Chapter 29
Raph
Ifinally knew the answer. It was so obvious now, but I couldn”t see it clearly until she turned away.
Lia ran from me like I ran from her in our youth… like I had a few weeks ago. A sick joke, but better late than never.
Geoff was a good man who loved me like a son. He taught me the ins and outs of running a business because that”s what he wanted, needed, and lived for. He passed on all his knowledge and his empire, along with a statement of will.
Except it wasn”t a statement of will, it was a piece of advice. A regret. Finding more success than Geoff wasn”t building the Experience empire higher and higher; it meant realizing there”s more to life than that.
Lia was my more, and I needed her to know.
Please don”t let it be too late.
I pulled in next to the closest beach and spied a pair of expensive heels abandoned in the sand. My heart raced as I jogged toward the thrashing water.
I looked up and down the shoreline, searching for a sign of the woman I loved. Squinting against the angry wind, I could make out the shape of someone sitting by the water. I approached her slowly, entranced by the ocean crawling up, receding, then washing up again.
Lia”s soft cries were barely audible over the tide. I knelt in the sand, the broken waves licking my shoes each time they lapped ashore.
Finally, she met my gaze. Her eyes were bloodshot and glassy from crying, but as soon as our locked she went quiet, cold, and still.
The air escaped my lungs. She looked thin and small and frail. This was real hurt, and I was staring it in the face. Her mouth, a thin line, regained its plump shape and trembled. All the while, she looked me in the eye. I was gutted. I did this to her.
”I have something to say, Lia.” I paused, giving her time to turn away if she wanted me to go.
When she didn”t, I went on. ”When I first saw you at your firm, I was drawn in. I tried like crazy to figure out why, and by the time it clicked, you were there. Such a powerful, beautiful force in my life. When I moved to New York, I had nothing. Until Geoff found me. He gave me a chance, taught me, and loved me. It”s been a few years now. Right before he died, he told me I should find even more success than he found in life.” My eyes stung, but I couldn”t stop. ”Since I inherited his clubs, his fortune, and all his worldly possessions, I assumed he meant for me to carry on his legacy… Experience.”
Lia was a saint for letting me get everything off my chest, but she eyed me wearily. I deserved her hesitation.
”I tried in vain to fill his shoes, threw myself as deep as I could into work. That worked fine until I met you. I thought you were a distraction, but you were the key. The thing about Geoff… He treated me like a son. I think he started to regret investing all his time in Experience as he got older. He would tell me to go out with my buddy Kendall, see people, experience love. I didn”t think much of it, though. I was a business-minded guy. Like him. A lone wolf, better off that way. But I was wrong. I couldn”t get you off my mind. And I tried. I tried everything, even leaving you again. But it”s been hell, and if you”ll give me a chance, I”ll prove to you how much you mean to me. I”m in love with you, Amelia Hall. I love you.”
Lia was silent. I hurt her, and I knew it. It took me a while to get myself together, but I came for her as soon as I could. She was everything. I wasn”t going down without a fight.
”You run three businesses across two states.”
”Yes.”
”I live here.”
”I could live here. Or you could move in with me. Home is wherever you are. I don”t care.”
She shifted, grabbing her shawl and pulling it close. I shucked my suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
”You left. You didn”t text or call. And now you want… what? To be with me?”
”Hell yes I want to be with you. I want forever with you. I didn”t know what it was when we first met, but I felt it back then. I took that feeling as a sign I needed to capture my destiny. But it”s you. I want to keep that feeling forever, and I want to make you happy. I hope I can make you half as happy as you make me.”
The ocean licked my legs as I knelt in front of the love of my life. My toes were numb. I reached out a hand, touching her icy cheek. She didn”t recoil, and I tucked my hand into her hair.
Please, Lia. I need you.
Lia
He wanted to be with me. He poured his heart out, but he hadn”t reached out, and he”d had plenty of opportunity. Why now? Why should I trust this?
He was offering everything I had wanted. I could go to New York and find a job there. With Experience on my resume, I could have my pick. I could work for Raph, or I could work for myself.
But would he leave me again? Could I trust him to live up to who I thought he was?
It was everything I ever wanted, but it was a lot. This was the new Lia, not the scared one.
Raph changed me, too. He made me into someone who could follow her heart. Because of him, I felt comfortable in my own skin, capable, and confident. He was the catalyst to my transformation. Now, I was the only thing standing in my way. But even still…
”You”re the man of my dreams.”
”So, you forgive me?”
I looked away.
”No?”
”You hurt me. You bulldozed your way into the darkest, scariest parts of my life, and then you let me down. Hard. You got me fired.” I smirked.
”I”m so sorry, Lia. If you want your position back, I”ll make it happen.”
I shook my head, still smiling. ”I was asked back, but I turned it down. Derrick was a dickhead, and I don”t have to work for someone like him. That was best part of this mess.”
”What will it take for you to forgive me? I need you in my life.”
I let go.
”I forgive you,” I whispered.
I leaned forward and kissed him, pulling him to me. He wrapped his arms around me, and his warmth spread through my frigid limbs. The beach was freezing.
”I missed you, Lia. I missed you so much.”
”I love you, Raph.”
”I love you, too.”
He wrapped me in an embrace that thawed the chill that had settled around my heart. Our lips met again and stretched all the way back to the beginning of our story. With him, I could see forever.
”Let”s get out of the cold. Do you want to go back to the party?”
He helped me to my feet, and I dusted the sand from my dress before he scooped me into his arms. I nuzzled into his neck and breathed in expensive aftershave.
”I have a better idea.”