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“I came to apologize.”
“I don’t want to hear your apologies.” The words taste bitter, but I turn on my heel and walk away.
* * *
Jonah’s there again the next day, though it’s an hour later than the day before. This time, with a coffee for me.
“How did you know when I was leaving?” It hurts to look at him. Another suit today. This one rumpled.
His face colors slightly. “I slept here. I got the coffees when I saw your light go on.”
My mouth drops open. “You slept in your car?”
“It’s a comfortable car. And I needed to talk to you.”
“Are you going to give up?”
His throat works. His eyes are intense. “No.”
I sigh. If I want any peace, I’ll have to hear him out.
“So talk,” I say, my voice hard. We walk down the street, side-by-side. I sneak glances at him, my stomach knotting every time I see how handsome he is. How am I going to get over him?
“Callie.” He stops in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing me to stop too. Pedestrians are giving us annoyed looks, so I back up until I’m against a building and he’s facing me. His face is lined with guilt. Exhausted in a way I’ve never seen before. He reaches out, like he’s going to touch me, before he lets his hand drop. The distance between us feels way too close, and yet, a chasm that can’t be crossed without bloodshed.
“I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me.” He grimaces as if he’s in physical pain. “What I did was…unforgivable. I realize that.” His voice is heavy with recrimination. “You know about my past. I think you understand why I reacted the way I did. But that all pales in comparison to how I treated you.” He pauses. “I love you,” he says in a low voice. My body jolts at his words. I shut my eyes. “I know you don’t want to hear it. I won’t burden you with it anymore, but just know that I was in a dark place when those photos leaked the first time. And this time—” His throat works. “I was destroyed. But it’s still no excuse for assuming you did it. I’ll do everything in my power to get your paper back for you, okay? I promise. I’m sorry.”
I stare at him for long seconds, my pulse thrumming. I miss him. But I can’t forgive him. Not when he deliberately caused me pain.
“Those photos were in the cloud because of me,” I respond. He steps forward and I hold up a hand. “I just want you to know.” My lips twist in self-recrimination. Jonah didn’t deserve that. “I’m sorry. I’m partly to blame. You were right.” The words drop between us.
“No, Callie. No, you’re not.” He looks so earnest and serious, as if hopeful that maybe we have a path forward. I want to press my face to his chest and ease this pain, but I need to crush this hope before it can grow.
“I’m not going to forgive you,” I say. I cross my arms over my stomach, as if I can protect myself.
“I don’t expect you to.” He shakes his head. “I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, though.” He gives me a sad smile and walks back to his car.
* * *
I get dinner that night with Luz and Adriana. I called both of them after the incident at the office, but I haven’t seen them in a few days.
“How are you holding up?” Luz gives my arm a squeeze. Her big brown eyes are worried.
Adriana’s face is hard. “Want me to kill him and make it look like an accident? Scratch that, it doesn’t need to be an accident. No jury in the land would convict me.” She made the same offer when I told her about Jonah’s betrayal.
“I saw him today.” I hug my wineglass to my chest.
“And?” This from Luz, who is drinking her white wine in nervous sips.
“He apologized. He said he loves me.” Pain lances through me at the words. “I wasn’t interested in hearing it.” Except I had wanted to hear it, and his reactions made perfect sense, and I hated myself a little for wanting to fall into his arms afterward. If only things were that easy.
“What did he say?” Luz asks. She’s much more inclined to be forgiving. Adriana has more of “kill first, act questions later” kind of vibe.
“He apologized. He said he would spend the rest of his life making it up to me. His ex—” I pause, not sure if I should tell Adriana and Luz about what happened. “You know the photos of him that came out a few years back?”
Luz wrinkles her nose, while Adriana nods. “Yeah, the nudes. Texts, photos, the works. It was pretty bad. We learned about it during a crisis management seminar actually.” She winces. “The public backlash was pretty bad. That was right around the time there were the embezzling rumors, right?”
I nod, my shoulders tight. “It was his ex. She left him for his business rival, and they worked to take him down. She leaked the photos.”
