She’d made all the necessary phone calls to her clients telling them she’d be in touch in a few days. There was one person she should be talking to, and she’d been putting it off. After the way Ethan had manipulated her and Theo, she’d been avoiding his calls. She was too mad to speak to him. But Ethan had a right to know she was leaving the country. She dialed his number.
“Chloe, finally. I’ve been trying to call you,” he said.
“I know.” She didn’t bother with an excuse as to why she hadn’t answered them. “Ethan, have you got a minute to talk?”
“Sure, are you okay?” She could hear the concern in his voice.
“I’m calling to tell you I’m leaving New York.”
“Where are you going?”
“Home to Sydney.”
There was a long pause. “When will you be back?”
She scuffed her toe along the join of the floorboards. “I’m not. Well, only when I have to for work. I’m moving back to Australia to live.”
“But you just got there.”
“Yes, and it didn’t work out like I’d planned.”
“If this has to do with Theo, I’m sorry. I never expected my best friend would turn out to be such an arsehole. If I’d known, I would have never tried to push you two together.” There was another long pause, then he said. “I’m sorry he hurt you.”
Chloe dropped onto the sofa. “He didn’t mean to hurt me. He warned me he couldn’t give me more, but I fell in love with him anyway.” She brushed a tear from her cheek. She’d been crying a lot lately.
“Just because things haven’t worked out with Theo, doesn’t mean you need to leave. I’m done with the reshoots for that movie, I can be there in a couple of hours. Look, I’ll stay with you for a few weeks and we’ll play tourist. We’ll go to the Met, ride the roller coaster on Coney Island. It’ll be fun!”
She picked lint off her pants. “I want to go home. There’s nothing for me here.”
She heard him sigh. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” The sooner she got out of the city the better.
“When do you leave? The least I can do is come down and see you off.”
“Don’t bother. My flight from JFK leaves at six thirty-five, tonight. My taxi’s picking me up in an hour.”
“Okay, travel safe,” he said, giving up. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Ethan.” She hung up the phone, fell back onto the sofa, and stared at the ceiling. It was time to get her old life back. But she doubted it would ever be the same again.
Theo, Blake, and Andrew Vandersluis sat in a meeting in the boardroom of Andrew’s office. Discussions about purchasing Andrew’s building near the Javits were getting heated. Andrew was still convinced that the property was worth twice as much as what they were offering and had made one last appeal to increase their offer. While Theo and Blake had already agreed between them that even though they’d originally told Andrew that they would not offer more, they were willing to pay an extra two and a half percent.
Tired of listening to the negotiations, Theo unfolded from his chair. “We are withdrawing our offer.” He started to gather his papers.
“Wh…what?” Andrew spluttered.
Blake gave him a wide-eyed “what the fuck are you doing?” stare.
“You need to sell. We wanted to buy. You’re fucking us around with the price. I’m not in the mood to play games.” Theo plucked his jacket from the back of his chair and shrugged into it. “Good luck in selling it. You’re going to need it.”
With that, Theo left the office. Ignoring Andrew’s plea to stay and work things out—he needed their money to get himself out of shit, and both Campbell brothers knew it. He kept shouting progressively lower and lower offers, but Theo kept walking, knowing that Blake would follow his lead despite hating when Theo pulled this kind of thing. He didn’t need to look at Blake to know he’d be pissed. He didn’t have the energy for this bullshit anymore.
Once back in his penthouse, he poured bourbon in a glass and made his way onto the balcony. The last time he was out here, Chloe had stripped her coat off and blown his mind in a tiny yellow bikini. Everywhere he looked reminded him of her, and it tortured his heart.
Placing the glass on the ledge, he leaned his forearms on the balcony and stared at the city below. Where was Chloe? What was she doing? Was she feeling as shitty as him? He’d left work early. His mind hadn’t been able to concentrate since letting Chloe walk away. He’d only been able to remember her. The way she smiled. The way she made him laugh. The way he felt complete with her in his arms. Without her, the building he lived in could crumble with him in it, and he wouldn’t care.
Someone knocked on the front door, then let themselves in. He didn’t bother turning around. It would be Blake coming over to chew his ass off for losing the building they wanted.
