Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
"Let me go."
"Hell no," he growls.
"Let me go." I plant my hands against his shoulders, shoving as hard as I can. I actually manage to move him back a few steps. "You're never touching me again, Bastian Grayson."
"Yeah, I am."
"No, you aren't." I scowl at him through tears. "I'm leaving."
His face pales. "You're leaving me?"
"I…" Is that what I'm doing? Leaving him? God, that thought hurts almost as much as anything else. He's everything to me…but I don't think he feels the same about me. If he did, he wouldn't be making decisions about my career for me. He'd be my partner. And yet, today, he isn't that.
"I don't know," I whisper, my voice cracking.
He stares at me for a long moment, and I see the pain in his eyes. I see the fury, too. "You aren't fucking leaving me, Constance. Not until you give me a chance to explain. I deserve that much, at least."
"And I deserved a conversation before you asked Haven to post my job."
He grimaces, shoving a hand through his hair, which he only does when he's stressed. "Fuck. You're right," he says softly. "I'm an asshole for not talking to you about it first. But I have a good reason."
"Fine. Let's hear it then."
He swallows, actual anxiety churning in his gaze. "I can't tell you."
"What the hell?" I gape at him. "Are you serious right now?"
"I mean, I can't tell you yet," he says. "There's something else I need to do before I can tell you what's going on. But I promise you, baby, as soon as I'm finished, you'll know everything. I just need you to trust me."
"Trust isn't the issue, Bastian," I say with a sad shake of my head. "Respect is. You owed me the respect of coming to me if you were thinking about hiring someone else to take my job. You owed me the respect of letting me hear it from you. And now, you're telling me that you can't even tell me why you did it. Maybe you do have a good reason. But that doesn't change the fact that I deserved to hear it from you before you got anyone else involved."
"Baby, I–"
"No, Bastian," I cut him off. "I told you how I felt last night and why. And the very first thing you do is exactly what I was so afraid of in the first place. You start making decisions about my career without consulting me. And you drag Haven into the middle of it. So I don't really want to hear it right now. I'm going to see my brother."
"Please don't quit," he whispers, more vulnerable than I've ever heard him.
"Quit? Do I even have a job to quit?" I ask and immediately feel guilty when he flinches like I hit him, but it's a valid question. Because he's hiring someone else for my job…but he won't tell me why. He won't tell me what that means for me or what I'm supposed to do next. I'm just supposed to trust him. And yeah, I do trust him. I trust him more than I've ever trusted anyone. But that doesn't take the sting out of realizing that, when it counted, he wasn't my partner. He was my damn boss, making decisions for me.
And right now, I'm not even sure if he's that anymore.
I crack my door open, needing space. But his hand lands on my arm before I can climb into the car.
"You belong here, Constance. You'll always have a place here. Don't give up on us without hearing me out," he whispers, his voice a painful rasp. "Don't give up on me, baby."
He's pleading like he thinks I can salvage us…but he's the one who broke me.
"I have to go," I mumble, falling into the seat as more tears well in my eyes.
"Constance…"
"Bastian, please," I whisper, two seconds from losing it.
He clings to the doorframe, his knuckles white. And then he mutters a curse and leans down, brushing his lips across my cheek. "I'm letting you go see your brother because I know you need it, but I'm not letting you leave me," he growls. "Not now, and not ever."
"Please," I whimper, my bottom lip quivering.
He carefully latches my seatbelt and then steps back, closing my door for me.
I start the engine with shaking hands, staring straight ahead. But I feel him like a sunspot on the edge of my vision, willing me to look at him, to see him. As if I've ever been able to see past him.
Maybe that's the problem. I see him, but right now, I'm not sure if he's ever really seen me.
Imake it all the way to the house the record label rented for my brother and Sutton before I fall apart. As soon as he pulls me into a hug at the front door, I crack, a loud sob wracking my body.