Iris would show up today. She said she would, so she would. I had no need to doubt that.
But Cole was leaving, and my mother and brother were backing me into a corner. I’d been on edge since yesterday, and I didn’t know how to shake this sense of impending doom.
Something was wrong, and I didn’t know what.
I needed to figure out how my mother had found out about the contract. Was it Iris? Had she broken her NDA? Was there someone in my organization telling secrets? I’d set Arthur on the hunt for the leak, but I hadn’t told Cole. What if he quit because he’d betrayed me?
People were turning their backs on me, and I needed Iris here to look at me, to touch me with those gentle hands, to tell me that she wanted me.
I just needed one touch. Just one stroke of her hand against my cheek, and everything would be okay. One single person to see me for me, and nothing else would matter.
Finally, I heard her voice greeting Clara on the other side of the door. I leaned back in my chair and a moment later, Iris was poking her head through the door.
“Clara said you were expecting me,” she said in way of greeting.
“Come in,” I told her, pushing up from my chair. I crossed the space between us and wrapped her in my arms, inhaling the scent of her hair like it was the only thing keeping me tethered to sanity.
She melted into my arms but didn’t turn her face up for a kiss. I stroked her back with my palm and asked, “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” she said, and it sounded like the truth, even though I got the sense she was holding back.
“But?”
Iris pulled away from me, her brown eyes wide as she stared up at me. “I want to talk to you about something.”
The words made me freeze. Dread left a dirty, acrid taste on the back of my throat as I tried to read her expression. My arms were still around her waist, but she dropped her gaze to stare at my chin. When I spoke, my voice was rough. “About what?”
Her breath skated along my jaw. Iris pulled back until I dropped my arms, her teeth biting into her lower lip. She finally met my gaze again, brows arched. “Can we sit down?”
She was breaking up with me. She was going to stand there, looking like that, and tell me that she didn’t want to be with me. That she was turning her back on me, just like everyone else did. She’d tell me that I wasn’t worth the effort, that I wasn’t good enough. Not in those words, but I’d be able to read it clear enough in her gaze.
At least my mother would be happy. I’d be able to attend my brother’s wedding solo, just the way she wanted. This little secret would be kept under wraps-or maybe my mother would wrap it around my neck like a leash to forever keep me controlled.
My molars ground together. “No. Say what you need to say.”
Her shoulders softened, brows drawing together. “Jared?-“
“Just spit it out, Little.”
She stiffened in front of me, confusion flitting in her gaze. “I just wanted to talk about us. This-this relationship. You… I…”
“It’s not working for you.”
She inhaled deeply, and that hesitation was all I needed to hear. I spun around to lean my knuckles on my desk, throat so thick I could barely breathe.
“Jared, I think you’re misunderstanding. I want to be with you. I’ve loved this… I’ve loved what we have. That’s exactly what I want to talk about. I want to keep seeing you.”
The wobbling beneath my feet steadied slightly. I turned my head toward her and asked, “But?”
She wrung her hands in front of her, squeezing one hand so hard with the other that the tips of her fingers went red. “But I don’t think I can keep working for you. I want?-“
I scoffed. “Right. I see. I offer you the world and you throw it back in my face.”
“Jared, that’s not what I said at all.”
“That’s exactly what you said.” The words came out as a hiss. I straightened and faced her. “You’re all too happy to take the paycheck and the nice clothes and private flights, and then you throw it back in my face the minute you think you don’t need me anymore. How’s your closet looking these days, Little? And your bank account?”
She’d used me. Milked me for all I was worth. I’d been right from the start.
Her spine straightened, twin spots of red appearing on her cheeks. “I’m trying to build a relationship with you, Jared.”
“Oh, right.” I snorted.
“What’s the alternative?” She dropped her arms to the sides, spreading them slightly. “I just keep working here, we keep fucking behind closed doors, and when someone finds out, we just play it off? When a client gets wind that you’re paying me to stand at your side, we keep pretending I’m a consultant? When it hits the press, we just deny it?”
My vision went red. “Is that a threat?”
“What?” Iris put her hands to her head and let out an incredulous laugh. “Wait. Stop. This isn’t happening. Everything is going wrong.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then lifted her gaze to mine.
She looked sincere.
But how could I trust her sincerity? How could I trust that she’d stay by my side when no one else did? The only reason she was here was because I was paying her. If we removed that… If she wasn’t actually employed by me and required to be here…
Then what would actually make her stay?
“Jared,” she said softly, “I want to be with you. Really, truly be with you.”
We stared at each other as the silence thickened. My throat felt raw. My chest ached. I wanted to believe her. I wanted to take that sincerity written on her face and have it be everything I needed.
But it wasn’t.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.