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“I hadn’t said yes.”
“No.” I shake my head.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You’re lying.” I walk away, pick up my whiskey and down it.
“Why would I bother? Why would I fucking bother to lie to you now?”
I pour myself another drink, keeping my back to her. It’s not true. She’s backtracking, trying to make herself look better.
“What’s the matter, Silas? Are you out of insults?”
I face her. “You had the damn engagement ring. Why would you have that if you weren’t engaged? Or are you going to tell me it was a friendship ring?” I ask that last part dismissively, trying to catch up—because if she’s telling the truth, I fucked up.
“Was it on my finger?” she asks, glaring. “Ethan asked me to marry him earlier that night. If you recall,it’s the same night news broke about a new development that didn’t exactly look great for my dad. It was one of the worst nights of my life, and that was even before you turned up… Ethan’s timing, it couldn’t have been worse. But you know Ethan. Do you think he would accept anything but a yes?”
“That’s not up to him!” I break in, stalking so fast toward her that she backs away, and I remember how I’d held her against the wall that morning. Me, a man twice her size. I remember the look in her eyes.
“Maybe that’s the problem, Silas. Maybe I’m just weak. But you know what? I needed you that night. And I thought… I fucking thought you maybe needed me and we could… We could rescue each other. God! It’s so stupid. I don’t even know what I was thinking!” She pushes her hands into her hair.
“O—” I take her arms.
“I told him yes after. I agreed to marry him the morning you walked out.” Her mouth is set, eyes hard, even as tears stream down her face. “What’s the matter? Do I disappoint you again?”
I shake my head. “Is this true?”
“I don’t care what you believe anymore. The time that I cared is long gone, Silas.” She walks toward the elevator and pushes the button.
“I went to see your father because it’s not right that he should be behind bars while Sullivan Fox walks free. Your father would not have stolen from the company he built, from the people he spent his lifetaking care of. The company that would have been his legacy.”
She jams her finger on the button, but it’s still in the lobby. “You know what? I don’t care why you saw him. I don’t even care that you told him.”
The elevator begins its climb up. “Wait.”
“No.” She leans on that button.
“I went to offer my help.”
“Your help? Right!”
“And do you know what he asked me to do?”
She faces me. “Hear me, Silas. For once, fucking hear me. I. Do. Not. Care!” She spins to face away from me, so I go to her, take her arm, make her look at me. I’m so close, I smell her perfume, the same one she wore that night. The one that, if I breathe in deeply, I let myself imagine I can still smell on my pillowcase.
“He told me not to let you marry that son-of-a-bitch.” She stares up at me as the elevator climbs ever closer. Time is running out. And I fucked up. “Do you remember what I told you when you were sixteen? The night I found you in his bed?”
Her gaze searches mine, and I know she remembers.
“I told you that you can do better. Told you not to change who you are for Ethan Fox.” I hold up a lock of her hair, blown straight and smooth. “You’re more beautiful with your glasses and your hair wild, O. This? Barbie here? She’s a mirror image of Mira Fox and I’m afraid the inside will be just as cold if you don’tget away from them. Because that night with you? That night meant something to me. That’s why it hurt so fucking much when I found that ring in your pocket,” I finish. I’m not sure if I intended to say that last part or not, but the look on her face softens.
I cup the back of her head and press my lips to hers, hearing her little sound of protest. Her hands are fists against my chest, but I hold tight, and I kiss her because ever since that night almost a year ago, I cannot get this goddamned woman out of my mind.
“Stop. Stop it!” She shoves and when I release her, she takes two steps away and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “It meant nothing to me, Silas,” she says, but I swear I hear the effort it takes.
“That’s a lie, and you and I, we’re better than that.”
“There is no you and I, no we, Silas. Maybe things would have been different if you hadn’t been such an asshole that morning but that’s over. It’s too late.”
