Chapter 28
LUCIAN
Sleep had become a stranger. I'd been surviving on four hours a night for weeks, staring at my bedroom ceiling while my mind replayed every moment of that hotel room confrontation.
The look on Tessa's face when she'd told me it was over.
I should have stopped her, should have found the words to tell her that everything she thought she knew about my feelings was wrong.
But I'd sat there like a fool while she cut the last thread binding us together, and I haven't been the same since.
My reflection in the elevator doors showed the toll. My face was gaunt, my suits hanging looser as I'd lost a bit of weight. Food had lost all appeal, another casualty of the gaping hole Tessa's absence had torn in my heart.
I'd agreed to a no-strings arrangement, yes, but I'd never imagined she would be the one to walk away. The irony was suffocating.
By the time I realized I was in love with her, it was too late. She'd already decided I wasn't worth the risk.
The elevator opened on Daniel's floor, and I forced myself to focus on business.
End-of-year financials, budget projections, the mundane details that used to consume my attention so much that I missed my children's childhoods, but they now felt hollow and meaningless.
We had thirty minutes scheduled to review quarterly reports and discuss the annual holiday party—an event that would inevitably remind me of where everything began with Tessa.
Daniel sat at his desk when I walked in with his laptop open, ready for our meeting.
He gestured for me to sit across from his desk, but the stubborn grumpy attitude he'd had toward me seemed warmer now, less caustic.
"You look terrible," he said as he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Thank you for that assessment." I settled into the chair, trying to project the authority that felt increasingly foreign. "I'm not here to have a chat. Can we focus on the quarterly numbers?"
"Of course." He opened a file on his computer and began droning on.
I should've been paying attention, but all I could do was stare at the scrolling numbers feeling hollow.
"Revenue is up eight percent over last year, operating expenses are within projected parameters.
The Henderson acquisition is performing better than expected. "
Nodding, I sat back and sighed. I'd long since given up on obsessing over Tessa and where she might be.
The few times this past month that I'd run into her, she had been dismissive.
But forcing my mind to stay in the present with me didn't stop the ravenous echo of my internal grief. It made it hard to concentrate for more than a few minutes.
I sat through that meeting for twenty minutes, silent and blank. He didn't seem to notice at all.
"The holiday party planning has begun," Daniel continued. "Miss Wynn will be coordinating the event again, and after last year's mishap, we have backup contingencies in place."
Anger flared in my chest—irrational, misplaced rage that needed somewhere to land.
"Of course she will," I grumbled. The mere mention of the party set me off. I had no intention of going and being reminded of everything
I wanted but would never have. It was hard enough working in the same office with her and not seeing her.
"Since you've made her your personal assistant, she might as well handle your social events too.
She's good at it." I knew my tone was inappropriate and that jab was below the belt, but those words slipped out before I could stop them.
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "I thought the reassignment would be beneficial for both of you."
I laughed at him, but I was scowling. "You thought the reassignment would save your ass when my ex-wife put a knife in my heart."
"Lucian—"
"Don't." I stood abruptly, pacing toward the windows. "You orchestrated this entire thing because of Viktoria. Moved Tessa away from me before I had a chance to—" I stopped myself before the words could escape.
Before I had a chance to what?
To tell her I loved her?
To fight for what we had instead of letting corporate politics tear us apart?
"Before you had a chance to what?" Daniel's voice carried a knowing edge that made my stomach clench.
I turned back to face him, seeing understanding in his expression that cut too close to the truth. "It doesn't matter now."
"You love her, don't you?"
I couldn't deflect or deny it when he asked me so directly. I'd spent months lying to myself, rationalizing my feelings as physical attraction or professional admiration.
But sitting in this office, confronted by my oldest friend's direct question, the truth was inescapable.
I sank back into the chair, suddenly exhausted. "Yes."
Daniel sighed and sat back, rubbing his face. "Lucian…"
"Did she tell you or something?" I asked, feeling a familiar knot of panic rising.
"She told me you'd been mentoring her. That she'd developed inappropriate feelings and ended things to protect both your careers." His voice was gentle, but each word felt like he was choosing them carefully. "She didn't mention your side of it."
Of course she hadn't.
Tessa had taken responsibility for everything, painted herself as the one who'd crossed professional boundaries, never revealing that I'd been the one pursuing her from the beginning.
"She thinks it was just physical," I said quietly.
"That I was using her for sex and business advantage.
" I was walking right into a raging inferno with my eyes wide open, praying that some semblance of the relationship I'd had with Daniel for twenty years still remained untouched by Viktoria's callous manipulation.
"Were you?"
"No. God, no." I had to scrub a hand over my face to maintain my composure. he wasn't trying to offend me. He was curious. "She became…" I struggled to find words adequate to describe what Tessa meant to me. "She became everything. I just didn't realize it until it was too late."
Daniel leaned back in his chair, studying my face while shaking his head. "Viktoria's been relentless in her campaign against you. She's contacted every board member individually, painting your relationship with Miss Wynn as evidence of declining judgment and moral compromise."
I knew all of this, but hearing it repeated made the anger return full-force. "And how many believed her?"
"Robert Vaughn and two others are wavering. But the rest see through her manipulation." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "What they're really concerned about is your performance. Your focus. Your ability to lead effectively."
"My performance has been exemplary."
"Has it?" Daniel's tone remained neutral, but his meaning was clear. "Because from where I sit, you've been distracted for months. Moody, unfocused, making decisions based on emotion rather than logic."
The criticism stung because it held truth I didn't want to acknowledge.
My obsession with Tessa, my inability to maintain professional boundaries, had affected my judgment in ways I'd been too proud to admit.
"But," Daniel continued, his voice warming slightly, "the months when you were happy, when whatever was happening between you two was working, you were sharper than I've seen you in years. More innovative, more decisive. A happy CEO is good for business, Lucian."
I looked up sharply when I realized what he was intending. "Are you saying—"
"I'm saying that love isn't weakness. And anyone who's watched you two together would have to be blind not to see what you mean to each other." He closed the financial reports, effectively ending our business discussion. "The question is what you plan to do about it."
I still felt that Daniel was wrong. The board would never support me if I chose to pursue Tessa in light of Viktoria's pushing. The whole thing was a mess.
Viktoria just wanted me to suffer in any way possible and she would do anything it took. Including have my own board oust me while she sells her shares off, all to secure a binding contract saying Blake or Elena was the new CEO.
And neither of them were anywhere near ready for that level of responsibility.
But Daniel was right. I didn't want any of this, for myself or my adult children, if I was miserable.
"I need to find her," I said abruptly as I realized what had to be done. "I need to tell her the truth."
I didn't stop to wait for his response. I was already moving toward the door when my phone rang.
The caller ID made my blood freeze. Viktoria. After weeks of silence, she was contacting me directly. My instant thought was to tell her to buzz off, so I swiped to answer.
"What?" I answered without pleasantries.
"Elena's been in an accident." Viktoria didn't sound like herself. Fear dripped from every syllable. "Lu, She's at Northwestern Memorial. You need to come now."
Viktoria hadn't used that name in a decade or more. I knew it was bad. My blood ran cold. "How bad?"
"It's really bad, baby. She's unconscious. She needs us. The doctors…" Her composure cracked slightly. "Just get here, Lucian."
The line went dead, and I stared at the phone in disbelief. Elena. My beautiful, stubborn daughter who'd finally started letting me back into her life…
Fear wrapped around my heart and mind and adrenaline surged in my body.
"What's wrong?" Daniel was beside me, staring at me in concern.
"Elena. Car accident. I have to—" I couldn't finish the sentence, couldn't acknowledge the possibility that I might lose her just when we'd started rebuilding our relationship.
"Go," Daniel said firmly. "I'll handle everything here."
I rushed toward the elevator, my mind racing between Elena lying unconscious in a hospital bed and how badly I wanted to go to Tessa.
The irony wasn't lost on me—just when I'd found the courage to fight for love, life reminded me how quickly everything could be taken away.