Page 127 of The Innovator

He veered back, looking into my eyes. “I’m so sorry for hurting you the way I did. Please know that I wanted to keep you safe. I meant none of those things I said to you. I had to push you away so you’d run back to Paris. When you didn’t leave Providence, I recruited our mothers to help with the sleeping medicine—which I promised to never do again without your consent.”

“Wait.” My eyes widened. “Your mom and my mom worked together?”

He nodded. “I even asked Forrest about the dosage and the side effects to ensure your safety.”

I couldn’t believe he did all that just to get me to Paris.

“You did all this because you wanted me away from Providence? Why exactly?”

He told me about Club Diablo and Robert Conner and his wife. I couldn’t believe the things he told me. I’d worked with Robert and found him to be a decent man. But I supposed you could never truly know someone.

Grayson did all that because he didn’t want the organization to get to me. I was his weakness. My throat tightened.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Would you have gone home if I told you the risk I was taking?”

Absolutely not. I would have stayed with him no matter what. What if he hadn’t made it out of Club Diablo? Just thinking about the terrifying scenario made me shiver.

He placed a hand on either side of my shoulders. “I’ll show you how much I love you. Will you give me the chance to prove it?”

How could I say no? I’d been waiting for this moment.

Tears misted my eyes. “Okay.”

His eyes gleamed from that one word, and the fatigue on his face disappeared.

“I’ve got to head back to Providence. I’ll see you soon.” He kissed me lightly on the lips and strode away.

I stood in place for a few minutes, trying to replay the magical moment. Everything around me suddenly appeared brighter.

As I entered my apartment building, the adorable receptionist named Annette gave me a silver gift box. “Mademoiselle LaRue. You have a package.”

“Thank you.” I removed the lid and pulled out a wooden ruler. A notecard in Grayson’s handwriting read:I don’t want to fall short with you.

Smiling, I brought it up to my office and placed it with all my favorite sketching supplies.

The next day, Annette called me to let me know I had another package in a silver box. This time, it was a calculator with the message:I want this relationship to count.

The following day, another package came. Annette smiled. “I think you have a secret admirer.”

“Yeah. He’s crazy.” I couldn’t help the grin on my face.

“I want someone to be crazy about me like that,” Annette said.

The package had a compass and a note that read:I don’t want to ever lose you again.

That night, I gathered all his gifts onto my bed and stared at them. From my quick search on Three Point Park, it was due to finish in October, just next month. Grayson never invited me to the ribbon ceremony. Maybe he assumed I was busy or that I wouldn’t come.

I’d been waiting for this day so I could see the Three Point Park project that had initially brought us together. I also wanted to see what he’d done with The Prism.

My brand was growing, but I didn’t want to decide in haste. I was still deciding if I wanted to be based in Providence or Paris. Once I narrowed down the location, I could focus on the expansion.

House of LaRue didn’t need me except for design approvals whenever a new collection was ready. I’d review it with my mom and the new designer, Elyna, who was fabulous. But that process could be done via video conference. So I didn’t need to be in Paris.

My heart already knew the answer. However, I’d been afraid to go back to the city that held so many memories. Providence had given me happiness and sadness. More importantly, it had given me love and hope.

The man I loved was there. He’d finally confessed his love to me, and I couldn’t be happier. No man had ever made me feel and want so much.

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