Page 32 of Coldhearted King

I turn the shower on as hot as I can bear and let it cascade over me. Paul hasn’t called, which either means he hasn’t seen my message yet or he has and is too chicken shit to talk to me.

A sudden rush of nausea hits me. How the hell can I face him and Philippa on Monday with the image of what I saw running through my head? How can I walk into our weekly meeting and look Cole in the eye?

And why do I keep thinking about Cole?

I turn off the shower and dress in my pajamas. I’m just coming out of the bathroom when the door buzzer sounds. The air evacuates my lungs, and I stand frozen.

“Dee, it’s him,” Alex calls. “What should I do? If you want, I can go down and give him hell.”

As tempting as it might be to curl up on the couch and let her rip him a new one—something the glitter in her eyes tells me she’d enjoy far too much—this is something I need to do myself.

I march to the living room and snatch up the intercom. I don’t say anything. He’ll have heard me pick up and know someone’s listening.

“Delilah? Is that you?”

“Yes.” It’s all I give him.

“Delilah, baby, please let me up so we can talk.”

My hand tightens around the handset. “No thank you. I’d prefer you don’t step foot in this apartment again.”

“Well, can you come down here? I really need to talk to you.”

“I won’t be coming down. If you have something to say, you can say it like this.”

He lets out a heavy sigh. “I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t know what you saw, but you have to know that I care about you so much. I would never want to hurt you. What happened tonight was just a lapse in judgment. That’s all. And if you’ll forgive me, I promise it will never happen again. Just...Just come down so I can see you.”

Anger is a hard stone in my chest. “You can’t be serious. A lapse in judgment? I saw you fucking her, Paul. And not just a random woman, someone I have to work with. How could you do that?”

“Baby, please—”

“Don’t call me baby. You don’t have the right anymore. Plus I never liked it.”

“Delilah—”

“You know what? I’ve heard enough. You disrespected me in the vilest way possible, and I have nothing more to say to you. At work, I’ll appreciate it if you limit our interactions to only those necessary for the completion of this project. And tell Philippa to stay the hell away from me.”

I hang up and Alex immediately wraps her arms around me, holding me as the tears I’ve been holding back finally spill over—more from anger and humiliation than heartbreak. “You’ll be all right. It hurts now, I know, but you’ll get over it and find someone so much better. I promise.”

I nod, even as tears continue to drip down my face.

I’ll take this moment to cry and let out all my hurt and disappointment and anger. And then on Monday, I’ll go to work with my head held high.

* * *

I checkthe time on my computer screen, then take a deep breath, pick up my phone, and connect to Cole’s PA line.

“Cole King’s office,” Samson answers.

“Hi. It’s Delilah West from the architectural team. I was wondering if I could get a quick meeting with Mr. King sometime today?”

“Hold on for a second.” The faint clicking of keys makes its way across the line. “He has fifteen minutes available this afternoon at one o’clock. Does that work?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”

I lower the receiver and clench my fists. I do not want to do this. I really don’t. But I will.

This morning, I’d done what I promised myself. I walked into the office with my head high, even though my stomach was in knots. Paul was waiting by my desk, and the anger that surged through me at the sight of his face took my breath away.

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