Chapter Fifty-Seven Ella
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Ella
“Stay a few more days?”
My heart stumbles at his suggestion.
For one reckless second, I almost say yes.
Yes, I want to stay and have more mornings like this, pretending this thing between us isn’t temporary.
But sitting here in Tiero’s arms as the first light stretches across the sea, I know better.
If I stay longer, I’ll only grow more attached to the man who has already shifted something permanent inside me. Leaving won’t hurt less. It will hurt more.
No. This has to end.
I’d rather have the pain of goodbye now than wait and make it ten times worse.
“I wish I could,” I say quietly. “I really do. But I have to go back to Ireland. I’m expected at work Monday morning. We’ve got new puppies arriving. It’s all hands on deck.”
He doesn’t respond immediately. His arm tightens slightly around me.
“And besides,” I add, forcing lightness into my tone, “what would I even do here? You have an empire to run. I’d only be in your way.”
His jaw flexes, but he doesn’t argue.
The sun climbs higher, dissolving the last of the pink sky into pale blue. I shift in his arms so I can see him properly in the growing light.
God, he’s beautiful.
Not just the sharp lines of his face or the golden warmth of his skin. It’s the way he looks at me. Like I am something worth holding on to.
Our eyes meet, and we lean in at the same time.
The kiss is slow. There’s no urgency or hunger to consume.
He rests his forehead against mine, and for a while, we simply breathe each other in.
For a few dangerous minutes, I let myself pretend I’m not leaving, and that this island isn’t just a pause between two separate lives.
But the illusion fades as quickly as the early morning cool when Tiero’s yacht appears in the bay.
Reality has arrived.
Tiero is down by the beach talking on the phone while I pack my bag.
I should call Rhia to confirm she’s picking me up from the airport tomorrow, but I hesitate. My conversation with Tiero earlier has put me in a sullen mood, and I know Rhia will pick up on it.
Still, now is the time to do it while Tiero is occupied.
So I pick up my phone and dial her number.
To my surprise, she answers immediately.
“Thank goodness you’re up. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be asleep.” It’s Saturday, after all, the only day she allows herself to sleep in.
“I wish,” she laughs. “I’m finishing my presentation for Monday. No sleep for the ambitious.”
It’s so good to hear her familiar voice. I’ve missed talking to her.
“How’s it coming along?”
“I’m going to blow them out of the water. They won’t know what hit them.”
“I have no doubt. You’re a force to be reckoned with.”
She hums in satisfaction. “So. How is life on the private island? I still can’t believe he owns one. You lucky bitch.”
I glance out toward the sea, where Tiero stands on the beach, phone pressed to his ear.
“That I am,” I admit. “But we’re leaving soon. The yacht’s here. We’ll be back in Sicily this afternoon. You’re still picking me up tomorrow, right?”
“Sure am. I can’t wait to have you back. By then I’ll have this presentation finished, and we can go out to dinner.”
“Sounds good,” is all I manage to say through the lump in my throat.
There’s a beat of silence on her end.
“And how are you feeling about leaving Tiero?” Like always, Rhia gets straight to the point.
I exhale slowly. “Conflicted. He asked me to stay longer.”
“And?”
“I said no. It’s only delaying the inevitable.”
Another pause.
“You’ve fallen in love with him, haven’t you?” Rhia asks.
I close my eyes.
“I don’t think I ever stood a chance not to,” I admit, sinking down on the bed. “You know me. I get attached way too quickly. But is it love? Or just… infatuation? We’re on a hormone high with an expiration date. Of course everything feels amplified.”
I lean back against the headboard.
“He treats me like a princess and looks at me like I’m the only woman in the world. Apparently he’s never brought a woman to his island before.”
“Doesn’t that tell you something?” she asks gently.
I scrunch up my face. “What?”
“That you’re more than just a convenient fling.”
“He might have done all these things because he knows I’m going home and won’t lay any claim on him.”
“Why ask you to stay longer then?”
“Because he likes the sex?”
“I’m sure he does,” she chuckles. “But to me that sounds like more. Why not stay and find out?”
“Because I have a life to get back to. This time with him… it’s like a fantasy. It’s not sustainable.” My hand clenches into a fist.
“Ella,” she says, but I cut her off.
“It’s been what? A week? You don’t build forever in seven days.”
“Nine days,” she corrects, because of course her brain operates in data.
I shake my head even though she can’t see me. As if those two extra days would make any difference.
“He’s never had a girlfriend. He doesn’t tell me much about his world. Twice I’ve seen him turn cold and angry, and it scared me—”
“He scared you?”
“Yes… no. I mean, he was angry, not at me. But it showed me there’s a completely different side to him. And trust me, I don’t want to see more of it.”
The unease of watching him change right before my eyes resurfaces. Yet when I think of the man who gave me the necklaces or holds me so tenderly, I wonder if I imagined it. Those two sides of him just don’t fit together.
“People have lots of facets,” Rhia says. “I imagine business can be tough, and he has to be… how did you describe it… cold. As long as he treats you well, that’s okay.”
Is it that simple? I don’t voice my doubts and settle for, “I suppose.”
“I think you’re afraid,” Rhia says. “And not of him.”
Her words lodge under my skin.
“Maybe,” I whisper.
“Tell me, what are you afraid of?”
Of losing myself.
Of being steamrolled. He has a tendency to decide things without ever asking.
“We live in two very different realities,” I say instead. “I don’t know if they’re compatible.”
She sighs dramatically. “You’re overthinking.”
“Am I?” I counter. “Chemistry wears off. This… intensity won’t last forever.”
“And what if there’s something real underneath it?”
There’s silence between us.
What if there is?
“Even with something real beneath it, the basics have to mesh. And I don’t think they do.
” I look around me. “Rhi, I’m on a freaking private island.
I got here on a superyacht… or boat… or whatever the proper name for it is.
Yesterday, Tiero flew out of here in a helicopter he owns.
This isn’t my world. It’s fun for a few days, but forever?
I don’t know if it’s what I want. I’m out of my depth with him. ”
“Then learn how to swim.”
“Well, when you learn how to swim, you usually don’t start in the open, dark sea. You start in a pool. Remember the dating guru we followed for a while?” I ask. “What was his name… Timothy something?”
“Timothy Wood,” Rhia chimes in.
“Wood? Was that really his name?” It sounds made up, but it’s memorable. Exactly the kind of name you’d want in that industry.
“Yep. And you had a crush on him.”
That was easy to do. Timothy Wood was… is totally hot. Though I would never admit that out loud.
“Anyway. Remember what he said about the One?”
“No.”
“He said there isn’t just one person out there meant for you.
” Even though Tiero seems to believe it wholeheartedly.
“There are thousands of people you could be extremely happy with. And when people talk about ‘the One,’ they usually mean someone who has the qualities they’re looking for and who wants the same kind of relationship. ”
“While that sounds reasonable,” Rhia says, “I still believe Lex was meant for me and only me. But besides that, how does what you just said disqualify Tiero from running for the top spot?”
“I don’t know if Tiero has the qualities that matter to me. Or if he even wants a serious relationship. Remember, he’s never had a girlfriend.”
“He’s obviously waiting for the right person to come along. And why couldn’t that be you?”
God, she really doesn’t want to let this go.
“Rhia, I’m coming home tomorrow,” I say finally. “It’ll hurt. I won’t pretend it won’t. But I can’t see a future with him. I’ve imagined it, sure. Many times. But imagining something doesn’t make it real.”
There’s a moment of silence.
“Just so you know, I’m rolling my eyes at you,” Rhia huffs.
I roll mine at that.
“What if he stays in touch with you and comes to visit? Perhaps with the distance, and being limited to phone and computer, you’d have a chance to get to know each other on a different level.”
My heart leaps as a flicker of hope rises in my chest.
“If he contacts me again after this trip is over, I’ll respond. But really, Rhi, I think he’ll lose interest pretty quickly.”
“We’ll see. I have more faith in him than you do. Meanwhile, I’ll have your favorite choc-mint ice cream ready to ease the transition.”
And that’s why we’ve been best friends forever. We might disagree, but at the end of the day we always have each other’s backs.
I smile despite the tightness in my throat. “I love you.”
“Love you more.”