Page 43 of Billionaire Retreat

I shrugged. “Not yet. Maybe one day I will,” I replied softly. I yawned and looked at the time. It was growing late and I suggested we head back.

“Already tired of me?”

I smiled at him. “I had a great evening… it’s just late.”

“Maybe we can do this again some time?” he asked hopefully. When I hesitated, he jumped in, saying, “Just think about it. No pressure. Maybe we can start again? Make up for lost time and pick up where we left off.”

“I… well... a lot has happened since we met. I’ve changed. My priorities have changed. Plus, I’m not going to be here for long.”

He shrugged. “I can tell Richard to pull a few strings… maybe he can get you another gig.”

“I have a life back in Georgia.”

“Let’s talk about something else.” He leaned forward and reached for my hands, taking them in his. His touch sent a chill up my arms and I couldn’t think or breathe for a moment.

“Everything you think you know about me is wrong. I don’t blame you for jumping to conclusions and thinking I led you on. That’s not what happened. I just reacted badly and could only think about my sister and my niece when I heard the news. I asked Jack not to tell you the whole story, just that I had a family emergency.”

“He tried—but I didn’t believe him,” I said, remembering how badly I had reacted. “I thought it was a one night-stand to you.”

He squeezed my hands. “It was never meant to be that. That’s why when I came to my senses I told him to give you my contact information.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I ripped it up to shreds and then tossed his phone.”

“Yeah, he made me pay for that. Literally. He made me buy him a new cellphone.”

“Is it too late to tell him I’m sorry about that?”

He laughed. “I don’t know, I don’t think it’s ever too late to tell someone you’re sorry.”

I knew he was talking about himself.

“I messed up, Nina. But I never stopped thinking about you. When you came to the office, I was speaking with a family lawyer trying to arrange custody of Rory. We were trying to track down my niece’s father. It turns out that he didn’t even know he had a daughter.”

My heart dropped. “Oh really?”

“Yeah. Just further evidence of how selfish my sister is. The guy is actually a really decent person. He’s from a nice hard-working family in Bakersfield. Good people. I met them, his parents and his brothers and sisters. They were so excited to meet Rory. They treat her like she’s gold.”

“So that’s where your niece is now?”

“Yeah. She’s with her dad. He has full custody. I see her on the weekends occasionally. She’s having the time of her life. She has cousins and more grandparents now. She’s so happy.”

The very thing I was denying Sadie. The guilt I felt made me sick.

“Maybe your sister wasn’t selfish. Maybe she had a reason for keeping her daughter a secret.”

“I know my sister,” he said letting go of my hand. “She probably did it out of spite.”

“I think you’re making light of the subject. Most women don’t want to be a single mom…”

“I’m sure my sister didn’t give it much thought, at all.”

I found myself getting upset with him. “Cut her some slack, Griffin. And stop being so judgmental.... being a single mom is hard.”

“Hey,” he said. “I’m not arguing with you about that. But being a single mom was her choice. She could have told Vic, my niece’s father.”

“Maybe... maybe she was scared.”

“Maybe, but I know my sister better than you do and don’t forget she abandoned my niece to get high, so she’s not exactly mother of the year.”