Chapter 19
DAMIEN
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Cia hesitated. I saw it in the way her hand paused on the car door, the flicker of discomfort across her face as she turned to me.
“Our routes are different,” she said softly, like she was offering an escape.
I shook my head. “It would make Jeff happy.”
That changed everything.
She didn’t argue after that. Just nodded and gave her address to my driver, her voice barely above a whisper.
Inside the black Jeep, Jeff squeezed himself comfortably between us, humming a song he must’ve heard from some cartoon. I glanced over at him, then at her. Her arm brushing his as he leaned into her to show her something on his toy.
And for one reckless second, I imagined this was real.
Me. Her. Jeff.
Like a family.
Not the mess I’d made with Diana.This felt easy. Natural.
I looked away quickly, ashamed of the thought.
When we pulled up in front of her apartment building, she opened the door first. Jeff leaned in for a hug and she held him close, whispering something that made him laugh. I stayed silent, watching.
She thanked me for the ride, and walked slowly to her door. Simple building. Clean. A little garden pot with mint and basil sat by her entrance. Homey. Comfortable. The kind of place someone grounded in reality would choose.
Just as she reached her door, she paused. Turned.
Our eyes met.
I didn’t look away.
She stared at me for what felt like a minute too long, her expression unreadable. Then without a word, she turned the knob and disappeared inside.
The silence left behind felt louder than the ride itself.
Back home, Jeff couldn’t contain his excitement. He was practically bouncing from wall to wall, dragging his suitcase like it was some magical treasure chest.
9:53 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 19
“You’re really happy, aren’t you?” I asked, watching him buzz around the house.
“Yes!” he beamed. “I’m living with you now, Daddy!”
I smiled, but the weight of it pressed against my chest. Guilt settled in.
I should’ve done this sooner. I should’ve tried harder.
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I had convinced myself that Diana, as his mother, could give him more emotional stability. That she could care for him in ways I couldn’t. But I had been wrong. So wrong. And the look in his eyes today… that joy, that comfort… it only made me hate myself a little more.
In the beginning, I visited him more often. But every time I went, Diana made it about us–about trying to force something to happen between us again. The desperate way she clung to me, offering her body like a bargaining chip… It pushed me away. I pulled back from Jeff, too, and now I saw what it had cost him.
Not again.
He was staying with me now. I’d give Diana visitation, of course–I wasn’t cruel–but I’d be damned if I let her hurt him like that again.
Once I sorted out the move, I shut myself in the study and worked. Emails, reports, legal briefs–it kept me distracted. For a while.
Evening rolled in with a heaviness I couldn’t shake, and I needed to breathe. I texted my friend, Sammy and asked if he was free.
We met at our usual spot. Quiet place. Dim lighting. The kind of bar that felt more like a lounge than a drinking hole.
I didn’t even sit before he gave me that look–the one that asked a hundred questions without a word.
I sat down slowly and signaled the waiter.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
I sipped my drink. “I think I’ve made a mess.”
He leaned forward. “Is this about Jeff?”
I shook my head. “There’s this woman.”
His eyes narrowed. “Another woman?”
“I can’t stop thinking about her,” I confessed. “And I kissed her. Last night.”
“Who is she?”
“My assistant.”
His brows lifted. “Miss Jones?”
Chapter 19
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I nodded, and then everything poured out–the trip, the surprise appearance of Jeff and Diana, the kiss, the guilt, how ashamed I felt, how wrong it all seemed, and how I had decided to reassign her even though I didn’t want to.
Sammy just listened, barely interrupting, until I finished.
Then he took a slow sip of his drink and said, “You’re overthinking.”
“You don’t get it.”
“No,” he replied. “You don’t. Look, if she’s as sensible as you say she is, talk to her. Clear the air. Stop hiding like some teenager who kissed his high school crush.”
I groaned, pressing the glass to my forehead. “You think I should talk to her about this? Even I do. But where do I start? I don’t even feel this anxious when negotiating or signing a billion dollar deal.”
“I think you’ll be worse off if you don’t speak to her, Damien.”
I left shortly after that. I didn’t remember most of the drive. My mind was all over the place.
Somehow, I ended up in front of her apartment. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I had never been this shaken up over a woman.
The building was quiet. Modest, but well–kept. The kind of place that spoke of quiet pride and steady peace. A soft light shone from her window, faint behind a thin white curtain.
I sat there like an idiot, gripping the steering with both hands until my knuckles almost turned white.
‘Should I call her?‘
‘Would she be angry?‘
I must’ve hesitated for a full ten minutes before I finally reached for my phone and called her.
She answered on the first ring.
“Hi,” I said, my voice lower than usual. “I’m sorry to call this late. I know I should’ve asked first, but I’m outside your place… and I need to talk to you. Please.”
There was a pause. Then, “I’ll be down in a minute, sir.”
The line went dead.
I waited.
A few minutes later, the door opened.
She stepped out slowly, wrapped in a red silk robe that clung to her like it had been sewn onto her skin. Her red hair was undone, loose curls tumbling around her face. No makeup. Nothing artificial. Just her.
And she was beautiful.
Chapter 19
God help me, she was beautiful.
“Hi, sir,” she said, stopping a few feet from the car.
I got out, suddenly unsure of what to do with my hands. “I’m sorry for showing up like this.”
“It’s okay,” she said softly.
I took a breath. “About last night… I’m sorry. I crossed a line.”
She shook her head. “Don’t apologize. I was just as much at fault.”
I looked at her, confused.
“I actually…. I want to ask you for a favor,” she said.
My chest tightened. “Anything.”
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Her eyes dropped to the pavement. She clasped her hands in front of her robe like she was bracing for something. “I want to transfer to another branch.”
I blinked. “What?”
She nodded. “It’s better this way.”
I stared at her, stunned. I mean, I was going to ask for her reassignment, but a different branch? Was she that repulsed by me?
I was doing it to fight this attraction toward her. But Cia? She was probably upset with me.
Despite the way I felt, I nodded. “Yeah, I was just about saying the same thing.”
She gave a half–smile, the kind that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Then we’re on the same page.”
“But… why?”
I had to be sure.
She hesitated, eyes darting away for the first time.
“It sounds unprofessional,” she said, voice low. “But I can’t keep working this close to you. My feelings… they’re only going to get harder to control. And you have a fiancée. A son. A family. I’m not going to be the woman who ruins that.”
Something in me snapped.
I took a step closer. She didn’t move. For a second, it seemed as though she was holding her breath.
“Cia,” I murmured, voice barely there. “Just tell me the truth… do you feel something for me?”
Chapter 20
