Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I flipped through the papers and took a seat.
When Pierre knew I wouldn’t say anything else, he walked away and got to work.
I didn’t see Emerson during the day. She dropped off lunch at some point, and I didn’t even look up to meet her gaze. I wasn’t avoiding her on purpose. I just genuinely didn’t want to look at her face…and that was a first. She was the person I trusted most, and now I didn’t know her at all.
I was furious.
At the end of the day, Pierre and Jerome left to go home while I stayed behind. There was no reason to return to my empty penthouse when I didn’t have a book to write or anything else to do. I would rather stay there and do something meaningful. I’d driven my Bugatti like I used to, so I didn’t need to have anyone wait around for me.
An hour later, the lab door opened.
I kept my eyes on my computer as I felt the grimace stretch over my features. I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ground together and caused a small headache. I knew exactly who’d just walked into my lab, and she was the last person in the world I wanted to speak to.
Her heels clapped against the concrete as she approached my table, walking slowly, taking her time approaching me like she wanted to give me ample time to prepare.
I kept working like she didn’t exist.
“Derek.” Her voice was gentle, asking for my attention rather than demanding it.
I still wouldn’t look at her.
“Please.”
I leaned forward and dragged my hands down my face, irritated that she was asking for my attention in the lab, the one place in the world where no one could touch me. I didn’t want to engage with her. If I had it my way, we would never speak again. “What?” I lifted my chin and looked her in the eye, feeling my anger pulse under the skin.
She held my gaze, her blue eyes slowly filling with disappointment.
“What?” I repeated. “You want my attention? You have it. Make it quick.” Just a few days ago, I would’ve done anything for this woman. She was always in my thoughts, late at night before bed, first thing in the morning. I was in a relationship with her without even realizing we had one. But now, I felt sick to my stomach because the one person I thought would never betray me lied to my fucking face.
Emerson stilled as she studied my expression, watching the rage burn in my eyes. She moved herself to the stool across from me and took a seat, her hands coming together on the surface of the table. She wasn’t her confident self anymore. She averted her eyes a lot, like looking at me was too difficult. “I understand your being confused, uncomfortable, or upset…but I don’t understand why you’re so angry.”
I raised my head at her statement. “You don’t understand why I’m angry? I thought I was the one who didn’t understand human emotion? You lied to me, Emerson. You fucking lied to me.” I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but the anger got the best of me, inflamed my temper.
She flinched at the cruel way I spoke. She rubbed her hands together and released a quiet breath. “I didn’t lie to you…”
“I asked if you had a boyfriend or if you were married. You said no.”
“Which is the truth.” She raised her head and looked at me again.
Thank God for that. “But you didn’t tell me you had a family. I don’t like people because they’re liars and manipulators. I thought you were different.”
“Derek, I am different. There’s stuff in your past that you’ve never told me about. This is something I didn’t want to share.”
“But it’s not some dark secret that lives in the back of your mind. This is a real fucking person. And how old is she? She’s got to be older than ten.”
Emerson closed her eyes and didn’t answer.
“Do you have more kids?”
“No.”
“Were you married?”
“No.” She straightened on the stool and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She rubbed both of her arms like she was cold as she considered the question. “Whenever you tell an employer you’re a single mom, you’re less likely to get hired, less likely to get promoted, and if you ever call in sick, they assume you’re lying to take care of your kid. When I worked at Astra Books, no one knew about Lizzie. When you hired me, you didn’t like me, and I knew if I told you the truth, you would use it against me.”
Judging by the way I’d treated her, I probably would have done just that. “Our relationship changed a long time ago…”
“I know it did. But you made your stance on kids perfectly clear…”