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“Stella, let’s sit down and talk. Surely we can work this out.”
“I’m done,” I said.
“What?”
“Greyson, I’ve defended you for years. Every single person in my life, including the man I just buried, can’t stand you. They think you’re elitist and an idiot. Pompous and aristocratic. They say you live with your head in the clouds, and I defended you. For two solid years, I defended why I wanted you by my side. And this is how you repay me?”
“Well, it’s not my fault they can’t see the value in me,” he said.
“Are you fucking serious?” I asked, my fingernails digging into the skin of my balled-up fists.
“People are always intimidated by those they can’t surpass. It’s really a compliment,” he said.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked.
“Stella, can we please just sit and talk? I’ll tell Brianna to go home, and we can have a discussion.”
I stared at him like he had a tarantula on his face. This man was in bed with a fucking naked woman, and he wanted to send her home so we could talk. This man that I’d given two years of my life to was fucking another woman, and somehow, he was making me feel like the unreasonable one!
“I’m done, Greyson. Enjoy your slice of regret over there,” I said.
“Stella. Wait. Come on, Stella! Don’t be an idiot!”
“Lose my number, you asshole!”
I slammed out of his home and peeled from his driveway. If I didn’t get out of here now, I’d do something I was going to wholly regret. Tears flooded my face as I raced to the office, my appetite no longer anxious for the cheese danish I always got from the bakery down the street.
I needed to get to my office and sink myself into work before Christian got in.
I threw the doors of the building open and started for my office. My heart was pulsing in my ears, and I couldn’t see straight. I knew my face was flushed, and I could feel my hands shaking. I wiped the tears from my eyes as I approached the door of my office, but the moment I reached for my keys I felt a hand descend onto my shoulder.
“Stella,” Christian said. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, you startled me; not sleeping well is all,” I said.
“Don’t lie to me,” he said. “Don’t back away from me.”
“I need to go prep for this meeting, Christian. It’s in an hour,” I said.
“Then I’ll prep with you.”
“No, let me get myself together, and I’ll be fine,” I said.
“Did Greyson do something?” he asked.
The question stopped me in my tracks, and tears hopped back into my eyes. I unlocked my office door and walked in, feeling Christian hot on my heels. I didn’t want to talk about this, especially with him. But, when I turned around and saw him in his beautifully tailored suit, something inside me felt safe.
And what had happened fell from my lips without me having to think about it.
“The butt-dial that happened a couple of days ago was Greyson with another woman. I found him with her this morning,” I said.
Christian’s eyes turned from confusion to sympathy, and he drew me into his body in a bear hug. I wr
apped my arms around his thin frame, pressing my cheek into his surprisingly strong chest, and all I wanted to do was sob. Everyone had been right about him, but I had been desperate to prove them wrong. I wanted them to see the man I saw when it was the two of us alone — the caring, devoted, passionate man who was driven to excel in absolutely everything he did.
But they were right. They were all right, and I was all wrong.
“I’m so sorry, Stella,” he said.
