Page 31 of Heart of Stone
My body froze to a state even more solid than it had when I’d been in Reid’s office not even an hour ago. I didn’t need to take my eyes off the massive body of water in front of me to know who had made their approach.
This couldn’t be happening.
It couldn’t.
But it was. Because I was stupid. I knew better than to come this far off the retreat, especially on my own.
“I’ve been wondering when you’d show up.”
Slowly, feeling like I was going to be sick in the sand beneath my feet, I turned to the sound of that menacing voice. My knees wobbled at the sight of the man before me, and I regretted not having the guts to face Reid, because on some level, despite how harshly he’d yelled at me, I didn’t think he had it in him to do what I knew the man of front of me did.
It was my abusive ex-boyfriend, Tim Dorsey.
And with one look into those sinister eyes, I didn’t dare dream of making it out of this unscathed. Especially when a quick scan of the surrounding area told me what I knew to be true for far too long now.
I was alone.
Reid
I was the worst kind of asshole.
For someone who hated the things my father did because of how it made me feel, I couldn’t seem to regulate my emotions where that man was concerned. At least enough not to take it out on someone else.
And it led me to such a monumental fuck-up.
Fear.
God, Natalia had cowered away from me that day with such fear haunting her eyes. After the encounter I’d had with her at the lake on Saturday morning, I told myself I needed to start making an effort to give her the benefit of the doubt. I had no proof that she was working with my father or partaking in any scheme he might have concocted. And unless I got that proof, I needed to find a way to be decent to her. So, when I saw her in the café on Sunday, I decided to try being myself. I tried being the guy I was whenever my father wasn’t around. Of course, I had some reservations about what I’d be setting myself—and Natalia—up for when the time came to take down the retreat, but I figured I’d come up with a plan by then.
Sadly, I hadn’t even managed to go a full week without being a dick to her.
I had to fix it.
Yesterday had been awful, and until it happened, I hadn’t realized how much I looked forward to seeing her throughoutmy day. Sure, I told myself the opposite was true. I portrayed the very definition of irritated whenever she’d walked in up until my recent revelation.
I’d gone the entire morning and afternoon without a single visit from her. I should’ve expected as much when I screamed at her the way I had, when I’d said the horrible, untrue things that I did about her. And when she finally made an appearance at the end of the day, it was like I could breathe again.
But that relief had been short-lived.
Because there was no smile. No joy. No hope that she wasn’t trying to hold a grudge against me.
And I’d done it. I’d taken that all away from her.
She hadn’t even been able to look at me. Until she’d taken it away, until I ruined everything, I hadn’t realized just how much I got out of seeing her smile and the way her face lit up no matter what she was talking about.
Worst of all, it appeared that today was on the same track. No matter that it was only lunchtime, I knew Natalia wouldn’t be making an appearance today, either.
Part of me had been foolish enough to think that if I’d returned those papers to her office immediately, including a note expressing just how sorry I was, she might find it in her heart to forgive me. Or, at the very least, maybe she’d give me the chance to tell her as much in person.
But that hadn’t happened.
And I’d realized that I was going to have to be the one to do this, to put every ounce of effort I could into making things right.
So, I got up, left my office, and went to hers. Only, Natalia wasn’t there.
Recognizing that she could’ve gone out for lunch—whether here at the retreat or somewhere in town—I had no choice but to wait.
That’s precisely what I did in her office. I settled myself in one of the chairs and waited. And waited. And waited.
