‘Imani, don’t you—’
I drop the call. The silence that follows is thick and almost suffocating. I stare down at my phone, still glowing in my hand, until the screen finally goes black. The waves crashlazily against the stilts below our deck, the world moving on as if my life hasn’t just fractured in real time.
My lungs feel tight. My heart’s still hammering from the adrenaline, from the echo of his voice in my head. The ocean’s too blue, the sun too bright, and I can’t tell if I want to scream or cry or both.
‘Imani?’
Asher’s voice is softer than I deserve right now. He’s been quiet this whole time, giving me space but not stepping away, and when I finally look up at him, I know he sees it. The exhaustion. The anger. The way my world has tilted on its axis, and I don’t know how to stand straight anymore.
He takes a tentative step towards me. ‘Are you okay?’
I inhale a shaky breath that doesn’t quite make it all the way out. ‘Honestly?’ My voice wavers. ‘No.’
Asher’s arms are around me before I can say anything else. I fold into him without hesitation. He holds me like he’s afraid I might come apart if he lets go.
I squeeze my eyes shut and whisper into his chest. ‘But I will be.’
CHAPTER THIRTYAsher
My father won’t stop pacing. He’s storming up and down the length of his office like a caged animal. I can practically see the vein in his neck pulsing under the collar of his shirt.
He’s been at it for at least ten minutes now, moving like a tornado back and forth behind his desk with a scowl so deep I’m half convinced it might actually be permanent. He’s yelling, of course. Words ricochet around the room, half in Greek, half in English, and all of it venom.
I keep my expression blank and wait for him to finish. If there’s one thing Georgios Vouvalis hates more than failure, it’s being interrupted while he’s in the middle of assigning blame for it.
‘Unbelievable,’ he mutters, still furiously pacing. ‘Completely unbelievable. A hundred different ways I was certainyou’dbe the one to ruin this, butDavies?’ He stopsshort, spinning towards me with a snarl I’m not sure I deserve. ‘I never imagined I’d have to worry abouthim.’
He’s talking, of course, about the fact that Peregrine Airways is broke and that Malcolm Davies has been stringing my father along, hoping for an injection of capital, for months now. The story has been dominating the financial broadsheetsand@TrustFundTea for the last week. I’m surprised it’s taken my father this long to bring me in. Not that I’m complaining; the more time I spend away from him, the better.
He finally stops in front of me, breath heaving, eyes wild and bloodshot like he hasn’t had a solid night’s sleep in days. ‘We’ll need to move quickly,’ he says.
I frown. ‘To do what?’
My father looks at me like he’d very much like to throw me out of the nearest window. ‘To do what?’ he parrots, scoffing with unrestrained distain. ‘Don’t play dumb with me. The entire deal has gone to hell. We’ll need to find another partner. Maybe the Cavendish Group? Or Farrow Capital? Do any of the CEOs there have daughters? I suppose there’s that Italian heiress – what’s her name? The one with the shipping dynasty. That could work. That might—’
I stare at him. For a second, I actually can’t process what he’s just said. I was braced for a lot of things walking into this room, but the idea that my father would pivot to shopping me around like a piece of luxury real estate before the ashes of the last plan had even gone cold? That’s impressive, even for him.
He rattles off another name, this time a socialite from Monaco, and then starts muttering about her family’s yacht business. I honestly can’t tell if he’s talking to me or just to himself at this point.
‘So that’s it?’ I hear myself say finally, voice flat even to my own ears. ‘We’re just pretending none of the last six months happened?’
He waves a dismissive hand in my direction. ‘That’s how it works, Asher. You cut your losses and move on. I’m not going to waste another second on people who can’t keep up.’
I couldn’t care less about Malcolm Davies and the fate of Peregrine Airways, but—‘What about Imani?’
Georgios blinks at me. ‘What about her?’
The surge of irritation shooting through me is instant. ‘What about her?’ I repeat. ‘Because of your stupid plan with Davies, her name has been dragged through the mud for months.’
He shrugs. ‘That was your fault, not mine.’
‘We wouldn’t have had to go to those lengths if it wasn’t for—’
‘Why do you even care?’ he asks, sounding bored. ‘I thought you’d be happy you no longer have to be tied to her. You barely even know the girl, your—’ He cuts himself off and smirks at me. Your littleeveningtogether notwithstanding. I’m sure you’ll get over her quickly enough.’
I open my mouth to argue. To tell him he’s wrong and that I know Imani better than I’ve ever known anyone. I know the rhythm of her laugh, the way her eyes soften rightbefore she smiles, the quiet strength in her silences. I know her the way I know my own heartbeat: steady, constant, and impossible to live without.
I love her.
