Page 40 of The Price of a Promise

“And?”

“He’s coming to see me.”

“Why thehellwould you invite him to see you after our agreement?”His voice shook with barely concealed rage.

My insides plummeted as I studied the gray stone flooring of my kitchen.Everything was gorgeous in this place.It just wasn’t what I would have chosen.“I didn’t invite him.I’m telling you because I’m trying to be a decent human being.But the truth is, I need to see him one last time.Just to end it.”

“You told me it was ended.”

“It’s a process,” I snapped.“We’ve been together for three years.”

“Three years is nothing.”

“It’s a lot to us,” I said, my voice catching.“It’s not like a light you turn off with a switch.There are feelings involved.These things are…delicate.”I couldn’t believe I needed to explain this to a grown man.

“Whatever it may be, you’re officially in a business situation.Business trumps emotions.How many times have you heard this in your life?When are you finally going to get it?”

Hot tears crowded the edges of my vision.“This is an exception to the rule.Axel isn’t business.Whatever you feel about it, we’ve had a relationship for years—”

“And relationships end.You move on.You’re moving on.End of story.Is this all you called about?”

I was being dismissed.Everything in his tone saidtime to go.

“I’m telling you I just need one last encounter with him,” I said in a low, shaky voice.After the past few weeks, my nerves were frayed, all my reserves of composure emptied.“A half hour.That’s it.The only reason he’s coming out here is because I haven’t been able to transition smoothly.”

“That sounds like a lack of decisive management.”

His intentional insensitivity crossed over from ridiculous to infuriating.“Jesus, Dad!He was my boyfriend, not a damn employee!I can’t just manage my way out of this.”

“But that’s where you’re wrong, Cora.You can manage your way out of anything.This is one of the lessons you’ll need to learn quickly before you take over.Everything is a matter of strategy.And if you’re wise—which I’ve fought like hell to make sure you will be—your strategy for your romantic partner will be closely intertwined with your business plan.When a marriage is arranged correctly, the ideal mate isn’t that far from salaried employee anyway.”

Sadness swept through me in thick swells that threatened to choke.When a marriage is arranged correctly.

“So you think Mom is a salaried employee?”I whispered.

“She’s my perfect companion,” he replied, undeterred.“In family and business.What more could I ask for?”

“Do you love her?”

“We are very happy together.”

I pinched my eyes shut.“Please just let me see Axel one more time.”

“Absolutely not.Hope you’re settling into the new house.”

The line went dead.

A sob escaped me, and I clamped a hand over my mouth.I was so tired of crying.Tired of grieving.Tired of this bone-heavy sadness.

Yet I felt doomed to live in this state forever.Ever since Chris had taken his own life, things had gotten worse and worse.

And now I was forced to snuff out the only bright spot in my existence.

I swiped through my phone dully.There had to be a game plan lurking somewhere in the cracks.I knew Axel had to be close.If he’d left NYC last night, he was probably due to arrive within the hour.And maybe that’s why I hadn’t slept last night, knowing that Axel grew closer with each passing second.Shrinking the distance between our hearts.Putting us within arm’s reach yet still an entire world away.

I looked at my phone without knowing what I even looked for.Axel would go to the old condo.He didn’t know that I’d moved.That had been by design.

I had no way to get to the condo myself.Randall wouldn’t take me—I didn’t need to ask to know that my father had already put that address on the forbidden list.And after what happened with my housekeeper, I could better imagine the ways my father kept tabs on me from every angle.

---