For me.
She was going to quit.
For us.
I can’t allow that to happen. More importantly, I can’t let her go on not knowing how I feel.
I jog back to my office, grab my phone off the desk, and tap on the text thread between my second-in-command, my assistant, and me.
Alaric
Quinn- schedule a director’s meeting for tomorrow morning
Leslie
Alaric. No.
Quinn
Any time, or first available?
Alaric
10 a.m. local time. I’ll need time to talk to Mitchum and the board beforehand.
Leslie
Ric, think about this…
Quinn
You got it, boss.
I turn off my phone, uninterested in anything Leslie has to say. I’ve made my choice, and now I have somewhere to be.
CHAPTER 58
EVANGELINE
I’m past the point of crying. My tears and sadness will keep. Right now, I just need a distraction. I texted Mia as I left the paddock, and she convinced me to come to Shelby’s room for Sweatpants and Chill.
Every time I think Luca’s past indiscretions can’t get any worse, I’m hit with a new layer of betrayal. He got another woman pregnant. While we were dating. While I was bankrolling his lifestyle and rescheduling lives when he insisted we go out to a club. While I was doing everything I could to make myself palatable for him.
I used to hope I was good enough for him. I always worried I was too loud, too needy, too high-maintenance, or too much.
It pains me now to think about how willing I was to mold myself into someone entirely new with the hope of pleasing him. The worst part about it all is that it still wasn’t enough.
I knock softly on Shelby’s door, thankful Pavo put her up in the same hotel Granata booked.
The moment Mia greets me at the door, a sob lodges itself into my chest. When she outstretches her arms, I practically collapse into her embrace.
My chest heaves as she holds me, but thankfully, I’m too dazed to actually cry.
When we finally break apart, there’s fury dancing behind her eyes. “Luca?”
Luca, yes. Luca always, unfortunately.
But he’s not the Steele man at the center of my heartbreak. Despite learning that my ex cheated on me for even longer than I realized,creating a child in the process, the real strain on my emotions is rooted in my failed attempt to make amends with Alaric.
