Page 256 of By His Rule

Traveling without Lorelei sucked. Not getting to witness her awe in the first-class lounge or at the service on the airplane...just not having her with me was worse than I could have expected.

Landing in London, seeing the city, the sights, the history. Fuck. She’d have loved it, and I instantly felt guilty for not allowing her to experience all of this with me.

But that wasn’t the point of this trip. It was to get away, to put some distance between us in the hope of figuring out why it hurt so much the second she cast me out of her life and closed the door in my face.

It was selfish of me to leave, especially after what happened in her apartment last week. But I haven’t left her unprotected. She may or may not have figured it out yet, but I have people watching her, keeping me informed of anything untoward happening around her.

So far so good.

Maybe we were wrong, and it was someone random who broke in and?—

No. It was a targeted attack. It was too personal.

“Fuuuuck,” I groan, pushing to my feet. I pace back and forth in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hope of burning off some of the anxious energy pulsing through me.

It’s been four days since I spoke to her. There are four thousand miles between us right now, but still, I can barely think of anything else.

As much as I hate to admit it, the meetings I’ve had here have been great. For the first time since King brought this acquisition to the table, I can understand why he latched onto it.

Sure, I’ll stand by my opinion that, financially, it’s a fucking mess. But having met the senior management team, I now have a better understanding of what’s gone wrong. And since visiting some of their more successful properties across the country, I get why King fell in love with it.

I don’t stand a chance of arguing against this now. I’m pretty sure that was why King didn’t argue when I told him where I was. Instead, his voice turned smug with understanding. He’s been trying to get me out here to see for myself for months; he knew the second I discovered more that I’d no longer be able to fight him.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe life isn’t always about having the figures add up. Maybe sometimes you do have to just follow your heart, even if none of it makes any sense.

It’s almost dawn. The first light of a new day is beginning to warm the dark sky. I should be sleeping. But just like every night I’ve spent here, sleep eludes me and my cell calls to me.

I lasted until Tuesday afternoon before I caved and sent her an email.

It was all business, no niceties. No discussion of how much I enjoyed spending time with her last week, no mention of how much I liked having her in my home. But even still, I felt better just for seeing her name on my screen.

Fucking pussy.

We’ve exchanged a few emails since, but all of them have been work-focused.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve picked up my cell and almost typed out a message to her. I’ve had to talk myself out of hitting dial on her number more than I’m willing to confess.

But tonight…it’s harder than ever.

I’ll be back in Chicago tomorrow. I’ll have to face her again. But how can I when there has been so much left unsaid between us?

Before I can talk myself out of it, I hit her contact.

My hand trembles as I lift my cell to my ear, and my heart rate kicks up the second the dial tone rings through the air.

She’ll decline it, a little voice says. But despite hearing it loud and clear, I don’t hang up.

I’ve started this now; I can’t be seen to run away.

It rings and rings. It’s late evening in Chicago. She’s probably sleeping, but even still, I can’t hang up.

Convinced it is going to either ring out or go to voicemail, my adrenaline begins to wane, and I prepare to return to the silence of my suite. But then…my heart jumps into my throat as the line crackles and then the most amazing sound comes down the line.

“K-Kian?” she stutters, her voice raspy with sleep. “Is everything okay?”

I collapse on the couch once more and drop my head into my hand.

Is everything okay? Now, that’s a loaded question if I’ve ever heard one.

---