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Victor walks over and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me in for a tight hug. My arms circle his shoulders and grip the back of his shirt. Closing my eyes and allowing my senses to overwhelm me with his cologne. Smell, a sense you don’t think twice about until that scent is gone, a scent that floods your memory of all that is bad and even more, all that is good and right in the world.
His scent makes me feel alive again.
“I was afraid I would never see you again,” he whispers against the top of my head.
I hold on to him a little tighter, pressing my cheek against his chest. My body flush with his. I can hear his heart beating so clearly. “So, you got a permanent place here, close to me?”
“Taylor said something that stuck with me, so I took it and ran with it. He told Leland that he was going to stay and make him fall back in love with him. So, I figured I could do the same.”
“Taylor is a good person.”
“I guess. I don’t know him well. Our first meeting was with me hitting Leland in the face. I’m lucky Leland didn’t come at me,” Victor chuckles.
“If that happened, you would be dead.”
“Would you have come to the funeral?”
“Yeah,” I admit.
“So, either way, you would’ve come back to me?” Victor’s heart beats wildly in his chest.
“For you, yeah. I would’ve come sooner, but I thought you left for good.” I squeeze my eyes closed to immerse myself to his presence.
“There was a meeting with the board I needed to attend. While I was there, I took advantage and tied up some loose ends so I could start my life here… with you,” he quickly responds.
Suddenly, the words he spoke earlier come crashing in. What loose ends was he tying up in New York?
“What did you mean back at the town hall meeting that they weren’t your problem anymore?”
He leans away and nudges me toward the couch. I follow him, and before I can completely sit down, he pulls me down onto his lap. A sigh from both of us has me feeling comfortable and safe. He gives me this boyish grin that seems so relieved and happy. It’s that light, playfulness that made the world feel a little less heavy.
“You’ve been too far away for too long,” he says, softly.
“Okay,” I mummer.
“I went back to take a closer look at the documents. It turns out my dad switched the paperwork under the shared drive. He’s an original managing partner and has access to all servers at each location. He’s been keeping tabs on me and felt that I wasn’t doing my job that would benefit the stockholders. I mean, that’s partly true. I had drawn up the motion to deny everything. My dad spoke to my assistant here and she let him know what I’ve been up to. And well, he didn’t like that…”
His voice trails off, but the implication is there. “Hanging out with a specific local.”
He nods and I can feel the inside of my chest pinch.
“Leland has been helping me find different locations on the island. But my dad just had to interfere. He was pissed when he found out I was trying to change the terms of the deal and have them look in a different area. It would’ve ended up costing more money and my dad was not okay with that.”
“Leland was helping you?” I ask, stunned.
“He said he might have an ‘in’ where the new development would go better. We went and looked at it and I agreed. I wrote up the motions to release the current properties in the documents, and petition a less congested area around here. My dad didn’t like that his plans changed, so he did what he was good at. Being a shark,” Victor says. “I’ve looped in Massey’s dad to work on something for me. I can’t talk about it yet, but I’m hoping this town hall blew the confidence of the county and the development chains from coming in. They will go back to my dad and express their concerns by not having the community backing.”
“So, that’s the reason they held it?”
“It should’ve been so much sooner, but corporate only cares what happens to shareholders.”
“What’s our next move?”
“I quit!” he proudly states. His smile stretches across his face. His perfect hazel eyes have a light and warm gaze.
I’m taken aback. My mind stumbles over the two words he spoke so effortlessly. Like it was no big deal. And we are sitting in this massive home. Again, by my standards, this home is huge.
“I’m sorry. Did you say you quit?” I retract my hands from his body, feeling guilt that he altered his whole life for me. Me?
