Page 94 of Bargain With the Boss
I backed up and headed for the sign saying stairs.
“Xavier!” She called out and followed me.
I slammed through the door and down the stairs. All the while, I kept hearing Sydney’s voice in my head.
I’m sorry.
But was she?
She’d lied. Again and again—we could have handled it like adults. Instead, she just assumed she could fix it with that?
My chest ached and I pushed down the pain.
“Lock it down,” I said out loud. Maybe then I’d really believe it.
My life with Sarah had been a lifetime ago and still the shock of what she’d done stayed. It was her choice—in my head I knew that. But knowing that she didn’t believe in us enough to tell me she’d been pregnant was hard enough. But that she’d had an abortion without telling me had ripped me in two.
As if she could just go on with our relationship without letting me know had destroyed me for too many years to count.
Bringing a baby into this world was a huge undertaking and we were so young when she’d gotten pregnant. She’d probably made the right choice, but the fact that she’d lied to me about it was what did the most damage.
And Syd had done the same.
There had been two people in that bed. The ripped condom was enough of a fear, but it was on me that I didn’t use another condom after that.
I truly didn’t think about doing so when she’d told me she was protected.
Stupid on my part, but that first night had sealed the deal.
I’d been shocked and she’d lied right to my face. No hesitation.
I got to the front doors of the Earl and didn’t remember the walk. Getting my car from the valet was a lesson in patience. I had no idea where my damn ticket was. I didn’t even remember getting one.
But finally I got it sorted and on the road. Again, I didn’t remember much of the drive. But the familiar coastline of Crescent Cove finally let me take my first full breath once more.
She’d lied.
I wouldn’t be able to forget that.
I stopped at my house and washed off the road and...Sydney.
As I scrubbed my skin, memories of her wrapped around me solidified the pain. And the mistake of her.
From the very beginning, I should have stayed away from her. She’d pushed at something in me I’d never felt for any woman.
Something that could have grown into...
I pushed away the word.
Instead, I got dressed and went into the finance office. I buried myself in the work that was always waiting for me. Instead of shirking the extra work for my father’s expansion, I embraced it.
Drowned in it.
I ignored the two texts from Sydney.
Only answered Gavin on important matters of business. Putting him off that work at Hastings Financial was insane.
It was. There was no lie there, but I was hiding. My father’s thrilled emails told me I was going way above and beyond, but each time I stopped I saw her face.
