Chapter Thirteen
A WEEK HAS PASSED SINCE Wynd walked away from me in that boardroom, and I'm a heartbroken bundle of nerves as I approach the entrance of one of San Antonio's most exclusive restaurants.
He texted me out of the blue this morning, asking to meet.
Can we meet tonight?
A man of few words, he still is, as always.
The restaurant's interior is warm and luxurious. It's the kind of place where conversations are conducted in hushed tones, and so I immediately stand out in my dandelion-yellow dress.
Wynd rises to his feet the moment he sees me, and my heart aches just looking at him.
He's still devastatingly beautiful, still the kind of man who commands attention without trying. He's dazzling, to put it simply, and wherever he goes, everyone is appropriately... dazzled, myself included, unfortunately.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me," he says quietly as I take my seat across from him.
I can only manage a nod. I thought I could handle seeing him again. But I was wrong. Just being this near to him has memories flooding my mind, and all of them make me want to either cry...or beg for him to give us another chance.
But since I can't do either if I want what's best for Samuel—
"Why do you want to meet?" I ask jerkily.
His jaw clenches at the question. "Isn't it proper etiquette to indulge in small talk before getting down to business?"
"Not between us."
"And why is that?" he demands in a rough undertone. "Is simply being apart enough to turn me into an enemy in your eyes?"
No, I think painfully. Never.
Because he's so much worse, being the man who's stolen my heart without any intention to keep it, and I am still far from over him.
"Could you...could you just tell me what you want?"
One of his fists clenches over the table. "I'd like to talk about Samuel."
My eyes start stinging as soon as I hear his name, and I have to bite my lip hard to keep it from trembling. "W-What about him?"
"May I...may I speak with him?"
His words have me jerking in shock. "Why would you—" I look at him in a mixture of shock and confusion. "I thought you adopted him."
It's Wynd's turn to jerk in his seat, an expression of disbelief on his handsome face. "I had a chance to speak with Brenda last week..."
Is he talking about the orphanage's manager?
"She had to leave the fundraiser to meet with a woman. A prospective parent who was at the top of her list, and someone she was hoping would no longer be single..."
Oh, Wynd.
I slowly shake my head. "It wasn't me. And I won't...I've decided not to fight you over the right to adopt Samuel."
"Why? Don't you want him anymore?"
My nails dig into my palms as I force myself to say the truth. "I love him, Wynd. I'll always love him. But it's because I love him that I...I want him to be with you. He'll have a better future with you."
"Are you sure of that?" he asks tonelessly. "I can only provide for him. But if you...if you fall in love with someone else—"
"I'm sorry. I have to go." I'm already on my feet while speaking, and I'm walking away without any intention to hear the rest of what he has to say.
For him to talk about me with another man so, so easily...doesn't that mean he's already moved on?
So why can't it be the same for me, too?
Please help me, God.
Why am I still in love with him?
"Star—"
I walk faster as soon as I hear his voice behind me.
No, no, no.
I need to be as far away from him as possible. I need to get out of here before I completely break down in front of half of San Antonio's elite. I just— noooo!
I've only made it halfway across the dining room before long fingers cup my elbow from behind, and then he's spinning me around in the middle of the restaurant's main corridor.
Tears are already streaming down my cheeks before our gazes even meet, and they only spill faster when I hear him groan.
"Star, God, no..."
Wynd hauls me to his chest, and his arms only tighten around me when I struggle to free myself.
A part of me is reeling in shock, unable to comprehend how my billionaire of ice seems completely indifferent to the fact that everyone in the restaurant is staring...at us.
But the other part of me is just...hurting. It's the part of me that loves him still, the part of me that is trying so, so hard not to break into pieces.
"Wynd, p-please—"
"You know I love you, don't you?"
A sob escapes me at the hoarsely spoken words.
Why is he doing this?
Why?
"And I know you love me back."
Why tell me this when he's still determined to leave?
"But I also thought love made people selfish...until you."
W-What is he saying?
Wynd's hands are shaking as he cups my face, and God, oh God...
What I see in his icy blue eyes scares me to death...because it makes me want to hope.
It makes me want to believe again.
Please, God, please.
In all the days since Wynd walked out, all I've done is pray.
But not once did I hear God ask me to let him go.
"I know you're scared, Star. So am I."
And now, it's as if God's speaking through my Wynd, with his heart completely exposed and made vulnerable by his words.
The walls he used to hide behind are completely gone, and that scares me even more.
"But walking away from you was the biggest mistake of my life, and...that's when I realized—"
Oh God, please.
All I can do is look at him...because I'm still too scared to hope.
"There's nothing more terrifying than to envision a future without you and Samuel."
Wynd, oh Wynd.
The moment I start smiling through my tears, Wynd hauls me back into his arms, a violent shudder rocking his powerful frame as my body melts against his.
His mouth covers mine, hungrily and desperately, and all I can do is kiss him back even as my tears won't stop falling.
When he pulls away, all the love I never thought I could find is shining in his eyes—
Oh dear God, how?
"Will you give me another chance, Star?"
My billionaire of ice goes down on bended knee, and it's only when the entire restaurant bursts in applause that I even remember it's not just the two of us, and we're still in a public place.
"Will you do me the honor of being my wife?"