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Albin covered my hand with his. “I have no more family left. I still don’t know what kind of people would do that just to get ahead of the competition.”
“Losing your parents must’ve been so hard, but you’re not alone.”
Albin glanced at me, and his eyebrows furrowed together. “What are you talking about?”
I shifted closer so there was only an inch of space between us. “You’ve still got family. You have Jimmy, and you have…you have me too.”
Albin drew me to him and pressed his forehead to mine. “You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that.”
I didn’t, but I knew what it felt like to be there with him.
For the first time since I’ve known him, Albin was opening up to me, offering little glimpses into the lonely, heartbroken young man who had lost his parents and been thrust into the limelight. As I stood there, listening to the sound of his even breathing, I realized there was a lot more to Albin than the confident, ambitious businessman he hid behind.
He was a man who had lost his way, just like I did.
When his hands moved to my waist, my heart swelled and grew to twice its size. Out of all the scenarios I imagined, standing in the middle of his big, empty childhood home while he poured his heart out to me was not one of them.
It made me fall for him even more.
I really was in trouble when it came to him.
“Do you believe me now?”
I stirred and drew back to look at him. “I think so.”
Albin kept his hands on my waist and looked into my eyes. “Lily doesn’t mean anything to me, not anymore. You’re the one I want, Martha, and you’re the one I was looking for last night.”
I smiled. “You’re the one I want too.”
Albin searched my face. “Good. By the way, how did you lose your phone? Because I tried calling you, and a guy answered.”
“Moving truck,” I replied. “When I dropped the phone, he must’ve kept it. I don’t think he’s going to give it back.”
Albin blinked. “I don’t understand. Why did you drop your phone in a moving truck?”
“It’s kind of a funny story, or maybe not that funny. It depends on how you look at it.”
Albin took a step back and reached for my hand. He led me to the couch, stopped, and released my hand. In one quick move, he removed the cover and gestured to me. I perched on the edge of the couch and turned to face him. Albin sat down opposite me and took both of my hands in his.
“What happened?”
“When you dropped us off after dinner, I went upstairs to find movers on my floor. Then I saw this couple coming in and out of the apartment.”
Albin frowned. “You were being evicted?”
I shook my head. “No, the landlord rented it to the both of us. Between the two of us, he has four months’ worth of rent and two months’ worth of security deposits, and he’s not answering his phone. He’s probably already spent all the money.”
“Please tell me that you still have the contract.”
“I do.”
Albin squeezed my hand. “Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come right back to get you and Jimmy.”
“I called Anne, and she got the moving guys to agree to move my stuff. There weren’t a lot of boxes, and Anne paid them extra.”
Albin’s frown deepened. “I wish you would’ve called me. I would’ve given the landlord a piece of my mind.”
“We tried.”
