Page 49 of Ms. Fortune

“I will be out in time.”

“But you have no way of knowing that. We don’t know what time they’ll demand. And you don't know how long your testimony will take. It could take days, couldn’t it? What if I don’t have days?”

“I’ll be ready.” His voice rises, and his grip on my hands tightens, almost painfully. His eyes are such a dark green right now, the amber flecks in them sparkling sharply in the light of the office. He’s willing me to believe him, but I can’t. “I will be out and ready to get you back.”

I can only shake my head at him. He may as well ask me to believe in unicorns or the Loch Ness monster. Those would be more likely.

He puts his weight on one knee and pulls me closer, surrounding me with his body, and I lay my head on his shoulder. I know he’s trying to say the right thing to keep me calm, but I don’t need platitudes. The only comforting thing right now is the truth. And the truth is, we don’t know what the future will hold in the next few days. We could have only one day left together. And if that’s the case, I don’t want to spend our last night together like this, all stressed out and worried.

Whatever fate is going to do to us is already planned. All I can do is hold on for the ride, so I’ll hold on to Brandon while I can. Considering our rocky start, I don’t know how it happened, but I have fallen hard for this man. I’ve allowed myself to be vulnerable with him and given him my truth freely. I’ve never done that with anyone before, and if I make it through this, I’ll never do it again with anyone else. He’s it.

I can’t bring myself to say it, though. It feels way too soon. And maybe I’m just feeling this way because of the craziness surrounding us this whole time. If we were an average couple, it would probably take months to fall in love, right? How long does it usually take?

“You okay?” he whispers, and I notice he’s pulled back and is studying me.

“Huh? Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You looked like you checked out for a minute there.” A smile spreads from his lips, up to his cheeks, and into his eyes. Those damned dimples making an appearance. I can’t help but give my own small smile in return. It’s the best I can do.

“I’m okay. Really. Just tired, I guess.”

He stands and pulls me up with him, resting his hands on my shoulders.

“We should try to get some sleep. I have a feeling neither of us will find it easily tonight.”

This time I just go straight to bed with Brandon, not even trying to keep up the appearance of separation between us for Chelsie’s sake. If I tried to sleep alone, I would have zero chance. At least lying here with Brandon, with his arms around me, I might get at least a little sleep.

I’m curled up with my back against his chest, and he hasn’t stopped tracing lazy circles on my exposed shoulder. It’s both mesmerizing and unnerving at the same time. It could lull me to sleep if I didn’t know that he was deep in serious thought, just like me.

“What are you thinking about?” I whisper to the dark of the room, wanting to know but not wanting to disrupt his attempts at sleep.

His fingers hesitate for a second at my question but then go back to their design dance on my skin.

“You.”

“What about me, exactly?” I’m trying to keep my tone light, though I don’t feel it. My mood is anything but light. Maybe I’m hoping that a bit of banter between us will lift the atmosphere in the room.

He doesn’t answer for a long while, and if it weren’t for the constant swirls he’s drawing on me, I'd think he fell asleep.

“I care about you, Normandy,” he finally says. “Probably more than I’ve cared for anyone.”

I don’t say anything. I get the feeling that he has more to say but is figuring out how to say it. I know how that goes, so I give him time to go on.

“It doesn’t make sense since we haven’t known each other very long, but I kind of fell for you before we even met.”

“Before we met? How is that possible?” That makes me laugh, and I squeeze the hand I’m holding under my pillow.

His chest rumbles against my back as he laughs with me. “I saw your picture. You were in an intense conversation with someone, and I just knew that you were different somehow. You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, but your beauty went deeper than that, too. I don’t know how to explain it.”

I can picture him blushing behind me as he speaks, and the butterflies are back, fluttering around my rib cage, flying into each other. This is good. This is distracting and comforting.

“Well, I thought you were the most drop-dead gorgeous asshole I’d ever laid eyes on at my dad’s funeral.”

The next thing I know, my side is being pinched hard, tickling me and making me squirm with a yelp.

“Asshole, huh?” he growls into my ear. “Not all of us billionaires are assholes. But I guess I deserved that. I didn’t exactly put my best foot forward with you, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, no. You didn’t.”

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