Chapter 29 #2
But when he opened his mouth and had the audacity to yell at her, the lump turned into a tightness that was more foreboding than forlorn.
“Where have you been?” Rohit stood up so abruptly his knees cracked.
Cynthia came to a halt on the path up to her condo and folded her arms across her chest. It didn’t matter that she’d ditched her no-nonsense work dress and heels for black leggings and a sports bra. She’d just finished two grueling back-to-back kickboxing classes and was primed for a fight.
“Excuse me?” she said, drawing her chin up.
“I’ve been sitting out here for hours,” he said, gesturing at the darkening sky. “You never came back to the office, and you’ve been ignoring my calls and texts. I was worried!”
The admission was a jab to her solar plexus, but she hadn’t spent the last two hours tightening her core for nothing. Cynthia cocked her head and infused her voice with that same icy condescension she reserved for finance bros and contractors who called her “honey.” “So? What’s your point?”
Rohit gaped at her. “Are you serious?”
When he moved to make his way down the steps to her, Cynthia held up her hand to stop him.
She should have felt triumphant when Rohit froze in his tracks, wariness pulling his handsome features downward.
Instead, Cynthia couldn’t help eyeing the space between them, a cold seven or so inches that pierced her heart.
Damn him for breaking down her walls.
“I want to talk to you about what happened earlier.” Rohit swallowed. “In your dad’s office.” When she didn’t respond, he continued. “I don’t know how much you heard, but—”
“Oh, I heard plenty.” She told herself she didn’t care when his face fell.
“Let me guess,” she said snidely as a tall, muscular guy in shorts walked past her, headed to the building.
“You didn’t realize I was standing there until it was too late.
I shouldn’t need the praise to know how valuable I am.
You didn’t want to interrupt the circle jerk to remind everyone that I deserve credit, too. ”
The muscular guy faltered as he swiped his fob and shot Rohit a look of alarm and pity before heading into the building. Rohit’s gaze, however, never wavered from Cynthia’s face. He looked stricken.
“Well?” Cynthia asked, kind of hating the mocking impatience threading through her voice, detesting it even more when Rohit winced. “What shitty excuse are you going to give me this time?”
“What’s a ‘circle jerk’?”
“What?”
“You said I didn’t want to ‘interrupt the circle jerk’ but I don’t know what that is,” Rohit said, his cheeks flushing.
Cynthia rolled her eyes and fished her fob out of the side pocket of her gym bag.
“Seriously? That’s what you have to say to me right now?
” She moved toward the door, too aware that every step closer to Rohit seemed to squeeze the air right out of her lungs.
Cynthia could practically feel panic building in her veins, rushing through her, making her both hot and cold, heightening her senses but leaving her feeling achingly numb inside.
She kept her eyes trained on the entrance of her building as if it were some kind of finish line. You can fall apart when you’re on the other side.
“Cynthia.” Rohit made no move to touch her, but that soft, solemn voice stopped her hand midswipe over the fob’s panel. “You’re right. That meeting was awful, and I should’ve said something. But everyone kept interrupting me when I tried to speak up, and—”
“Typical Rohit,” she interrupted, hating how her voice cracked. “More concerned with staying in everyone’s good graces than doing the right thing.”
“You’re not even letting me talk. If you would just listen—”
“Like I said, I already heard everything I needed to know.”
“So that’s it? You’re back to being the Ice Princess?
” he asked. When Cynthia swiped her fob again and reached determinedly for the door handle, his voice rose a pitch.
“I know I didn’t handle things well in there, but I was completely floored by your dad announcing his retirement and wanting me to take over…
” Rohit trailed off as Cynthia began shaking her head.
Her next words slipped out, bringing with them a rush of heat to her face that she wasn’t entirely sure was embarrassment or anger. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe someone else might want to be Kumar Construction’s next CEO, too?”
“Who?” Rohit’s eyes widened. “You mean… you ?”
He sounded so dumbfounded, Cynthia wanted to throw something at him. The audacity. How dare he.
After everything he’d said to her, he’d never really believed in her.
“So did you accept the job offer?” she asked, propping the door open with her foot.
“Cynthia. You know about my responsibilities to my family.”
“Did you accept?”
Rohit shrugged helplessly. “I’d be a fool not to.”
Cynthia felt the mortifying moment her face fell, everything sagging downward to the trembling point of her chin, and she clenched her jaw hard in retaliation. Don’t cry , she told herself in a cold, firm voice. Don’t show him any weakness.
But it wasn’t enough. She wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt her. Like he’d destroyed her and everything she’d convinced herself to be true. Anything to resurrect her walls and push him away.
“But do you deserve the job?” she said in a soft voice.
Rohit stepped back onto a lower step, his face aghast as if she’d reached out and slapped him. She might as well have.
“You can be so hard sometimes,” he said after a moment, his voice a heartbreaking mix of dismay, hurt, and confusion. “There’s never room for second chances with you, is there?”
With a scowl, Cynthia turned and forced herself to walk—not run—through the open door. “I already gave us a second chance, Rohit, and look where that got me.”