long it would be until the scandal got out. I knew this would ruin me. Ruin Gabriella.
I pressed the button for the elevator and stepped through the slow opening doors, turning to get one good look at the office that was mine for only a short while before it all came crashing down. I wondered if everything I had worked for in life had led to this moment where I fucked it all up. It was a depressing feeling that I couldn’t quite grapple with.
As I stepped out the large glass doors of the lobby, I kept my back toward the building, not able to stomach looking at it. I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket and immediately scrolled to Gabriella’s name. I was about to hit the call button, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was probably the last person she wanted to hear from right now. Instead, I called Wyatt and asked him to meet up. I needed to talk to someone through my state of shock.
Chapter 33
Gabriella
The sun was beginning to set, casting orange, pink, and violet hues over the dark hardwood floors of my apartment. The same floors my father had stepped on and off of hours earlier, and I still remained on the floor in a blubbering heap. It felt like my entire world had collapsed around me, and I didn’t have the one person I went to for advice because he had left me here remembering the look of disappointment on his aging face.
There was a knock at my door and I perked up slightly, hoping it was my father returning to talk this out some more. Maybe he had just needed some time to cool off. I gripped the couch behind me and pulled myself from the floor that had been my home for several hours, my legs giving out on me because they were still asleep. I shook them out slightly and wobbly walked for the door.
I opened it to find Juliet standing there, her eyes immediately filled with worry at the sight of me. I could only imagine what I looked like in my wrinkly, pink pajamas, messy hair, and damp face. I looked at her through bleary tears.
“Hi,” I said softly, pushing the door open.
She rushed to give me a hug and led me inside.
“What happened?” she asked worriedly.
I couldn’t even get the words out, and just began to sob. She led me to the couch and sat me down, pulling me in for a long hug.
