Page 127 of The Saint

Her eyebrows arched, and Amelia took the proffered envelope. Her fingers hesitated at the flap, not ready for what lay inside.

“Go on,” Veronica pressed. “It’s not going to bite.”

She held Veronica’s gaze for another moment before opening the envelope. Papers inside were official looking and somewhat densely worded. “What is this?”

“An offer.” She raised her shoulders shyly. “I want to buy you out.”

Her mouth fell open. The world tilted on its axis like an amusement park ride. “What?” Her gaze moved to the top of what was now clearly a legal document. The header read: Agreement of Purchase and Sale of Business Assets. “Are you kidding me?”

Veronica rolled her lips together. “No.”

“Why?”

“Well, now that I know my phone was tapped and people were chasing you, andthatwas the reason you couldn’t reach out to me.” She fidgeted. “But even before that, I thought you wanted to… I don’t know. Have another life.”

She had wanted another life at one time. She could have figured that out after Hailey found her professional footing and settled down with Jonathan, but Amelia had been terrified of giving up the stability her business offered. Everything she’d done since their parents died was to make life as predictable as possible. Now, she couldn’t look away from the legal jargon. The script blurred, and all she could imagine was that she was holding onto an escape hatch that led to a life she couldn’t havedreamt of fleeing into. What would another life even look like?Could it involve Camden?Her pulse picked up.

“It’s a good offer,” Veronica said. “I appreciate everything you’ve built and—”

Her eyes dropped to the offer amount.Oh my God. “That’s a big, not-fooling-around number.”

“I applied for a loan and was approved.” She blushed. “It’s not exactly fuck-you money, but it’s pretty good.”

“It’s more than pretty good, Veronica.”

“It’s definitely enough to let you have space and time to figure out what your future looks like.”

A different kind of tears burned in her eyes, a hopeful kind. In the past few months, Amelia had cried in fear and frustration. She’d sobbed in grief. Her tear ducts were overworked and exhausted. But these were shocked, grateful tears. “Veronica, I can’t—”

“If you’re not ready to leave, then that’s one thing. If you’re unsure about what to do, then take your time. There’s no expiration date on the offer.” Veronica gripped her hand with both of hers. The warmth in her hold matched that in her voice. “But if you’re saying no in an automatic, unthinking reaction, thenstop. Give it some time. Let it marinate before you make a decision.”

Amelia clutched the sales agreement. Her fingers pressed into the thick paper as though the bite of pain could give her clarity. “This is…” She tried to reread the offer, but tears blurred her eyesight. “A lot.”

“That’s what your business is worth. It’s a fair offer. One that you deserve.”

Amelia thought about the insurance company that had recently contacted her. She apparently had been the beneficiary of Hailey and Jonathan’s life insurance. She was also going to receive proceeds from their home, which would be put on thereal estate market. The money had felt icky, as though she had unknowingly entered a cruel lottery and was winning prizes for their deaths.

But Veronica’s perspective was a new one. Even if Amelia hadn’t wanted it, loss could also offer possibility, opportunities, the ability to invent a new life—one that wasn’t tied to where she lived.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Heavy snow clumps landed on the windshield. Camden flipped the wipers on. He hadn’t lived through a snowy December in years. He drove Amelia’s car up the winding mountain road toward the rental cabin. Since she was out of danger, Camden didn’t have to be by her side morning, noon, and night. He’d missed being around her as they tried to live their normal day-to-day lives. Work left her distracted, and Camden was more or less on vacation, occasionally checking in with Liam and running odd jobs for Titan’s US headquarters. This was the weekend they would figure everything out.

Not knowing how it would fall out made him twitchy. He loved her. That was a simple fact. Their lives were on separate continents. Unfortunately, that was another simple fact. He didn’t know what to do about things he couldn’t change. Uncertainty cranked the tension in his chest, and his grip tightened on the steering wheel as though holding tightly to something would hold everything else together.

“There it is.” Amelia pointed at the driveway. “Home sweet home for the next three days.”

Home could be anywhere. It could exist even if they weren’t together. But that really didn’t feel right. The thought of life without her—a life filled with middle-of-the-night phone calls like the ones that had brought them together, separate time zones, untold days apart—made the most fundamental part of him long for Amelia even as she sat inches away.

He’d never committed himself to a woman before. He didn’t avoid commitment, but there simply had not been a woman or a reason that made him want to. He finally had one. Amelia was his everything. The thought of time apart was terrifying.

Camden parked in front of the small cabin. It was so far from life in Abu Dhabi that he couldn’t think straight. Fat snowflakes fell in the cloudy afternoon light. Forecasters were calling for three to four inches of snow, just enough to turn the woods into a winter wonderland.

“We’ll go in first, have a look around,” he said. “Then I’ll get our bags.”

Energy radiated from Amelia. She was excited. Snow had turned her a little bit giddy.Very cute.

“I love the snow.” She opened the door and stepped into the fresh powder. “It’s one of my favorite things.”

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