Page 69 of Her Every Fantasy

‘Yeah?’

‘Tell me what you’re thinking?’ Wary suspicion tinged the words. As if she knew my turmoil. Knew what was coming even before I did.

And that shaking inside? Yeah, my solid ground was gone, the foundation of belief that I could in any way be the person she needed eroded to nothing. I was a Mortimer. Fruitful in making money and bankrupt everywhere else.

Excerpts of my mother’s letter flashed like neon ticker tape in my mind.

Bryce,

I was going to leave this until you were older but...well, you’ll just write me another letter, won’t you? And, frankly, you need to know a few home truths.

You’re a Mortimer. Mortimers are only good for one thing: making or spending money. Emotional entanglements are superfluous and will only lead to disappointment.

Cut it out of your life now, before you become a disappointment to the family name. Accept that in this you can’t have it all.

I’m never coming back. Neither is your father. The family name will buy you all the regard you need. Don’t bother looking for it some other way.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t offer emotional guarantees you can’t deliver on. You only need to take a look at this family to see we’re fruitful in one area only. Let that be your lesson.

We’ve done our duty. Stop dreaming and do yours.

Cold hard truth hit me. ‘I can’t do this.’

She exhaled shakily. ‘Do what?’

‘Go on this...path with you. I can’t be another bastard who lets you down.’

‘Then don’t. It’s pretty simple, Bryce.’

I laughed. ‘For you maybe. I don’t make guarantees without solid backup.’

Despite the suspicious glint of tears, her chin went up, her eyes challenging me. ‘And you can’t guarantee this so, what, you’re going to run?’

Resentment welled. ‘We agreed—’

‘I don’t give a crap what we agreed. Truth or dare,’ she whispered.

Trust her to get it right for the first time in her life. The first time I didn’t want to play. I remained silent.

‘You always go for dare, right, Bryce? Well, I’m daring you, right here and now to pick us. To stay and give this a chance.’

As if her presence here were ordainedby some cosmic entity, I caught Graciela from the corner of my eye. Another reminder of my emotional bankruptcy.

I shook my head. ‘There’s a project in Hong Kong Damian wants me to take over.’ I’d thought Damian’s email about a rare opportunity to secure prime land in Hong Kong for our next project couldn’t have come at a worse time and I’d been sorely tempted to let it go before I’d remembered that nothing about what Savvie and I were doing was guaranteed to last.

She inhaled a stunned breath. ‘So you’re leaving me? Again?’

The soft, anguished accusation slashed me wide open. But it was better this way. Wasn’t it? ‘Yes.’

This time the tears rose. ‘Then go.’

I watched her walk away while the earth beneath my feet shook.

CHAPTER TEN

Savvie

THEFUMESOFpride and sheer stubbornness kept me going through two hours of smiling, mingling with guests and talking to fashion bloggers about the new collection when all I wanted to do was curl into the foetal position and bawl my eyes out.

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