Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
She gasps, squeezing me tighter.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Yeah… fine. Are you?”
“I’m great,” I say fiercely. “I’m with you. When we’re together, Sera, everything else is a bonus. Just being with you is enough to make life worth living.”
“We should probably wait until we tell the world who I am.”
“Why? Do you still think there’s a chance you’ll go back to Florida?”
When she doesn’t answer the question, I do my best to hide the pain. Now that I’ve tasted what life with her would be like, waking next to her, and falling asleep with her at my side, I can’t imagine going back to how things were before. We barely survived a few days attempting a long distance relationship.
Soon enough, we’re in the parking garage. She takes my hands, looking up at me. So much has happened that could shake her, but her perfect pale green eyes still shine with hope and affection.
“I just want you to know what you said in the car. I feel it too. With every fiber of my being, Luke. I feel it. I feel us. I want this to work. I need it to work.”
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in for a hug.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sera
As I make us some hot cocoa, I think about what he said in the car. First, amazingly enough, he seemed open to the idea of sharing our relationship with the world. I’m not sure why – maybe it’s some old self-esteem issues – but I didn’t think he’d be that keen to do it.
He was more than keen. To let the paparazzi see the love in his eyes, he said he would be happy to. His words came out so naturally, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. After yet another bat-shit day, it was like a balm on my soul. I wish I could tell him I’m ready to stay here, ready to begin our lives together, but I can’t shake the feeling I’m being a fool.
We sit together on the couch, in front of his laptop. It’s time for the call with Graham and Ellie.
Both of them have red rimmed eyes, but they’re not crying when they answer the call. Ellie looks despondent with her hands wrapped across her middle as though protectively.
“Thank you for doing this,” Ellie murmurs. “Both of you.”
“Yes,” Graham mutters. “Thank you, Sera. Mr. Cross.”
“So you can sabotage his company, but you can’t call him Luke.” The vitriol explodes out of me. I almost apologize when Graham flinches, but then his eyes turn calculating, and that causes my rage to return. “Graham, if you think we’re recording this, that we’re trying to trap you, then we should just end this here. If we can’t be honest and open, there’s no point to this.”
“Sera is right,” Luke says, taking my hand. “We’ve already proven that the code came from TechGuard. There would be no reason to entrap you.”
“Perhaps the code malfunction was an error, not sabotage.”
“Graham,” Ellie says, glaring at him.
Graham sighs. “I’m sorry. You’re right, Sera. I fucked up. I ruined what we had. Worse, I ruined what you and Ellie had. Mr… Luke, I sabotaged your product. I sabotaged your keynote speech. If you are recording this, send it to the authorities. It’s what I deserve.”
“We’re not recording,” Luke says with a sigh. “But after what you started, Graham, I ought to be. Sera has been through a lot.”
“That’s what I regret most,” Graham replies regretfully.
“Why the sudden change of heart?” I ask.
“I’ve always cared about you, but fear consumed me, Sera. Losing the love of my life has always been my greatest fear, and Damien used that. Soon enough I realized my mistake, but it was too late. I feared what Damien would do if I reneged on the deal. By the time he’d targeted you, I was in too deep.”
“He could’ve killed her, Graham,” Luke snarls, his protectiveness making his voice deep and husky. “You can’t understand the hellfire I’d have rained down on TechGuard, on you, if my woman hadn’t bravely found a way out of the fucked-up situations you put her in.”
“We’re so, so sorry,” Ellie whispers tearfully. “There’s no excuse for any of this.”
Graham groans. “Ellie’s right. I hate myself for what I did. But you have to understand, when he switched the numbers, he was threatening us. We didn’t do that for money. We did that because we were terrified.”
“You could’ve warned me.”
“I wanted to, I almost did at first. He must have been keeping tabs on me somehow. That day, I asked you to look over the code in Vegas. He realized I had saved the code intact onto your laptop. He came to me after and threatened Ellie. He said it was easy to slip into the hospital, hurt her.” Graham sounds desperate now. “I know there’s nothing I can say to make this right, but I was so scared.”