Chapter Fifty-Two – Cullen
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CULLEN
I sprint down the street, the balmy air causing sweat to pool down the center of my back.
The lunch-hour congestion is a complete bitch. Taking a rideshare in this traffic would’ve been pointless, so the best I’ve been able to do is grab a subway that got me close to the restaurant and book it five blocks.
Bridget’s updates haven’t been helpful. They are just iterations of all the ways Garrett seems to be flirting.
How did he even know that Verity and I aren’t together?
I slow down as I get to the corner, spotting Bridget.
She’s sitting on a stool inside the wine bar, sipping a glass of frosé and watching the restaurant across the street through her ginormous sunglasses.
It’s a nice day out, so the wine bar has raised all the windows, exposing the counter seating in the front of the house to the street.
I slap my palm on the dark wood counter, jolting her.
“Am I too late?”
“Well, they’re over there.” She slides her sunglasses down her nose a fraction and then flicks her eyes behind me. “See him in the white shirt, pouring the red wine?”
I don’t need her description of Garrett, because I zero in on Verity in an instant. My body is trained to pick her out even in the densest crowds.
“They’ve eaten their meal and are now just chatting and drinking. It’s all very chill but also kinda flirtatious on his end. I honestly didn’t expect this based off Hannah’s updates. I thought Verity was still...” Bridget trails off, pursing her lips together.
“Still what?”
“Nothing.” She takes a deep suck through her straw, using the frosé to avoid my question.
It doesn’t matter; I have to deal with this Garrett issue.
“Hold this.”
I take off my backpack and slide it onto the counter. I smooth down the sides of my hair, straighten my suit jacket and vest, and then start heading over to the restaurant.
“Wait!” Bridget calls out. “What’s your plan?”
I peer at her over my shoulder. “I don’t have one. Why? You got any bright ideas?”
“For once, no. Good luck. Gimme a signal if you need backup.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, just something.”
“All right. Sure. Thanks, B.”
“Any time.”
I check the street for traffic before jogging across the asphalt, not bothering with the crosswalk. With each pound of my foot on the pavement, my heart beats faster in my chest. The distance between Verity and me closes with each second that passes, and I start to get nervous.
I’ve spent the last few weeks observing her from afar, letting her go about her life without any direct interruptions from me. It has definitely bordered on being a little creepy, like Hannah pointed out, but it was all I could do.
I crave Verity like a drug, and no amount of detox can rid her from my system.
God. I didn’t think it was possible for her to get any more beautiful, but somehow, she has.
The light turns her golden hair into rays of sunshine.
She tucks a stray tendril behind her ear, exposing the smooth skin of her neck.
That natural urge to run my tongue down the column to her collarbone rises with a twitch of my cock.
She smiles, drawing attention to her rose-tinted lips.
I’ve missed kissing those lips, missed sucking and biting on them in a way that causes little moans in the back of her throat.
They’re sitting at a table that is set up for three people, but only the two of them are present.
For some reason, Garrett has inched his chair so he’s practically sitting next to Verity.
He leans his head a little too close for my liking, so he can whisper something.
Why he needs to whisper with no one else present is lost on me.
It just cements Bridget’s observation that he is making a move.
Garrett rests a palm on her shoulder, his fingers touching her bare skin, and any common sense I possess goes flying out the window.
I grab his hand and peel it from her skin, barely containing myself.
The two of them startle, Verity looking up at me with a doe-eyed expression, while Garrett seems as though he doesn’t have a guilty bone in his body.
“You good, Garrett?” The words pass through clenched teeth.
“Cullen, hey. What’re you doing here?”
“Keeping you in check, it seems.”
“What’re you on about?”
“Really. Did you think you could take Verity on a date behind my back?”
“Wait, Cullen.” Verity pries my hand from Garrett’s, taking it between her own. Her touch grounds me, causing reality to reappear. “It’s nothing like that.”
“You two aren’t on a date?”
Garrett scoffs. “Why would I be on a date with your girlfriend? That’s weird, even for me.”
Wait.
He doesn’t even know we broke up?
Verity didn’t mention that to him?
I eye her cautiously, trying to get a read on the situation. I stormed in here believing one thing and am now finding myself lost and potentially looking like an ass. I don’t want to fumble this any more than I already have.
Verity averts her gaze and subtly chews on the corner of her bottom lip. She releases my hand and balls her own in her lap.
“You’re both still here? Wonderful.” A shadow falls across the table, the assured voice breaking into our little bubble.
“Nick.” Garrett stands up, straightening his tie as he greets the man. “We just finished, but there are still a couple of glasses of red left in the bottle, if you have the time?”
Verity follows suit, rushing to her feet and mimicking Garrett’s eagerness. “Mr. Harver, it’s a pleasure to officially meet you. Thank you for putting your trust in me.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Moore. I look forward to your work.”
He pulls out the extra seat at the table, and I start to wonder what exactly I’ve walked in on.
Nick is an imposing man. He runs the Harver Group with a tight fist and is even hungrier than the agents in his employ. He reached out to me a few months back about heading a new office in Miami, hoping that the extra dollar signs could poach me from RARE.
He takes a sip of the red wine Garrett pours, noticing me off to the side.
“Ross, what’re you doing here?” He gives me a teasing smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re taking me up on my offer?”
“You wish.”
“Worth a shot. I see you followed through on your promise to return to the city. You’ve been quite the pain in the ass, I heard. You nabbed that storefront on Fifth Ave and the one on Madison, didn’t you?”
“You’re paying close attention to the commercial sphere. Don’t tell me you’re interested?”
“I just like to know where all the players sit on the board.” He seems to remember something, and frowns, checking his watch. “Weren’t you looking into Clifton Bank? They’re supposed to be closing the deal with Vanguard today—this very second, actually. Right, Price?”
“They are, and I told him.” Garrett rests an arm on the back of his chair, nodding at me. “I even went through the effort of giving you the time and the location of the meeting as a favor for introducing us to Verity. So I don’t get why you’re up here and not there.”
Well, that sort of answers one of my thousand questions.
Now, how do I walk away from this without seeming like a jealous ex-lover?
Before I have a chance to come up with something, Verity’s sweet voice slices through my train of thought.
“Wait, you skipped out on a meeting with Clifton Bank to come here?”
“Yes.”
“Why? You’ve been chasing that deal for months. It’s important to you. How—”
“Because Bridget saw you with Garrett.” I toss my thumb across the street to where Bridget still sits, sipping her drink.
She raises her hand in a twinkling wave.
I let my soul bleed through my eyes as I center my gaze on Verity.
“Nothing else mattered in that moment. You’re my priority, Verity. Always have been, always will be.”
I can see her mind racing, taking my words and replaying them to hear everything I’m not saying.
“But couldn’t you lose the listing?”
“I’d rather that than lose you.”
There’s a beat of silence. My implication lies heavy in the air.
Garrett clears his throat, reminding us awkwardly that we have an audience.
But I don’t really give a fuck about Garrett, or Nick, or anyone else for that matter.
I want to talk to Verity. I want to work things out. I want to get on my knees and beg her to take me back.
Fuck it.
I drop to my knees before Verity, my suit scuffing on the pavement. Her eyes blow wide as I reach out and hold her hands, the stares of everyone around me fading to nothing.
“Verity, I know I shouldn’t be here, but when it comes to you, I don’t think straight.
You occupy my mind every minute of every day.
All I want is to make you happy, to make you smile, and it kills me to know that my mistakes caused the opposite.
I fucked up and I broke your trust, broke your heart—and that’s on me.
But I’m begging you to give me another chance.
I don’t care if it makes me look ridiculous, and I don’t care if it costs me millions of dollars; that all means nothing when it comes to you. ”
Tears start to well up in her eyes, turning those baby blues into a watery ocean.
“I’ve spent the last ten years believing that I’d never find love again.
Except you appeared like an angel sent from the heavens to save me, and I realized that the world was giving me a second chance.
You have changed my life for the better—you are the rainbow that appears after the rain.
I’ll never give up on you, never stop loving you, because I know that for the rest of my life, you are the one I am meant to be with.
But the last thing I want to do is cause you more pain.
So, tell me to stay, tell me we can work things out.
Just say the words, because I’m already yours. ”
A tear rolls down her cheek, but she says nothing.
Minutes pass, questionable chatter from the patrons around us filling the silence, and my heart cracks in half.
I give her hands a final squeeze and then push to my feet, brushing the dirt off my knees.
I drag my attention to Garrett and Nick.
“Sorry for interrupting.”
I leave with a short nod, turning on my heel and walking away. There’s a burning embarrassment in my chest at ripping my heart out and leaving it on the ground. I’d thought she might say something, but I’d been prepared for her to say nothing.
I fucked up.
I broke her trust.
But I’m not giving up.
I will keep showing up until I earn her trust back.
I’m not afraid to grovel and to put in the work.
I’ll play the long game.
Because this is no longer about making her mine. This is about her choosing me.