Chapter 38
Emma
“ D id I not tell you he’d be a disappointment?”
I tear my eyes away from the fabric swatches quilting my desk and look up at Carter, who’s fixing a cuff link in the doorway. He grins at my glare. “A phone call would’ve saved you the time it took to fly out here and be ignored.”
“Maybe if I treated you like an afterthought, I’d get more of your time.”
Carter’s barb reaches its target and detonates. He pushes off the doorframe to waltz into my office in a wheat suit tailored to his frame. He flew thousands of miles to rub salt in my wound; he doesn’t care if it stings.
Miles left. Vanished without a trace or a forwarding address.
It’s a reality I’m still wrapping my head around.
The extended stay in Big Sur was everything I never knew I wanted. Miles and I tethered ourselves to hidden parts of us we rarely uncover. I saw him. I bared myself to him.
Miles was a man at peace, comfortable in nature’s white noise, the sound he uses as an escape. Behind his unapologetic mouth and wild antics is a person with a gentleness reserved for a few.
It was perfect until it wasn’t.
We returned to Malibu Sunday and made love on the beach underneath the stars the entire night. By Monday, it was back to our routines. He left for work, or so I thought, and never came back. His computers, clothes, rental car. All gone. One day of silence stretched into four.
Now every moment of last weekend is on repeat as I look for a clue to explain how Miles could walk out of my life so easily after everything we shared. Something distracted him when he checked his computer before bed on Sunday, but nothing set off alarms or explained his abrupt departure.
Clearly, I was wrong.
I don’t stay in the same place for long. Once I’m done, I’m done.
The confession doesn’t match the parts of himself he showed me.
I want to try, Em.
It’s okay to be scared. You’re not alone…
Nothing makes sense.
“Did he have the courtesy to tell you he was leaving?” Carter steps closer, his head tilted, his ego ready to press another button. “Imagine my surprise when I stopped by Carrillo’s office and heard Miles ended his contract early. Gone without a trace.” His brows narrow, hardening his eyes into stone. “Did you get bored of him, or was it the other way around?”
Miles never attempted to reach out. My calls went straight to voicemail, an automated reminder of my place in his life.
Proof he was okay came as a slap to the face when I called Lorenzo’s office and he informed me Miles left the state. Lorenzo and I don’t speak, but he’s close with Miles and knows we’re together. The twist of the dagger was sharp and steady when I heard the question he didn’t ask: why didn’t I know?
Miles plays games, but I never thought my heart would be one.
Carter isn’t fooling anybody with his pop-in. He never came to see me alone and waited until Miles left California to play in my face. My father gets updates on Lorenzo’s data security bill in Washington. The only time he wasn’t too busy to make the trip to California was when it involved donors. He’s yet to ask for updates about my relationship, let alone my well-being. My father didn’t send Carter here, which doesn’t answer why he’s in my office. On a day when Congress is in session, no less.
He’s here with his condescending tone. For what? To get the upper hand, see me worn down in despair?
I sit back in my chair, wrinkle-free and without a hair out of place.
My blouse and slacks: designer.
My stilettos: imported.
My smirk at Carter’s inability to read me: priceless.
“What’s your play, Carter?” I’m confused about why Miles left, but I’m not broken. I will pick myself up. I always do.
“You’re a smart girl, Emma, or so I thought?” His tongue drags over his lips. “You’ve wasted enough time impersonating a relationship. He cleans up well, but he isn’t your type—nor does he belong in the same vicinity as this family, as he’s proved.”
My gaze roams over the lean muscles spread out in my office chair. Carter has aged well over the years. He’s still handsome and keeps himself tailored to perfection. But he’s a coward at his core.
“You wait until Miles leaves California to express your affection while gloating at my expense? I’m surprised my father took you off the leash and let you fly over. Do us both a favor and get out.”
Carter stands and buttons his suit jacket with a glower. “You’ll regret this, Em. I’ll give you time to lick your wounds and come to your senses. We’re tied together, whether you like it or not.”
I’m not my mother nor my cousin. Power and the pursuit of fortune don’t move me, least of all into a relationship. If I ever choose to tie myself to one person for the rest of my life, it will be for love. I’ve felt its absence for so long, but I know a crumb is not a meal.
“Remember your responsibilities, Emma. John expects his only daughter by his side before the primaries. You’ve blown off this family long enough.” He steps closer and brushes his thumb over my jaw. His voice lowers. “Don’t shut me out. I have everything you need.”
My skin prickles at Carter’s hand on my neck. The grip isn’t tight but forces a sharp inhale at his lips hovering over my mouth. “Stop fighting us,” he whispers.
“I’ve had enough of people telling me what to do.” I peel his hand off, step back, and nod to the door. “Goodbye, Carter. Go find the real reason you flew here.”
Something is at play. I’m not sure what, but Carter’s charm can’t mask it. I trust my gut.
The same gut that told you to trust Miles?
Carter is right about one thing: Miles is a disappointment I never saw coming. I don’t want to believe it, but I won’t make the same mistake twice.