Page 59 of Pretend it’s Forever

So walking away when I had was smart.

Only she had done the walking, hadn’t she? I may have been the one pushing, but she had held her chin high, like the damn goddess she was, and left. And I hadn’t even driven her home. Not because I was an asshole, far from it. But because if I had gotten in the same car with her, I never would’ve let her go.

And that scared me like no other.

I was not the man who wanted forever. I was not the man who needed it. I walked away and didn’t look back. Because that was what me or my partners wanted. There had never been a time where somebody came back to me, wondering what the hell I had been thinking because they had thought our relationship was something far different. There had never been any confusion until now. The confusion was on my part. Not hers.

Because Sophia had walked away. Maybe to protect herself, maybe because she was done with me. Either way, I had hurt her, and there was no coming back from that.

And yet I hadn’t been able to sleep. Hadn’t been able to think without her coming to mind.

And it was going to break me.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?

“Sir?”

I turned towards Rose, trying to pull myself out of whatever thoughts I had been spiraling down, and shook off the concept of thinking about Sophia more than I should.

“What is it, Rose?”

“I was just making sure you were okay. You were staring off into the distance for longer than usual.”

Rose had been with my company since the start of it. Much like Andy, my driver, they had wanted to work for someone who would treat them with respect.

Rose had also worked with me long enough to be given grace for any snark or worry.

Because I wasn’t the monster that I pretended to be. Not always.

“How long have I been staring?” I asked, honestly curious.

She raised a brow. “Long enough I was getting worried. Are you coming down with something?”

That would’ve been an easier answer than what I was truly feeling, but Rose didn’t need to know that.

“I’m fine. Are we set for the next meeting?”

I hadn’t lied to Sophia completely. We had flown out to Seattle the day I had forced her out of my home, and part of me knew there would be no coming back from that. I might have ruined everything because I couldn’t stay away from a woman who shouldn’t be mine.

I was now dealing with another merger, an acquisition, and a company I wasn’t fond of. I preferred working with the Cages, and even the Montgomery family in Colorado, but there were other families in other states that required help, and who I knew we could be profitable with.

I knew my head wasn’t in the game, and that’s when mistakes happened.

“We have everything all set, and the rest could be done remotely. I can have the plane ready soon.”

I didn’t always travel private. In fact, I hated it. It wasn’t good for the environment, and it was all pretentious. But because I needed to get more than a few people in different places in a hurry, and we did our best to offset any issues, it usually made sense financially, economically, and environmentally. It just wasn’t my favorite thing to do.

“Give me a few hours. I want to make sure it settles with them, and being in person will help.”

“Will do. I’ll give you an update when I have it. Oh, and sir?”

There was a hesitancy in her tone that worried me, so I finally turned to look at her and frowned. “What is it, Rose?”

“You have two Cage brothers here. I wasn’t sure whether to tell you or not since they aren’t on the agenda, and frankly, I don’t know why they’re here. But they don’t look happy. I can do more reconnaissance to see if the next phase of the business deal we have with them is in jeopardy.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering why it had taken this long for them to show up. I was surprised it was only two Cages and not all fifty of them. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been all of them. After all, I had hurt their sister, her pride, and her feelings. I hadn’t hurt her heart. Because there was no way that she had fallen for me. She was smarter than that.

Then of course, I was reminded exactly why she had protected herself. “Send them in,” I said, the sudden urgency in my tone surprising her.