AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Henry had somehow persuaded Sarai to give him the contact details of one of Kit’s friends, although he wasn’t going to letme have them. And he had gotten a confirmation from them that they would encourage her as long as they also felt it was in her best interests and not some move by me to get into her underwear again.
All of them had made it very clear I wasn’t allowed to hurt her again and I’d nodded and pointed out that for now, my plan was just to make sure she didn’t lose her career advancement opportunities because of me.
Now I was alone in a hut, pacing a carpet and surrounded by a thousand reminders of her. I ached, but it was almost a pleasant ache at this point. After everything, I knew I deserved to be hurting. And only stopping her from hurting would do anything to ease the pain.
That seemed right after the idiot I had been.
Alone, I couldn’t help thinking of the pain I had caused and the trust I had breached as her dom. She had trusted me to take care of her at the same time as pushing her limits. I had asked her to do something she wasn’t comfortable with, and then I hadn’t been there for her when she needed comfort. It was a huge breach of trust.
Even if I somehow helped her career and persuaded her to go on another date with me again, I didn’t deserve to be her dom. Not if I couldn’t do it right.
I exhaled my frustration, my fingers curling into fists in anger at myself. I’d been so scared for myself I had forgotten what it was to be brave for another. To control another person in a way that benefitted them, a dom had to be in total control of themselves. To be self-aware. And to always be available and kind. My previous hurt had turned me into a monster.
Kit deserved far better than a monster.
Eventually Henry came back and a single raised eyebrow as he took in my state let me know I must look like shit. “You really do love this girl, don’t you?”
“I think I do. And I can’t let her continue to hurt if there’s anything I can do to stop it.”
“Well, I’ve done my part. She has my card and her friend promised to at least make her listen to the suggestion. Daniel is doing what he can and Sarai has promised to help. The rest is on you. Can you get the investors needed to make this happen?”
Henry sat down, calm enough that I felt I could join him and stop wearing a groove.
“It depends entirely on how well this project is received, but the general view seems to be good so far. We’re going to need to get contact details of more investors from here.” I considered the angle we needed. “But Kit still hasn’t promised.”
“No. She hasn’t, and you might not get that promise. And even if she does listen to the pitch, you might have a project you’re committed to that doesn’t have her involved in it. Or that you have to part-fund. Can you handle that?” Henry wasn’t cutting me any slack or pulling any punches but it was what I needed to hear.
“I can’t live with myself if I don’t try and put this right. If that means I end up making a project happen that reminds me every day of what I lost, at least it will also remind me I did everything I could to fix my mistakes.”
Henry seemed satisfied with this and pulled out a bunch of business cards, no doubt gathered today. “I’m going to remind you of saying this if you complain about the project once we are doing it.”
“Please do. It will help me focus.” I grinned, not sure how we were finding humor in the situation but grateful that we were.
We went over the possible list of investors to decide whom we could contact who might want to join Sarai in the business venture, and it was soon apparent we didn’t have enough of them. I needed to go and talk to more of them, if they hadn’t left yet.
I got to my feet again, intending to run out and go straight to the restaurant again. I wasn’t going to leave anything to chance that I could help. I didn’t get more than a few yards away when Daniel reappeared. He gave me the thumbs-up as he hurried toward me.
“You’ve definitely got your work cut out for you, but she agreed to hear a pitch in a week’s time as long as I’m the one to set it up for her.” Daniel looked more than a little smug and I knew I should thank him a lot for his help. He had saved my bacon yet again.
I pulled him into a massive hug, aware he could break me in two if he wanted to. Once more, I was grateful he’d decided to help me despite my mistakes. “I’m going to see who is left on site and talk to any potential investors while I can.”
“Oh, in that case, let me accompany you. I would love to see you having to network and make friends for once, instead of people coming to you with all the fun projects.” Daniel smiled again and I got the impression he was enjoying watching me squirm over this one.
Although I rolled my eyes, I was grateful he was coming with me nonetheless, and by the time we set off again, Henry was with us as well. With any luck Sarai would assist me some more as well, and by the time Kit came back to Chicago in a week’s time we would have a plan in place to get her on another project.
Despite knowing I could help her career, I still ached deep inside my chest, somewhere beyond soothing. This was only one part of fixing my mistakes. And it wouldn’t guarantee I would ever have her back in my life. If I was going to make everything up to her, I needed to go even further.
This would have to be a thought for another day, however. I could only make one thing happen at once.
CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
Kit
It felt good to get away with my friends for a few days and relax. We had visited places I’d always wanted to see, and I had been able to let go of the stress and difficulty of the last few weeks. It was everything I had needed it to be.
No one had mentioned Lukas, but I thought about him every day. Sarai had also messaged every day to keep me informed of how things were going. Almost all of it had been excitement at how well the project was now running and she said they were already getting booked up enough that the investors were happy.
After spending so long on one project, I was excited to see it being successful as well, but financially, I was no longer involved. I’d splurged a little with the money I’d been given, treating my friends to a few activities and some meals at more expensive places than we would have otherwise chosen, but they were good people and hadn’t let me pay for anything beyond that.
