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“Maybe,” he agrees, shrugging again. “But like I said: I had no other choice. And I desperately need to talk to you.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “You desperately need to talk to me, huh? What is there even left to say?”
“Let’s sit,” he says, pointing to the middle of the room. When I don’t set in motion, he makes the first step and moves to the middle of the room, before he sits down on the mat in a cross legged position.
“Please,” he says, almost pleading, as he nods to the spot before him.
I hesitate for a moment before I follow his gesture and take a seat across from him, sitting cross-legged as well.
“Why here?” I ask him, my eyes trailing around the empty training room. “Why choose this of all places?”
“Because I was wrong,” he begins. “About so many things. But let’s start with this one: Remember when I said I wanted to discuss our deal in a meeting room or the office, because it’s a business talk?”
I nod in silence, curious to hear where he’s going with this.
“Well, that’s bullshit, because I can’t be that person with you. I can’t distinguish between business and pleasure when it comes to you, because you are everything. You are not two separate people who need two separate conversations, and neither am I. I can’t be business Chase with you, and I can’t see you as simply another business partner, because that’s not who you are. You are so much more than that.”
He clears his throat, awkwardly shifting in his seat. As he seems to fight for words.
“I… I love you, Madison,” he finally manages to say, his eyes finding mine with a look on his face that I’ve never seen before.
He looks scared. Terrified, actually.
“Fuck, it felt good to finally say that,” he then adds, adding a nervous chuckle as he scratches the back of his head.
Meanwhile, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. I don’t know what I expected to hear, but it was definitely not this.
“I love you,” he repeats, almost pleading now. “And I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”
“You really love me,” I say. It’s a statement, not a question—because I believe him. I can see that he’s not lying to me, but still, I’m struggling to process his revelation.
“Yes! Yes, I fucking love you, Madison,” he says, as gets up on his knees to crawl over to me.
I can’t move and remain seated, still stunned when he reaches for my hand, taking it in both of his as he lifts it up to his lips. He places a kiss on the back of my hand, and looks at me with such intensity that tears start to well in my eyes.
“And I think I found a solution that could make both of us happy. I’m not going to take anything away from you,” he says. “I could never be happy that way.”
“A solution?” I want to know, my interest piqued.
“Yes!” he says, his hands still wrapped around mine, as he settles closer before me. “You see, I can’t help but be impressed by you, and immensely so. You’ve achieved great things, Madison, and I’m sure you’ll do even greater things in the future, and I want to be a part of that—and not stand in the way of it. I want you to grow, and I want you to be in charge of your father’s legacy.”
I can’t talk. I can barely see straight as I stare at him, still in disbelief. There’s a ‘but’ hanging in the air somewhere, I’m sure there is. He's been fighting me on this buyout for so long that it’s hard to believe that he would just drop it now.
“I… I have an idea how we can do this,” he goes on. “And I want to tell you all about it, but right now, please, Madison, I just need you to tell me that it’s not too late. I need you to say something. I need to know that I didn’t royally fuck this up and that I’ve lost you forever, because I really—”
“I love you, too,” I produce. The words come with a surge of tears that I can’t hold back. “I’ve missed you, Chase. And I love you.”
The relief is clearly written on his face, and I fall over on my back, when he lunges forward to kiss me. He’s on top of me, our lips meeting each other with desperate longing after we’ve been apart for too long. I wrap my arms around him, the warmth of his body and his endearing scent enveloping me, while I feel my heart beating against his strong chest.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he breathes in between our kiss, while his hand travels beneath my gi. “I need you more than air to breathe.”
“Don’t let me choke you then,” I say, as I pin down his right arm next to my face.
Before he realizes what’s happening, I bridge my hips up, driving through my heels and pushing my chest forward. The move is executed with precision as I manage to free myself from underneath him and throw Chase to the side. He’s laughing when he lands next to me, but there’s mischief in his eyes when he looks at me and says: “Oh, it’s on now!”
Chapter 47
Madison
