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“I’ve got a company to run.”
“And you’ve got a board of directors to help and managers that run the day-to-day operations,” Serena pointed out, with a quick smile in my direction. “You know that we pretty much take care of business, and you’re the CEO.”
I pressed my lips into a thin, white line and didn’t say anything.
Serena leaned forward, and her expression turned animated. “It makes sense. The board is not going to think it’s weird that you want to keep an eye on the new project. It actually makes sense, and you know that I’ll keep an eye on things here.”
“What about Meghan? I’m not going to be able to protect her from the rumors.”
“You can keep it quiet until the baby is born,” Serena suggested, her eyes never leaving my face. “And once the baby is here, you can talk about what you want to do while she takes a leave of absence. The important thing is that the two of you make each other happy. Nothing else matters, Killian.”
“You wanted less responsibilities at work.”
Serena gave me a pointed look. “I’m offering, Kill. I want to do this for you and for Meghan.”
I searched her face. “Are you sure?”
Serena nodded. “Positive. Go, be with Meghan. You deserve to be happy.”
I stepped out from behind the desk and pulled Serena in for a hug. When she stepped out of the office, laughter and chatter from the office trailing behind her, I closed the door and went back to my desk. While I organized the papers and answered emails, I turned Serena’s words over and over in my head.
By the time I was done organizing my desk, I had already booked a one-way ticket to Miami, and it felt right. Filled with a strange sense of excitement, I emptied my inbox and was out of the office before the sun set. On the drive back to the apartment, I pressed my face against the glass and studied the city I loved.
Everything meant nothing without Meghan.
Without her, my life was empty, drab and meaningless.
And when the driver pulled up outside my apartment building, and I hurried up the stairs, I had already realized she was worth it. A part of me had always known Meghan was special, but I had been fighting it for years, not wanting to ruin the delicate balance that existed between the three of us. Now, with Serena’s approval, and the knowledge that Meghan and I were going to be a family, everything was different.
All that was left was for me to get on that plane, find Meghan and tell her.
19
MEGHAN
Skittles jumpedonto the bed and rubbed his head against my face. “What is it, boy?”
He meowed again, louder this time. I picked the remote up off the bed, pointed it at the TV and paused. Then I scratched behind his ears and rubbed my face against his soft, white fur. Skittles lifted his head up, placed a paw on my hand and purred. A moment later, I heard the doorbell ring.With a sigh, I threw the covers off of me and swung my legs over the side of the bed. After stuffing my feet into a pair of fuzzy blue slippers, I staggered forward and in the direction of the hallway.
In the doorway, I paused and patted my hair down.
Slowly, I rose up to the tips of my toes and looked through the peephole. I saw the back of Raymond’s shaved head, a few feet away from the door. He was gesturing with his hands, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Then he shifted from one foot to the other, but I couldn’t see who he was talking to.
The doorbell rang again, and Skittles materialized underneath my feet and meowed, loudly. I bent down to pat him before straightening up again. With a sigh, I tugged on my hoodie, undid the latch and threw the door open.
The last thing I expected was to find Killian there, in a pair of dark jeans, a tight-fitting shirt and sunglasses perched on top of his head. He and Raymond, my bodyguard, were chatting and trailed off when they saw me. Then Killian pushed himself off the wall, surveyed me and stopped at my face, his lips spreading into a slow smirk.
“Is he bothering you, Ray?”
“Not at all, Ms. Gomez,” Raymond replied, pausing to glance between the two of us. “I’m sorry we had to ring the bell twice.”
“I insisted,” Killian added, flashing me another meaningful look. “In case you were sleeping or something.”
I glanced between the two of them, debating whether or not I could get away with asking Raymond to throw Killian out. Considering how poorly things went between us the last time he came to visit, I had no interest in reliving the experience. Although Killian had returned to the hospital a few hours after he left, with a blank expression on his face, and a strange gleam in his eyes, we’d barely said more than two words to each other.
He'd even ignored me when I told him to go home and spent the entire night dozing off on the chair while I tossed and turned on the bed. By the time morning came, I couldn’t tell which one of us had been more relieved. All I knew was that Killian pulled a few strings to get the discharge papers ready in time and had a car waiting for us by the curb when we got out. In silence, the driver had driven the two of us back to the apartment complex. Killian had even insisted on walking me upstairs, a backpack swung over his shoulders. Then he’d waited until I pushed the key into the lock and wandered inside. As soon as he’d assured himself that I didn’t need anything, Killian had spun on his heels and left without a backwards glance.
He hadn’t even said goodbye, leaving me to find out from the rest of the team that he’d return to New York. Over the past few days, I’d turned the entire situation over and over in my head, in an attempt to convince myself it was for the best. Not only was it better for the two of us if we kept as much distance as possible, since we couldn’t see eye to eye on anything, but it was also better if Killian stayed in New York.
