Page 82 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

She held up a hand. “This is bigger than you just leaving me without a word, Alex. Although that was bad.” Her face twisted. “I figured you’d finally gotten what you wanted from me, caught me, and you’d lost interest. I was falling in love with you, Alex, and you broke my heart.”

My own heart twisted painfully in my chest. “But you understand why I did it?”

“Not at all,” she said. “If we’re together, then we’re a team. You should have woken me up, you should have told me what was going on. You should have let me help you carry this burden.”

“You would have insisted on helping me, of getting involved, and I couldn’t…” I lifted a hand to her gorgeous cheek and felt her soft skin beneath my fingers. “I couldn’t risk you getting hurt. I couldn’t risk losing you.”

Her lips trembled, and her eyes glistened. “You lost me when you chose to lie to me.”

I dropped my hand back to my side, shocked. “I never lied to you.”

She shrugged. “You lied by omission, then. I told you everything about myself, I shared myself with you and you let me believe you were some rich boy from a sheltered existence. You let me believe a lie. If you were really invested in our relationship, if you really wanted to be with me, you wouldn’t have kept that from me. A big part of you was holding back.”

“Jill, I…” But I didn’t have the right words, because she was right. I had held back. I’d given her the best part of me and had hoped I’d never have to let her see the rest.

A heavy hand landed on my shoulder and Lee stepped up next to me. I wanted to punch him for interrupting us, but I was also relieved.

I didn’t know what to say to Jill to make this right and, if I didn’t get away from her soon, I’d beg her to give me another chance. That wouldn’t be good for either one of us, not when there were still thugs out there, likely looking for revenge.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Lee said. “But Willow’s exhausted, man. She needs to get a shower and get to sleep so she can start forgetting about this whole mess.”

I watched Jill help my sister into the cabin, then I turned and went inside my own cabin.

---