I stood so quickly that my chair toppled over behind me.
Caine sighed and leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose. Nina’s eyes widened and she put down the last water bottle, then dashed from the room with her head ducked low.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please accept my sincerest apologies, we will have to reschedule this meeting.” What was fucking wrong with me? Nothing got in the way of work, ever. Stunned gazes followed my exit, but I could only focus on the dark head of hair exiting the conference room.
“. . . Had a sudden family emergency . . .” Caine’s excuses faded. Luckily the hallway leading to the conference room remained empty. The soft rasp of her shoes brushed the carpet.
“Nina.” Her shoulders twitched, giving me the confirmation that she heard me, but she didn’t stop. “Ms. Cervantes,” I barked.
She stiffened, slowing to a stop. She whirled to look up at me as I strode up to her.
“Yes, sir? How may I help you?” The stilted words confused me.
“What is it, bunny?” I lowered my voice, reaching out to touch her, but she avoided me. A knife drove through my chest.
“Don’t call me that.” Her lower lip wobbled but she bit it to keep it still. Something had gone wrong. “It’s been, g-great, Mr. Astor, but please, let’s end this here.” The knife twisted in my chest.
The door I’d exited creaked, and I grabbed her arm, pulling her into the stair’s exit. I pulled her close, stiffening my hold on her forearm but not allowing it to tighten to the point that I’d hurt her. She jerked her arm around but stopped when she didn’t loosen my grip. She blinked up at me.
“I told you bunny; you have to be open with me—” Her scoff cut me off and her hands crumpled the edges of an envelope in her hands.
“You have to be kidding.” Her eyes flicked down, but not before sadness glazed over them.
“What do you mean?”
“You act so innocent,” she mumbled, shaking her head.
“Nina, I don’t know?—”
“You lied,” she cried, tears spilling down her cheek. “Again, you lied to me. About everything!” Such heartbreak filled her voice that I couldn’t breathe. I was hers and she was mine, there was no changing it, why was she saying this? “You said you were never involved with the woman I sent flowers to. You lied. Y-you even had this drawn up.” She threw the envelope at my chest, it slapped against me and dropped to the floor. She breathed in, hard and shaky. “You tell me to communicate but you never do the same for me.You met with her.” The last four words were infused with pain. Panic squeezed my chest. I would lose her and that would cripple me—I would no longer function. It seemed impossible to feel this intensely so quickly. Love had happened while I hadn’t paid attention, reveling in the pleasure of having her. I could have done nothing to stop it.
“There’s nothing between us. I met to?—”
“That is not the point!” Her fists balled and brought my attention to her shaking hand, then down to the blood trickling down her leg.
“You’re bleeding.” I crouched and peered at the dried injury. Scrapes marred the side of her calf. This had happened recently. She moved back before I could touch her, and I clenched my hand midair.
“You met with her without telling me.” She repeated more forcefully. Her head lowered to look at me, causing tears to trickle down her cheeks. I hadn’t thought of it as lying. From a business perspective, meeting Claire was a necessity, but I should have just sent Caine to close the account with her and to inform her that I would no longer do business with her after her stunt of showing up at my home. But I’d wanted to find out how she knew my address when she’d never been there. It was a short meeting meant to slice her existence from my life.
I wanted to avoid Nina’s pain in any way possible, but by keeping a meaningless event to myself, I only managed to hurt her. A thick barrier in my esophagus made it difficult for me to respond to Nina in the face of the agony splashed across her face. I slowly stood, placing my hand on the door behind her.
“I lied.” The words burned coming out. I wanted to protect her and had only ended up hurting her.
She nodded sagely, swiping the back of her hand across her cheek.
“Thank you for finally being honest,” she croaked. “I have to get back to work.”
“Nina,” I breathed. She only shook her head and shoved my arm off the door to go back into the hall, leaving me standing in the stairwell with my heart throbbing. The large envelope mocked me from the floor. I grabbed it and slid the documents out. My attorney’s office logo was the first thing I focused on. Everything I’d told him to include burst forward in my memory. Fuck.
I owned everything I could possibly want, but I’d never felt emptier. I couldn’t move, her words left me paralyzed. The gray slab of the door slamming shut mocked me.
Hollowness carved my chest where my heart belonged, it’d formed into the woman currently walking away from me.
Nothing and no one would come between us—even her.
I avoidedhis car by leaving through the back exit, then I’d come home via taxi, so he didn’t catch me at my usual bus stops. It cost me a pretty penny but avoiding him was worth the expense.
He knew where I lived, so I had no choice. Now, I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling with my stomach cramping from hunger, but I didn’t have the energy to eat.
