Page 38 of A Billionaire Gentleman

Her eyes were closed when I pulled aside the curtain, but when I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, they opened. She pushed herself up until she was sitting, making her close enough to touch, but I kept my hands to myself. The last thing either of us needed was to cloud things with anything physical. I wanted to do this right. Or, rather, as right as I could from this point on.

“How’s your head?”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms, looking surprisingly vulnerable. “Are we getting ready to land?”

“Not yet.” I picked at a piece of fuzz on the bedspread. “I was wrong to get involved with you when I’m engaged.” She opened her mouth, and I held up a hand, asking her to wait. She nodded, and I continued, “You were right. And you weren’t the only one to say it. As soon as we land, I’m going to break things off with Aurelia.”

Something that looked like relief crossed her face, and I almost stopped right there, not wanting to know if she was relieved that I hadn’t just asked her out, but if I was going to hurt Aurelia and upset my dad, I needed to see it through all the way, and that meant admitting everything.

“I really like you, Sofi. More than I thought possible. After I talk to Aurelia, I’d like to see if there’s something real between us. I know with you working for Grandad, it might be awkward, and we’ll have to figure something out for when–”

Her hand on my arm stopped me mid-sentence. “I’d like that very much.”

I hadn’t realized how worried I’d been until that particular weight lifted from my shoulders. I wasn’t done with difficult conversations today, but knowing that this connection with Sofi wasn’t all in my head made me feel like it’d be worth it.

Part of me wanted to finish what Sofi and I had started at her apartment, but I wasn’t going to disrespect Aurelia like that. I stood and leaned over Sofi, kissing her forehead.

“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?”

“For forgiving me for lying to you. A lie of omission, but still a lie.”

Her smile was tight and didn’t quite reach her eyes, but I wasn’t worried. Once I talked to Aurelia, Sofi and I could do this the right way, without anything between us.

Grandad smiled at me when I came back, and I gave him a thumb’s up. I thought it was weird that he was so gung-ho about me and Sofi but had been against Aurelia and me from moment one, but Dad’s tendency to think that he knew best for everyone came from Grandad.

Honestly, I was worried that Dad would take the broken engagement worse than Aurelia would. At least I had Grandad on my side.

Twenty-Three

Sofi

Houses–mansions– like the one Jude Holden owned shouldn’t exist in real life. They just didn’t seem real. When the car Jude and I took from the airport pulled up to a massive wrought iron gate, I’d thought we were going into some sort of gated community.

I should have known better.

I’d sat there, gaping like an idiot, until the driver opened my door and held out a hand. The inside was no less impressive than the outside, and the first twenty minutes I was there consisted of Jude’s wife taking me on a tour. Despite their age difference, Cynthia and Jude seemed to be quite in love, and she was such a sweet person that I liked her almost immediately.

After a light supper, I excused myself to the set of guest rooms I’d been given in the west wing. My meager possessions barely took up any room, and I wondered if I should have declined the invitation to stay here instead of going to a hotel. I didn’t know how long I’d be in Houston, and being somewhere with a kitchen and a laundry room would make things easier. I just didn’t know how long I could feasibly put off ‘looking for a place of my own.’ At least here, I could pretend I was taking my time.

As I curled up on the loveseat with a book I’d found in the guest library – seriously, they had aguest library– I told myself there was no use second-guessing myself now. I was here, and leaving would insult not only Jude but Cynthia as well. I’d gotten the impression that she didn’t have many friends.

Why people ever thought it was their business what went on between consenting adults never failed to piss me off. Cynthia wasn’t a child, so what did it matter how much older Jude was than her? And Jude was far from gullible or unintelligent.

My phone buzzed, and I smiled when I saw Pasha’s text. When I’d told her what I was doing, she’d given me a huge message full of advice about how to take care of myself. I would’ve been insulted if she hadn’t meant it well.

Now, however, she wanted to know more about this gorgeous house. I’d sent her pictures so she wouldn’t worry about me having been carted off by traffickers, but I was more than happy to just chat with her for a while.

She and I were in the middle of debating whether or not the tub in the bathroom was technically a whirlpool or just an enormous, fancy bathtub when someone knocked on my door. I tapped out a quick response, letting her know I might be a while getting back to her and then went to the door, fully expecting Cynthia to be checking in to see how I was doing.

It was Deklin.

“May I come in?”

I stepped aside, suddenly more nervous than I had been when I’d first met him. I didn’t know where I wanted this conversation to go. If he’d changed his mind and decided to stay with Aurelia, there was a chance I’d be sent home so someone more suitable could be found. If he’d broken up with her and wanted to be with me, I didn’t know how long I’d be involved before Jude thought it was enough.

“The engagement’s off.”

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