Chapter 18 #2
I stared out of the office windows, the city skyline looking back at me. “I saw her today.”
“Who?”
“Tori.”
“Should I know who that is?”
I looked back at her, reading the confusion. I’d forgotten that I had kept everything about Tori from her. Not that she would have asked, but after she’d had me delete Tori’s contact information, I’d never mentioned her again. Keeping all my thoughts of her to myself.
“The fiancé I destroyed.” Saying the words brought it all back. The excitement of proposing, the moments of happiness that existed despite the storm brewing outside our bubble.
“You did?”
“Yeah.” I scratched my neck before taking another drink.
“And?”
“She has a kid.” Who might be mine, I wanted to add, but I didn’t have confirmation, and without that, I would stay silent.
“Oh, well, that’s good. See, she moved on without you. Now you can move on and stop pining over her.”
“I’m not pining.”
“Whatever you want to call it.”
A knock at the open door had my eyes rising to see Tina, our head of Human Resources. “I have the files for tomorrow’s candidates.”
I rubbed my forehead. “That’s tomorrow morning, right?”
“Yes, do you want to review them now?”
“No, just leave them. You and Liv reviewed them. I’ll look at them before the interviews.”
She dropped the files on the corner of the desk. Liv flicked through them as Tina left.
“Your morning interview is the one I’d go with. Smart, proven track record, worked her way up fast. The afternoon has good credentials, but he has a pattern of leaving positions quickly. Screams red flags and lawsuit threats to me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind when I talk to him.” Rising, I stretched my neck, trying to release the tension that had been sitting there all day. “I need to take a walk.” She closed the files and swiveled to me. “Maybe take the rest of the day off.”
Brow pinching, she said, “Let her go, Gabe. It’s been over five years.”
Yet it seemed like only hours ago that I’d left her. Being so close to her again had awakened a yearning in my chest I couldn’t ignore. I left the office, my mind on Tori, where it stayed the rest of the day.
My knock echoed through the quiet hall, and I rested my hand on the doorframe while I waited for an answer. Nerves threatened to make me walk away, but I shoved them down just as Tori answered. Her dusty eyes went large before they narrowed.
“Go away.” She tried to close the door, but I stopped it with my hand, forcing my way into the suite.
Crossing her arms, she glared at me, daggers piercing me with the anger etched in her features.
Still, she looked as beautiful as the day I first saw her.
Ebony hair clipped up in a messy bun that left thick strands draping down her neck.
Her jeans hugged her figure, her sweater engulfing the top half. “What do you want, Gabe?”
“It’s the tall man.” I turned my attention from her to see the boy in his pajamas staring up at me.
“You’ve seen tall men before, Reid. Uncle Cash is tall.
Now get back into bed.” Still, he stared at me, his head tilting, and I wondered if he saw the similarities like I now did.
They were striking, and my need to hear Tori admit it, to drive the daggers further into me, had me clenching my fists.
“Go.” She shooed him off with her hands, and he ran back into the bedroom.
“Whose is he, Tori?”
She whipped her head around toward me. “So fast to accuse me of moving on, yet now you want to know?”
I rubbed my temple. “It was a gut reaction.”
“I have several gut reactions to you being in my presence, but I’m not jumping to conclusions.
” She pressed her hands on her forehead before storming to the coffee table and grabbing her wine.
After taking a sip, she said, “He’s mine.
I’m his mother and his father, the one who carried him for nine months by myself, the one who gave birth to him without his father there, the one who is raising him to be nothing like his father. ”
It was like a slap in the face, but I deserved it.
“You left me, Gabe. Two months before our wedding. Disappeared without a trace, blocked me, erased all our ties to each other. Without a word. Decided another woman was what you needed—”
“Is that what you thought?” I almost stumbled back with the accusation.
“I didn’t have to think it. Get out, Gabe. I owe you nothing.”
“Tori, I didn’t—”
“Get out and just leave me alone. You hurt me enough. I won’t let you hurt him, too.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Frustrated, I stepped closer to her. “Who is his father, Victoria?” I could hear the anger surface, but it wasn’t directed at her. It was self-inflicted because I had let this happen, and it was aimed at my father for forcing my hand, for threatening to damage her.
“Two months before our wedding, Gabe. Why do that to me? Why pretend to love me when you had another woman? Why bother?”
“Damn it, Tori. There was no other woman. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now tell me who the fuck his father is.” The ire came out in succinct sound bites and a level of swearing I barely used unless pressed. Her head snapped back, eyes flaring.
“He’s yours. There was no other man, and I didn’t rebound quickly. I never rebounded because you left too much damage.” The crack in her voice simmered my aggression. Her confirmation of what I feared tore me into pieces.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked before I realized I’d just added fuel to the fire.
Her features twisted as she snapped, “Tell you? So you could ignore my texts and my calls? Delete my voicemails? I tried to contact you for weeks until I convinced myself you weren’t coming back.
And when that pregnancy test confirmed that I’d been stupid and too wrapped up in you to use my common sense, I tried again.
That’s when I realized what a liar and cheat you were.
How your word meant nothing. It didn’t help the pain, didn’t erase the wound you left, but it helped me regain my dignity.
I tried to tell you, Gabe, but you were too busy with your life to care. ”
I took another step toward her, still trying to figure out why she thought I had cheated.
The idea made my guilt tenfold because never once had I even thought of anyone but her.
To this day, there had been no other that I’d even looked at, let alone touched.
No one would compare to her, so I hadn’t even bothered to look.
“Stop,” she said, putting her hand up. “Leave, Gabe. It took me years to get over you.” Tears glistened in her eyes, making the blue sparkle. “Just leave me alone. Please, I can’t have this conversation. The wounds are still too raw, and you don’t deserve it.”
Five years, eight months, twenty-three days, and she had just admitted her wounds were still raw, like mine. As much as I wanted to celebrate it, I hated that she’d suffered for so long. That I had been the reason for that suffering.
“Please.” Her plea was a broken string of syllables, and I lowered my head.
Tucking my hands in my pockets, I said, “You’re right. I deserve nothing but your anger. I’m sorry…for everything.”
I turned and walked away, knowing it was the best for her. All I was doing was causing her pain again, and I didn’t want to ever have her suffer at my hands again.
Returning to my room, I sat in the dark, scotch in hand, and thought about all I’d lost that day and all I would never get back.
Knowing I had two interviews to prepare for, I flicked my light on and pulled the two folders out Tina had prepared for me.
After flipping through the first one, Liv’s thoughts on the red flags were now my thoughts.
I needed someone who would stick with us because restructuring the pieces of our business that we’d broken up through the past few years wouldn’t be easy.
I had plans for the company, and that meant a sound financial plan.
One I had in place for our part of the business but had slaughtered in my father’s company.
It was time to merge the resorts and hotels back together and then segment the other branches into an organized flow.
That meant someone who wouldn’t leave after a year. I dropped his folder to the floor, thinking his interview would be nothing more than a waste of time. My drink fell from my hand when I opened the second folder and stared at the name on the resume.
Victoria Hent.