But tonight, the view is all velvet darkness, the city lights glittering like possibility. The Heights buzzes below. Nobody here cares that I’m the unwanted daughter, the whistleblower who lost everything. They only see where I’m headed.
Blackwell joins me, his silhouette cutting into the city’s lights. He lifts his glass.
“To new beginnings.”
We clink glasses. I take a sip. Wow. The bubbles dance across my tongue, tasting of the forbidden and stolen luxury. “Really, you did far too much.
“Mmm.” He looks over at me. “I’m waiting.”
“Waiting?” I frown, wondering what he’s talking about. “For what.”
“For you to thank me.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Ulterior motives, Mr. Blackwell?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. None of this was for you to owe me anything.” He shakes his head. “I did it because I wanted to.”
Out of the goodness of his heart? Until recently, I didn’t think he had one.
“You deserve all this.” He sweeps his hand wide, taking in the windows, the skyline, the furnishings. “And more.”
Warmth flares deep inside me, right where his words land. Right where I’m sure he wants them. Xavier Blackwell does everything with great purpose. And yet, I am grateful. Lila and I might still be hauling boxes in if it wasn’t for him. We wouldn’t have had kolaches or a feast waiting for us. And I would have had to settle for weak, barely warm coffee.
Relenting, I meet his dark, jade-colored eyes. “Sincerely. I mean this…thank you.”
He smiles, slow, devastating, like he knows exactly what strings he’s pulling inside me. “Was that so difficult?”
But it was. Excruciating. Because when it comes to him, everything is difficult. My emotions, my mind, my traitorous body… They’ve been wrapped around him for years, long after he broke me open and scattered me like ash.
And now he’s turned me into Cinderella.
But if he hadn’t shattered me in the first place, what would I have been able to accomplish on my own? With that successful internship shining on my résumé, I could’ve written my own ticket. Houston, New York, anywhere. The what-ifs slip through my mind like ribbons in the wind.
I stare out the window, my reflection fractured against the city’s glittering lights.
“You look as if you’re a million miles away, Ms. Hollis.”
I sigh. It’s not like me to be this melancholy. I force a smile that feels like paper. “Sorry.”
“You were having a thought.”
Of course he notices. He notices everything.
“And you scowled.”
His voice is soft, but there’s steel beneath it. He’ll stand there forever if he has to, patient and relentless, until he has every piece of me laid bare.
And what’s the point in hiding it? He knows my financial situation, stood on the cracked floor of my old apartment, saw me in a maid’s uniform. Lord. He even spanked me for God’s sake. Then witnessed the horror of my humiliation when he felt my damp panties. There’s not much left to hide. “Replaying the last three years.”
“There’s a lot of regret from me.”
Is that really true? A younger version of me would have sold her soul to hear those words.
“I owe you an apology.” He leans closer, and for a heartbeat, I think he’s going to brush his knuckles over my cheek, tuck that errant strand behind my ear.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Hollis. You didn’t deserve what happened to you.”
His words hit a discordant note, and I bring up my head. “What happened to me?”
