Even I’m surprised that it came out. Anyone in the business world knows that you should never be first to speak or give anything away in a transaction. But now that it is out, I won’t dare take it back. Not if it means Sloane staying here with me.
Sloane turns back to face me, eyes wide. Her chest rises and falls heavily as her breathing intensifies. “You…you…”
Suddenly, her eyes are wild, darting every which way but directly at me. “You don’t get to say that, Magnus. Not now. Not after all of this!”
“Why not? It’s what I want. And I know it’s what you want as well. I can’t think of any other woman that I want by my side.”
Now, she’s focused on me. Rather than the pleasure or happiness I expected in her gaze, it’s resentment.
“You haven’t learned anything, have you?”
“Learned what?” I ask in exasperation, suddenly angry again. How dare she cause me to rip open my heart like this, yet again, only to fling the contents right back at me.
“You can’t hold onto someone with demands. You can’t hold onto someone that you manipulate or try to shelter like a china doll. I would have thought what happened with your sister would have taught you.”
“Do you want me to let you go, is that it? In the hopes that you’ll come back to me? I can’t do that, Sloane.”
She laughs and stares at me with pleading eyes. “This! This is what I’m talking about! It isn’t up to you, Magnus!”
“So you’re going back to New York?” I’m officially shocked. This isn’t how I expected it to go.
She gives me a long considering look. “Maybe that’s where I belong. Maybe I am just a guppy.”
I hear the challenge in her voice, daring me to defy that statement. I know what Sloane wants me to say, what she expects me to say.
But I’m still clouded by my own…what? Ego? Self-righteousness? Stupidity?
“Then, you aren’t the shark I thought you were.”
She looks at me as though I’ve slapped her. It rips my heart all over again, especially when I see tears spring to her eyes.
I instantly want to take it back. I’d happily fall on my knees to snatch those words and toss them into some abyss where even the past can’t find them.
But Sloane has already moved on. I see it in her eyes. An ironic smile twists her lips as she stares at me, letting them fall.
“And to think, all you had to do was say ‘I love you.’”
Before I can even utter a word, Sloane spins around and walks out of the office.
Chapter Fifty-Nine Sloane
“Sloane!
I stop turning my head back and forth to find my brother. I focus on the area from which my name was called. He doesn’t even have a car, but he wanted to be here to meet me at the airport all the same, which I find sweet.
Certainly enough to forgive him.
“Theo,” I say with a smile as he rushes over to hug me. He holds on tight and doesn’t let go. “Okay, okay, I’m going to need to breathe at some point.”
I add a laugh if only to make him feel better. I know he must have been through hell back here in New York, not knowing what the heck was happening on my end.
He pulls away and laughs awkwardly. Then his eyes brighten with excitement. “Oh hey, did you hear about what happened with Gabriel Fouché? He was arrested! They walked him right out of his office in handcuffs in front of everyone, with the press right there. Insider trading, they say. Was that you? And that guy who took us was killed! I’ve obviously figured out the connection between the two, but I can’t find the source of it all.”
I give Theo an indulgent but tired smile. This is typical Theo, his head and his mouth working a mile a minute when he’s excited about something, usually some new program in his head.
However, even with first-class accommodations back home, I still want nothing more than my bed. I’m exhausted physically and mentally, not to mention emotionally.
“Let’s get the Uber,” I say, guiding him to the exit after he takes hold of my large rolling suitcase. I left all the dresses, as well as the diamond earrings Magnus bought for me back in Monte Carlo.
I wanted a clean break.
I close my eyes and try, yet again, to put Magnus Reinhardt firmly out of my mind. I keep playing “what if” in my head about that day in his office.
What if I’d given him a chance to answer?
What if I’d just said the words first?
“You know what? I’m craving some white pizza,” I say, throwing my arm around Theo. “I’ve had enough of caviar and champagne.”
* * *
I’m back at work the next day.
Of course I am.
Because that’s exactly the kind of guppy Sloane Alexander is.
But Magnus has managed to keep his teeth firmly sunk into my life.
I’m in Jamie Reaves’s office as he gives me the good news.
“Naturally, now that Magnus Reinhardt has decided to make us his law firm of choice, a partnership is a no-brainer for you. Of course, once you make partner, the need to pull in business is even more crucial. So whatever magic trick you pulled out of your hat to snag this whale, keep it up!” He says with a patronizing smile. “Now, that said, there are still some—”
“Magic.” I say it so softly that Jamie stops talking to make sure I actually said something.
“Pardon?”
“Magic,” I repeat with my brow furrowed. “What makes you think it was a magic trick that landed me Magnus Reinhardt? Unless, of course, that’s code for something else.”
He coughs with discomfort. “Well, I would never presume such a thing, of course.”
“Of course,” I say with a tight smile. “Just like I would never presume that the two clients you’ve brought in over the past…ten years, has it been?”
Jamie actually blushes with embarrassment,
