Page 275 of By His Vow

Kingston: I’m going to be very late. Don’t worry about cooking me dinner.

Istare at the message I sent Tatum hours ago. She’s read it, but she hasn’t responded.

Concern twists up my insides. She always replies.

It’s almost midnight and Miles and I are giving up for the night.

Today was always going to be stressful, but I didn’t anticipate just how hard it was going to be to begin letting people go. People who have worked hard for Warner Group for years. But it wasn’t just the letting people go that dragged us down today, it was a couple of incredibly important people who came to us to tell us that they would voluntarily leave in the hope of saving others.

Sure, both of them are approaching retirement, but their roles here are vital for the future development of the company.

There is going to be a huge hole without them, but also, saving their generous salaries will greatly help us right now.

Talk about a rock and a hard place.

There are people who can fill the positions. That is not in question. We just don’t have the time right now. We need to hit the ground running with this new direction for the company, not hang around while we wait for newly-promoted colleagues to catch up.

“What’s wrong?” Miles asks, his voice rough with exhaustion as he catches me staring at my cell for the hundredth time tonight.

“Tatum hasn’t replied,” I mutter, trying to cover my true level of concern. It’s the last thing he needs right now.

“She’s probably sleeping like other normal people.”

“Yeah,” I muse. I’d agree if I’d have messaged her in the past couple of hours. But she saw this message and she didn’t reply.

I don’t want to be one of those men who jump to conclusions over every little thing, but I can’t stop myself right now.

I want to say it’s the lack of sleep, but it feels like more than that.

“Start all over again first thing tomorrow morning then?” he asks with a wince.

“Can’t wait,” I mutter, already regretting our agreed start time tomorrow. Finally, I turn my computer off and pack up my shit.

Miles pushes to his feet and walks toward the door to the office that has been allocated as mine.

We started in his first thing this morning but needed a change of scenery as the day rolled on.

“Don’t wake my sister when you get home. Be nice to her,” he warns before slipping out of the office.

The thought of waking her and ending the day properly is appealing, but so is just slipping into bed behind her and falling asleep with her body pinned against mine. There’s something I never thought I’d be happy with. Cuddling.

Oh, how things change…

I make my way down to the underground parking lot and locate my car that Lewis had delivered for me earlier when I knew I was going to be working into the middle of the night, before heading home to my wife.

For the first time in what feels like forever, a genuine smile plays on my lips.

I never thought I’d be happy focusing all my effort on one woman, but Tatum makes it so easy.

Everything about her—even fighting with her—is effortless.

Just being around her makes me feel like I’m a better version of myself. It’s weird. But I like it.

No. I more than like it.

I love it.

Scrubbing my hand down my face, I shake my head, laughing at myself and the U-turn my life has taken.

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