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He lifted his chin and looked at me, following my gaze to the picture beside him.
“You look so young.”
“That was over ten years ago. I graduated at twenty.”
“In two years?” I asked incredulously.
He shook his head. “I graduated high school early. Skipped a lot of grades.”
I nodded. “And then you went to Harvard?”
“Yes. They have a great engineering department.”
“What was your undergraduate degree in?”
“Mathematics and physics.”
Geez, he was the hottest nerd ever.
“Tabitha went to Georgetown, so we did long-distance, squeezing in time on long weekends and whatnot. When I graduated, I asked her to marry me…even though my dad said I was too young.” He shook his head as he chuckled. “That man is always right. And I should have listened.”
He’d never talked to me about Tabitha before, and I was surprised he’d mentioned it so casually now, especially when he had been so cruel and angry in the past. He was like a vault at the bank—impossible to break. “Why did you want to get married?”
“Other than being in love and all that bullshit?” He rubbed his palm across his coarse jawline, scraping over the shadow. “She was my high school sweetheart, and we’d been apart for so many years. I thought if we got married, we could go to graduate school together, live together, be together.” He returned his hand to his pocket. “But that didn’t work out, obviously.” He looked down the hallway, the pictures of his life a canvas behind him. “You know, I was really traumatized by what happened with her. I really loved her, and then she snuck around with Kevin and all that, and I was devastated. But now, I think about it differently, with a new perspective. Because if that had never happened or I never found out about it, I wouldn’t have met you.” He turned back and looked at me. “And even if we never find our way back to each other, you’re still the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn’t trade what we had for anything.” He stared at me, giving me that intense gaze that was innately possessive, innately loving. “I hope you feel the same way, despite what I did.”
Now whenever Derek wasn’t at work, I worried.
I worried about Cleo, if her treatments were going well, if Deacon was doing okay.
I wanted to text Derek and ask what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t my place to do that. I could be there for him, but I wasn’t part of his life anymore, and I shouldn’t cross that line…even if it was instinctual.
I was in the corporate office, the office I considered to be mine at this point, when I got a phone call. I answered it. “This is Emerson.”
“Hello, Emerson. This is Sandy, Mr. Daniels’s assistant. I wanted to let you know that we really enjoyed meeting you the other day and we’d like to offer you the position.”
My heart immediately pounded in my chest, and there was so much excitement, so much relief. “Oh my god, that’s such wonderful news.” I’d been busting my ass for a new job every day for months, and I’d finally found something with a comparable salary. It was less than what I made with Derek, but enough to keep our lifestyle.
“Can you start in two weeks?”
All I had to do was put in my notice to Derek and then leave.
But the idea of doing that suddenly made me sick to my stomach.
“Emerson?” Sandy’s voice dropped a few tones. “I think we got cut out for a second there.”
No. I just didn’t know what to say.
I’d declined job offers twice because of Derek, and I wasn’t going to do it a third time.
I refused.
But what would he do without me? How could I just leave when he was drowning right now? I couldn’t possibly hire someone and train them within two weeks. I probably couldn’t hire someone who would even get along with Derek, not that it was my problem. I needed to do the right thing for me, to walk away from Derek Hamilton forever, to get on with my life. I deserved to be free of this man.
“Sandy, I really appreciate the offer, but I just realized I can’t take it…”
21
Derek
I opened the door and came face-to-face with my brother. “Dex?”
“Is it cool if I crash here for a few days?” He had his bag over his shoulder.
“Always. I just don’t know why you’re here. It’s Wednesday.”
He shrugged then walked inside. “I took a leave of absence. I haven’t seen Mom, and I just need to see her, you know? She’s been getting these treatments for a while, and we still don’t have any news. I’d ask Dad because he’s the expert, but I don’t want to bring it up to him.”
“Don’t.” I shut the door behind him. “What about your rotations and surgeries?”
