Page 96 of Dare To Live

We reach the kitchen and I pull out a chair and sit down while Elena busies herself with the coffee machine.

“She’s running, but I’m working on it.”

“Running?”

I laugh quietly. “I told her we should take sex off the table and get to know each other.”

“And how did she take that?” She places a mug of coffee in front of me.

“Well …” I take an exaggerated look around the room. “She’s not here.”

Elena takes the seat opposite me. “It’s a shame you can’t go back and have a fresh start. That first meeting for you both set the tone for your entire relationship.”

I take a sip of coffee. “We were young. I was angry.”

“Yes, you were. And vindictive. And manipulative. And—”

“Okay, okay …” I laugh. “I was a little shit. I get it.”

“And yet she fell in love with you, all the same.”

“Until I fucked it up.”

She stretches her hand across the table and rests it on top of mine. “Eli, what the pair of you went through … your relationship was never going to survive that. You were too young, too traumatized.”

My laugh this time is humorless. “Most of it caused by me.”

“You need to forgive yourself.” She squeezes my fingers. “That’s why you stay in the cabin, isn’t it? You’re punishing yourself for everything that happened. Eli, you aren’t to blame for what that boy did.”

“But if I’d been paying more attention, Kellan would never—”

“No! Don’t you dare blame yourself for that. The only person responsible for what happened to your friend is Evan Ridley.”

Chapter 53

Arabella

“I hope you are not planning on any more trips, Mademoiselle Gray. So much time off is not acceptable.”

I stiffen in my seat at the sharp edge in my boss’s voice and turn to face him. “No, Monsieur Allaire, but I am within my right to take the vacation time owed to me.”

I’ve been back at work for four days, and this is the first time I’ve seen him.

His lips curl. “If you want a career in fashion, you must make sacrifices.”

I clench my teeth and lift my chin. “Yes, Monsieur Allaire.”

“You will not get far, if you don’t remember that. Your place is here at your desk.” For one brief second, he holds my gaze, before he swivels on his heel and walks away.

I glare at his back, tempted to stick my tongue at him, but too many people are watching our exchange. As soon as he vanishes through the door, whispers erupt into life around the room.

“He was poking around your workstation while you were away.”

My attention transfers to my co-worker at the desk beside mine. “I have no idea what he’d be looking for. I don’t keep anything important here.”

Grace tucks a strand of her wild red hair behind her ear. “He didn’t look happy at all.”

Was he searching for more of my designs? Things he can steal to claim as his own. He must have been disappointed to find nothing he could use here. I sigh and glance at the blouse on my mannequin, but my thoughts are far away.

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