Chapter 18 #2
"You are running on adrenaline," I argued, my heart pounding so hard I could literally feel the pulse vibrating in my throat.
"We both are. You just spent a week fighting a catastrophic wildfire, pushing your body to the absolute brink, and I just spent a week hoping my life didn’t burn down.
We are completely exhausted. The adrenaline of the evacuation and seeing you covered in soot on that fire line is messing with my head right now.
" I leaned forward, dropping my arms and resting my bandaged hands firmly on the edge of the table.
"It’s creating a false sense of connection, Reid.
A trauma bond. I am not going to sit here in a diner and make a massive, life-altering decision based on the absolute chaos of the last week. "
I stared at him, desperately needing to expose the flaw in his sudden devotion.
"I need to know what this actually is. Is this just a temporary shift in your priorities?
You almost lost me to a fire, so suddenly I am the most important asset in your portfolio again?
What happens in two months? What happens when the smoke clears, the adrenaline fades, and the Tacoma factory expansion hits a massive logistical snag?
Are you going to go right back to the corner office, lock the door, and leave me sitting entirely alone in the dark? "
I was practically begging him to prove me right. I desperately wanted him to show a single crack in his armor, to utter a single defensive excuse, so I could justify standing up, walking out the glass door, and leaving him forever.
Reid didn't waver. He didn't get defensive, and he didn't raise his voice to shout down my accusations. He sat completely still, absorbing my anger and my deeply rooted fear without a single flinch.
"I gave you my exact answer at the basecamp," Reid said, his voice a low, steady rumble that vibrated across the laminate table.
"And nothing has changed since I walked off that ridge.
I didn't come to this island to manage an asset.
I didn't come here to execute a temporary strategy until the dust settles. "
He reached across the table, his fingers stopping mere inches from mine, respecting the physical boundary I had set but completely ignoring the emotional one.
"When I deployed the hazard teams, there was no media involvement,” Reid told me.
“There was a guy on the line that talked about the influx of equipment and personnel, but I kept my mouth shut.
There are no corporate photographers documenting my time on the fire line to boost our quarterly stock price.
There is absolutely zero mention of me, or Mitchell Energy, in the Seattle Times. "
He held my gaze, forcing me to see the raw, uncompromising truth in his eyes.
"The world thinks I am locked in a boardroom in Seattle finalizing an acquisition," he continued quietly.
"It was never a publicity stunt, Gwen. I didn't do this for the optics.
I didn't do it to buy your forgiveness or manipulate you into dropping the divorce. I did it because I could live with myself if I saw something you care so much about burn.”
I stared at his face. I studied the sharp, uncompromising angle of his jaw, the dark circles of exhaustion heavily bruising the skin beneath his eyes, and the absolute sincerity radiating from his posture.
I searched for the lie. I searched for the calculated, ruthless CEO who viewed human emotion as a volatile variable to be managed and mitigated.
But he wasn't there. The man sitting across from me had systematically stripped away every single ounce of his corporate armor.
He had laid his weapons down on the table and exposed his true colors, offering me his unprotected heart.
The last of my defenses finally crumbled. The heavy, protective walls I had built to survive his neglect simply dissolved into dust, leaving me completely, terrifyingly exposed.
I took a deep, jagged breath, my lungs expanding painfully against my ribs. "I want you back, too."
The words slipped out of my mouth before I could overthink them, a desperate, agonizingly honest confession that made the air in the diner feel incredibly thin.
A spark of profound, overwhelming relief flashed in Reid’s dark eyes. The tight, anxious muscles in his jaw visibly relaxed, and the corner of his mouth began to curve upward into a brilliant smile that could have shattered my heart all over again.
Before the smile could fully form, I immediately held up a bandaged hand, my palm facing him like a traffic stop.
"But," I said, my voice hardening into a steel rod. "I am not going backward, Reid."
His smile vanished instantly, replaced by an intense, entirely focused attention. He didn't interrupt. He simply nodded once, sitting perfectly still, waiting for me to dictate the terms of his surrender.
"I am not going back to the lonely estate in Medina," I told him, my voice trembling with the absolute conviction of the demand.
The very thought of the massive, echoing property sitting on the dark shores of Lake Washington sent a sudden, visceral chill down my arms. "I am not going to sit in a sprawling, empty mansion staring out at the water just to resume waiting for you to come home from the office.
That house is a beautiful, expensive prison.
I completely refuse to be locked inside it again while you conquer the world. "
I leaned closer, ensuring he understood the absolute gravity of my boundaries.
"If we are going to do this, there are strict conditions.
There will be hard, non-negotiable boundaries on your work hours.
When you are home, the phone is off. There will be absolute, unfiltered transparency regarding your schedule, your staff, and your travels.
And there has to be a fundamental, tectonic shift in how you operate your life.
I will no longer compete with your board of directors for your attention.
You have to prioritize our marriage over your investors, every single day, without exception. "
I finished my list of demands, my chest heaving slightly with the emotional exertion of laying down the law.
I expected pushback. I expected the billionaire CEO to immediately begin negotiating the terms of the contract.
I expected him to ask to check his corporate calendar, or to propose a ninety-day transition period so he could gently brief his executive team on his new reduced availability.
I braced myself for the inevitable, deeply ingrained compromise.
Reid didn't negotiate.
He didn't hesitate for a single second. He didn't look away, and he didn't sigh.
He looked me dead in the eye and said, "Done."
I blinked, completely caught off guard by the sheer velocity of his capitulation. "Just like that? You aren't going to argue about the factory expansion? You aren't going to tell me that the board needs you available for international calls?"
"No," Reid answered smoothly, his voice vibrating with absolute, ironclad certainty. "I agree to every single condition."
I stared at him, my mind struggling to process the sudden, total victory. "Why?" I asked, my voice dropping to a vulnerable whisper. "Why are you agreeing to all of this so easily?"
Reid finally moved his hand. He closed the remaining inches between us and gently wrapped his large, calloused fingers around my bandaged hand. His touch was incredibly warm, a heavy, solid weight anchoring me to the vinyl booth.
"Because you are worth every single condition, Gwen," he said.
His thumb lightly brushed the back of my knuckles, careful to avoid the torn skin of my blisters.
"Because those aren't unreasonable demands.
They are the absolute bare minimum requirements of a functional partnership. I should have already been doing them."
He squeezed my hand gently, his dark eyes shining with an unwavering, fierce devotion that made my vision blur with fresh tears.
"I failed you," Reid said quietly, his raspy voice filling the quiet space between us. "But from now on, I will be the husband you deserve. I swear, Gwen, I will spend the rest of my life proving it to you."