Page 22 of A Bride for the Billionaire

“But you never did come and find me, Caleb. Never.” He tries to take my hand but I pull it away from him.

“It was too late. It was about three years later and Mom had told me you were dating someone. So, I didn’t want to upset everything, so I didn’t go home. Then Mom and Dad moved out here to be with me.”

“Caleb, I need time to think about this. You gave up our love, without consulting me, for a job. Tillie said you never had time for her because your work was so much more important than her. Is that what it’s going to be like for us? You never home, not wanting to come home to me.”

He moves across the couch and picks up my hands. “No, Cora. I’ve always been driven by success and I won’t argue with that fact. But since you’ve been living with me, even before we got together, I’ve realized that you are more important to me than my job. You always were, but I need to find myself in the business world so that I have the money to give you the life you deserve. I think if I had told you and you had come with me, we wouldn’t still be together for sure. I worked all hours, had dinners out nearly every night. Tillie was right, I didn’t give her the time, because she wasn’t you.”

“Don’t try to sweet talk me, Caleb. I need to leave. I’ll find my own way back. I need a few days to think about this. Will you give me that, please?”

“Of course, I’ll give you anything, Cora. Anything.”

“Would you let me go if I asked?” I wipe my face with my hands to rid my tears.

“Let you go? Is that how you feel? We’ve been so close this last week. If you asked me to let you go, I would fight for as long as I could, but if that was what you really wanted then I would let you go, yes.”

“Thank you.” I stand. “I’m going to grab a cab back home. I’ll see you later.” I turn and leave, but before I walk out of the room I turn to look at him and I see his head is in his hands and I’m sure I can hear him sobbing.

I want to go back and hug him and tell him that I love him and want to be with him, but I don’t know if I can right now.

Chapter Thirteen

CALEB

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - CALEB

It’s been a week since Cora walked out on me at the hotel. It’s been the longest week of my life. I can’t work. I can’t concentrate on anything except how I can get her back. She isn’t here and I haven’t heard from her for a week. I’ve tried calling her, tried her friend, but I’ve not heard anything from her.

I’ve had enough. I need to speak to her even if it is just for her to say she’s leaving me. I guess I deserve it.

This is how she must have felt when I left her. I feel totally out of sorts. Marion keeps shouting at me and telling me that I need to fix it, but I’ve tried everything I can.

I call her again. “Cora, please talk to me. Even if you are going to tell me to fuck off out of your life, let me know. What can I do to convince you that I need you so badly?” I place my cell on the floor as I slide down the wall.

“Cora, please. I can’t function without you. You’ve only been in my life for a couple of weeks and I miss you so much. You have changed me, for the better. Life is different with you in it. I have to go to Sunday dinner with my family and I have to explain to them why you are not there again. Last week they tormented me and I told them all to fuck off and leave me alone, then I came home and drank myself to sleep. Wish me luck.”

I look at my phone and hang up. I didn’t mean to send her that, but she might as well know how hard it has been for me.

Getting dressed, I make sure I look presentable and not like a hobo, which is what I’ve looked like all week.

“Oh look who it is?” Marion says, as she passes a cup of coffee into my hand. I ignore her and just take the cup.

“Caleb, I’m very disappointed in you. You haven’t even looked for Cora.”

“Yes, I have. I can’t find her anywhere. She doesn’t want to talk to me. She said she would be back within a few days and it’s been seven long days. Marion.”

“You have so much money that you could throw at finding her. You could have got a detective to find out where she is, you could have begged your security to find her. You could even have gone to Miss May for her address where she was staying before she moved in here.”

“Fuck, I haven’t tried hard enough.”

“What the fuck are you waiting for?” She puts her hand over her mouth. “Excuse me for being rude, Caleb.”

I move away, drain my coffee and look at Marion. “You’re right. I’m going to make some phone calls from the car on the way to my parents house.”

“That sounds like a great idea, now get going.” Marion shushes me out of the apartment and for the first time in a week, I smile to myself. I’m going to find her.

On my way over to my parent’s house, I call everyone I know who can help me track her down. I don’t care how much it costs me for them to start working on this on a Sunday. The only person I can’t get hold of is Ms May. I’ll try her tomorrow

As I pull up outside, I see my parents are standing in the door and Mom does not seem happy. It’s been a long time since my parents didn’t welcome me with a hug. They must be pissed off that I don’t have Cora with me.

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