Page 133 of Always Be an Us

"The break-in wasn’t about stealing physical objects, neither was it about senseless destruction," I say. "You came to steal information, didn't you?"

Nate’s eyes widen. Fuck I’m onto something.

Of course, I am. It only makes sense.

Whoever is causing all these delays knows our every move. Because he has a copy of our construction plans.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Emma

I mentally recite words of affirmation as I walk away from Declan and try to imagine some stuff Tate would say.

Good job Emma. You’re finally all grown up. You're strong and resilient and you deserve a happy, openly loving relationship.

You did the right thing for everyone involved and sometime in the future, you’re going to thank yourself for what you did.

But not right now. Because right now, I feel like ripping my heart out of my chest and just laying down somewhere to rot away.

This hurts, like hell.

When I broke up with Xavier, I was heartbroken too, but my anger at his betrayal mitigated the hurt. Still, at the time, I thought it was the worst thing ever.

But it’s nothing compared to this pain.

Especially, since I know that neither Declan nor I did anything wrong.

Declan was honest with me from the beginning and even though I lied to myself that we could hook up without me falling in love with him, I tried to be as honest as possible with Declan too. We were both as fair to each other as we can be. So there is no anger to mitigate the pain of losing him.

And the worst part is that it’s not even a breakup because we weren’t dating in the first place.

In a way, I broke my own heart.

Plus, I’m still going to have to be around Declan one way or another. I don’t plan on severing my relationship with Amelia, and I’m still going to fulfill all my obligations at the Pink Hotel.

Plus, I’ll still need to pay back Declan for his financial help with my Grandpa. I don’t think watching Amelia is enough payment. That was effortless. I’ll need to find another way to give him something of value for saving my Grandpa’s life.

At least, while Declan is still in town we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so there’s no way to avoid it.

I wonder if I’m going to feel this pain all over again every time I see him.

"Don't cry Emma," I whisper into the chilly air. "Just get back to work and do your best. Then when you go home, you can cry your heart out."

I try to distract myself most of the day. After going to see Amelia (who is working hard with Sandy to figure out her math homework) I head to the Tiki Bar. It's largely empty, apart from two regulars who don't want drinks.

Carly is there too, and my presence feels very much unneeded, so I take the opportunity to leave and go down to the construction site, distantly aware of Cross boarding the bus with me.

At the construction site, I avoid Declan as much as possible. There doesn't seem to be much to do, so the men spend most of the time shooting the shit and eating sandwiches, as they arrange the late shipment of wood.

"There’s been another delay," Robbie says, munching on his sandwich as we sit on the wooden floor of the hallway. Even though it hasn't been necessarily cleaned, the human activity has breathed new life into the hotel and removed the stale, dead scent of an abandoned building. Now it just smells like broken wood, and males moving through space. The sounds also don't echo as much anymore.

"The plumber was supposed to start but he couldn't make it. He's sick."

"With what?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Who knows? The boss is probably furious though. He stormed out of here like hell was on his heels."

"Oh." I didn't see Declan leave but I can just imagine his frustration. It feels like everything that can go wrong is.

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