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He tilted his head in my direction. “I failed as a man. It was my job to maintain her. As a man, it’s your job to create the world for a woman. You give her everything she wants.”
I looked at him in confusion. “Why?”
“Because then she doesn’t have any reason to leave.”
Ray’s voice snaps me out of the past. I turn my focus to my phone, where I have the perfect view of Savannah ripping his heart out.
His face is contorted into rage and disbelief. “Where has this come from? What changed between us?”
“Everything.” She looks at him with sadness. “Everything changed when you ordered the hit on my dad.”
“I was ready to…” He doesn’t finish the sentence. His head hangs low as he stares at the ground.
“What?” she pleads.
As silence descends on them, I stir the black liquid carefully before leaving the flotation process to complete itself.
He takes a deep breath. “We can leave all this behind us and go. I’ll give it all up.”
She backs away from him. “I don’t want to. I don’t want you.” The waver in her voice doesn’t meet the conviction she’s going for. She should be affirmative in her decision. So why does she look like she hates herself for rejecting him?
Their back and forth continues as I tap the pure carbon powder onto a sterile sheet. Grabbing the catalyst, I carefully funnel the powder through the tiny hole before tightening the plug. It’s as though I can feel my dad’s hot breath as he stands behind me, analysing me as he did the first time.
“Slower, Xavier!” he scolded. “You don’t want to waste any of the carbon.”
I took a deep breath and steadied my hands. The powder slowly slipped into the hole. “Is this what makes the diamond?”
He hummed lowly. “The most important part. People stare at diamonds in awe, but nobody appreciates the process or the hard work. Most people would scoff at the sight of a dark powder, but me? I see potential in the roughness of it. There’s something beautiful about taking something unwanted and making it into something worthwhile.”
I stepped back as he took over.
He continued, “It’s a valuable skill.”
“What?”
“Taking something unwanted and giving it value – making it into something worthy.”
I frowned, knowing I would never have the same passion for diamonds as him. “I don’t think I will ever have an eye for diamonds.”
“Women and diamonds are no different.” He stood to his full height, towering over me. “Look for a woman the world doesn’t want and put in the hard work. Break her to fit into your mould and watch her flourish under your guidance.”
I shrugged my shoulders, unbothered about finding a woman. “What’s the point? They’re probably all like her.” I couldn’t bring myself to call her my mother anymore. She was a liar.
A look of regret shone in his eyes. “I started too late with her. You find a woman while you’re young and build memories with her because those memories will tie you together. The older they are,” he shook his head, “The harder it becomes. No matter how much you try to help them, they fuck you over.”
With all the prep work complete, I insert it into the HP container. In only a few months, Emery will be another beautiful diamond in my collection.
Savannah’s cries pull me away from the clear-up. “Let me go. I just want to go back to the start. Before this all got so complicated. Before I made all these poor decisions.”
“Poor decisions,” he echoes. “I didn’t know you regretted us so much. But that’s fine. Let’s erase everything about us and go back to the start.” His pain is thinly veiled by anger.
“Hux—“
“No. It’s fine. I’ll be your boss, and you’ll be my PA. I’ll see you Monday at 8 a.m. sharp, Miss Hayes.”
She runs after him. “We don’t have to become strangers.”
He opens the door. “We already are because I don’t know who this is. This isn’t my Savannah. She wouldn’t disregard everything we became. She wouldn’t belittle us to something so insignificant. She knew this was more than sex. It was a future. It was real.” He stares at her in desperation. “Something in you changed the day Emery died. I don’t know what, but I wish I did. I’d do anything to bring my Savannah back because I miss her.”
