Page 48 of Bourbon Wishes
I can't talk to him right now. I'll crack, and I'll break, and I'm not sure there will be any pieces left to put back together.
I hurry my steps, practically racing toward my car.
Of course I don't make it before he gets to me.Of courseI don't. He hits me like a ton of bricks, pinning me up against the side of the car.
"Why are you running from me?" he growls, trying to spin me around.
"Do not touch me," I snap, trying to shove him away from me before I fall apart. "I am so mad at you right now!"
"Fuck." His wild eyes run across my face. "What happened, baby?"
"You're an asshole, that's what happened!" I shout, clinging to anger because it's better than curling up in a ball and sobbing. Mad hurts less than broken. "You're hiring someone else for my job!"
"Fuck. Haven told you." He doesn't even try to deny it. He doesn't even look guilty.
And that's the confirmation that sends tears slipping down my cheeks. It isn't a misunderstanding or a mistake. He's really listing my job.
"Let me go."
"Hell no," he growls.
"Let me go." I plant my hands against his shoulders, shoving as hard as I can. I actually manage to move him back a few steps. "You're never touching me again, Bastian Grayson."
"Yeah, I am."
"No, you aren't." I scowl at him through tears. "I'm leaving."
His face pales. "You're leaving me?"
"I…" Is that what I'm doing? Leaving him? God, that thought hurts almost as much as anything else. He's everything to me…but I don't think he feels the same about me. If he did, he wouldn't be making decisions about my career for me. He'd be my partner. And yet, today, he isn't that.
"I don't know," I whisper, my voice cracking.
He stares at me for a long moment, and I see the pain in his eyes. I see the fury, too. "You aren't fucking leaving me, Constance. Not until you give me a chance to explain. I deserve that much, at least."
"And I deserved a conversation before you asked Haven to post my job."
He grimaces, shoving a hand through his hair, which he only does when he's stressed. "Fuck. You're right," he says softly. "I'm an asshole for not talking to you about it first. But I have a good reason."
"Fine. Let's hear it then."
He swallows, actual anxiety churning in his gaze. "I can't tell you."
"What the hell?" I gape at him. "Are you serious right now?"
"I mean, I can't tell youyet," he says. "There's something else I need to do before I can tell you what's going on. But I promise you, baby, as soon as I'm finished, you'll know everything. I just need you to trust me."
"Trust isn't the issue, Bastian," I say with a sad shake of my head. "Respect is. You owed me the respect of coming to me if you were thinking about hiring someone else to take my job. You owed me the respect of letting me hear it from you. And now, you're telling me that you can't even tell me why you did it. Maybe you do have a good reason. But that doesn't change the fact that I deserved to hear it from you before you got anyone else involved."
"Baby, I–"
"No, Bastian," I cut him off. "I told you how I felt last night and why. And the very first thing you do is exactly what I was so afraid of in the first place. You start making decisions about my career without consulting me. And you drag Haven into the middle of it. So I don't really want to hear it right now. I'm going to see my brother."
"Please don't quit," he whispers, more vulnerable than I've ever heard him.
"Quit? Do I even have a job to quit?" I ask and immediately feel guilty when he flinches like I hit him, but it's a valid question. Because he's hiring someone else for my job…but he won't tell me why. He won't tell me what that means for me or what I'm supposed to do next. I'm just supposed to trust him. And yeah, I do trust him. I trust him more than I've ever trusted anyone. But that doesn't take the sting out of realizing that, when it counted, he wasn't my partner. He was my damn boss, making decisions for me.
And right now, I'm not even sure if he's that anymore.
