Page 67 of Shattered Hearts

We stay longer than I thought we would. Stella acts like she doesn’t want to leave, and I understand. She’s saying goodbye to a part of her life, five years of her life she sacrificed for my family that she’ll never get back. For all the pain she endured, she’s in a better place now, a happier place. And she’s lingering, because after she leaves this building today, she won’t look back.

I respect that.

It’s like the end of an era for me, too. Not because I’m free of Ash’s grip around my throat, but for the years and years of friendship I thought were between my family and his. It really is difficult to know that your childhood, a huge part of your childhood, was a lie. If I let myself wonder how long Ash planned to hurt me, I would go even crazier than I am. To think about my plans to marry him, to merge our companies together. It was a future I had both simultaneously resented and looked forward to. Like a princess knowing she would one day marry the prince of a bordering kingdom. There’s duty in that, an acceptance of knowing you’re doing something bigger than you are, but there’s also excitement. Ash held King’s Crossing in the palm of his hand. If he had been sincere, if he had done things the way myfather had done things, we would have been the most powerful couple in the country, maybe even the world.

It’s a heady thing to know.

Gage and his little office, his little business, keep my feet on the ground.

We stand on the sidewalk and say goodbye to Black Enterprises. The sun shines, and the air is crisp. A weight drops off Stella’s shoulders, and her eyes sparkle. I envy her the freedom, her shackles broken, but one day I’ll get there, too.

Douglas picks us up, and in the town car, she checks her phone. “Zane wants to see me.”

“Peggy told him.”

“Yep.”

It was a waste for me to go up to the twenty-fifth floor. The minute we step into reception, Zane bursts out of his office, scoops Stella into his arms—winter jacket and all—and slams his door shut behind them.

I look at Peggy.

She looks at me.

We say nothing.

I put my hand up, and grinning, she gives me a high-five.

It’s not until I’m in the elevator gliding down to the lobby that I let out a huge and delighted laugh.

Downstairs in the car, I text Gage and ask what he and Linc like to eat for lunch. He says they aren’t picky, burgers are fine, and I ask Douglas to stop at a gourmet hamburger place and pick up cheeseburgers, truffle fries, and thick chocolate shakes. My mouth is watering by the time we drive to the older part of the city, and I can’t scramble out of the car fast enough. Gage meetsme at the door and he gives me a long, tentative kiss while I hold the bag and the cardboard tray of milkshakes between us.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers.

“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. Let me in before our hamburgers get cold.”

Baby sits near me on the floor. She knows I love to feed her.

Linc’s cheerful and relaxed, and as we munch, he tells me silly stories about some of their cases. I like him, and it strikes me that one day he might be my father-in-law. He’s definitely a different kind of man than Clayton, or even my own father, but there’s a comfort in that. He’s steady, has street smarts that would rival any Ivy League education, and he loves Gage. That’s the most important thing of all. My father loved Zane and me more than anything in the world.

In an instant, grief stabs me so hard I almost fall over. Sometimes it’s a blessing that because of everything else going on, I forget how much I love and miss my parents. Then out of nowhere it will hit me like a truck.

“Linc, are you seeing anyone?” I ask, pushing my parents out of my mind.

He wipes his mouth. “Not at the moment.”

“I could introduce you to a couple of rich divorcées,” I tease.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. Every time Gage’s mother has a little soirée—” he pronounces it “swore-ay—” “she’s more than happy to introduce me around. It’s not a club I particularly care to join. No offense, darlin’.” He says it laughingly, his eyes twinkling, but it still pokes at me and reminds me how different Gage and I are.

Zane told me a long time ago he was afraid our money would turn Stella off, and I have the same worries. I wonder if Gage likes how his mother and Rourke live. I guess not since while he was growing up he spent as much time as he could with Linc. It’s a different world, made up of chauffeurs, maids, and paparazziwho won’t leave you alone. It’s a world where people are nice to you to see what they can get, where people are friendly to your face only to backstab you later.

“It’s okay,” I say to hide my embarrassment.

Linc’s comment made me lose my appetite, and I ask Gage if I can feed the rest of my hamburger to Baby. I nibble on my fries, trying to keep my spirits up so he doesn’t think anything is wrong, and when we’re finished, he says, “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”

“Actually, I came here to tell you that I changed my mind. I’ll go to Quiet Meadows with you.”

He frowns and crumples the takeout bag into a ball. “Why?”

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