Page 80 of Wild Promise

And if he did, he sure as hell hadn’t shared them with me.

“That’s not?—”

“Melina.” He pulled out the chair beside him. “Sit down.”

I didn’t want to sit down. I wanted to scream, or run, or rewind the last few days and do everything differently. But my entire body was shaking. So I sat.

He turned his chair to face me, elbows on his knees, and leveled me with a look that was equal parts sympathy and steel. “What did Wyatt say to you that day? Something about Zane, right?”

“He said Zane came to see him about my promotion. And now Wyatt’s reconsidering the whole thing.”

“And you assumed Zane asked him to push it through.”

“Of course. What else was I supposed to think?”

“That your boyfriend is a protective idiot who can’t keep his mouth shut.” Nate’s expression softened. “He didn’t ask Wyatt to give you the promotion, Melina. He told Wyatt he thought the situation was unfair and asked what the holdup was. That’s it.”

The words settled over me, rearranging everything I’d believed for the last few days. Every conclusion I’d drawn. Every accusation I’d hurled. All of it built on a version of events that wasn’t even true.

“Wyatt’s the one who made it into a bigger deal than it was,” Nate continued. “An Alexander asks one question and suddenly it’s a conflict of interest. That’s not Zane’s fault. It’s just the reality of his name.”

“But he went behind my back.”

“He went to bat for you the same way he would if it were me or anyone else. No, it wasn’t the best decision he’s ever made. But his intentions were good.” He paused. “He didn’t try to hand you anything. He believed you’d already earned it. He just doesn’t know how not to step in when something needs fixing. It’s how he operates.”

My throat was so tight I could barely breathe. “Then why did he quit?”

Nate sat back, but his body was rigid. “Because he thinks as long as he’s an Alexander at this resort, anything you achieve will have his name attached to it. He thinks he’s standing in your way. So he removed himself.”

“That’s insane.”

“That’s Zane.” He shrugged. “He called his father. Accepted the offer to go work for him in New York. The one thing he swore he’d never do.”

The room went still.

Zane had called Bowen. The man he’d spent his entire life avoiding. The corrupt, manipulative, absent father who’d never been more than a voice on the phone and a signature on a check. Zane had called that man and said yes.

Because he thought he was in my way.

“When?” My voice cracked.

“Same day you walked out on him. He flew out the next day.”

“He’s in New York right now?”

“As far as I know.” Nate nodded.

The tears were sudden, ugly, and had me gasping for breath. I pressed my hands over my face and bent forward in the chair, letting it take over.

Nate didn’t say a word. Something bumped my knee, and when I dropped my hands, he was holding out a tissue box. I took it, grabbed a fistful, and let myself fall apart.

When I finally surfaced, my face was a mess and my chest ached. “I need to fix this,” I said, pulling another tissue from the box.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

“He can’t work for his father, Nate. It would destroy him.”

“I know.”