Page 245 of Money Reigns
Then it hits me, sharp and inconvenient.
“Oh no,” I blurt. “I quit my job.”
He glances over his shoulder, amused. “You just remembered that now?”
“I had a lot on my mind,” I groan.
His smirk is maddening and sweet. “I’ll rehire you. But we’re renegotiating salary. You’ve made yourself…irreplaceable.”
I drop onto the bed, burying my face in my hands. “I’m sorry. I’ll apologize for the rest of our lives if I have to.”
He pauses, that smile softening into something real. “I like that. The rest of our lives.”
My breath catches. I sit up straighter, nerves twisting inside me, suddenly too aware of how much I want that to be true.
“How were things without me?” I ask. Quiet. Scared of the answer.
He doesn’t meet my eyes as he tosses our clothes into the hamper and tucks the suitcases away.
Just says one word:
“Dark.”
And it cracks something wide open in my chest.
I force a smile, swallowing the burning lump in my throat. “How’s the Parker Building? The renovation must be finished by now.”
He stills.
His hands freeze mid-motion, fingers curling into his palms.
“We can talk about work later,” he says with practiced casualness that doesn’t reach his eyes. “You must be starving. Should we order from La Serenata? Those garlic prawns you love?”
I frown. “No.I want to know about the Parker Building. What’s going on?”
He exhales slowly, then walks over and sinks into the mattress beside me, the bed dipping under his weight. “The Amatos owned Baker’s Inn. They wanted a trade. I gave them one.”
My heart stops. “No,” I whisper. “War… tell me you didn’t.”
His voice is steady, but his eyes are full of something raw. “The Parker Building wasn’t worth more than your freedom. Yourpeace. I’d trade every brick of it again.”
I stand, stunned.He gave it up.
“You built that from the ground up,” I whisper. “For Noah. You breathed life back into it. That building ispart of you.”
“And so are you,” he says gently, rising with me. “What matters more?”
I blink through the sting in my eyes. My throat tight. “They’ll ruin it.”
“Maybe,” he admits. “But they won’t ruin you.Oryour family. And that’s all I care about.”
I wrap my arms tight around his neck, burying my face in his chest. “I’msosorry,“ I whisper. “I hate that you had to choose.”
“I didn’t have to. Iwantedto,” he murmurs. “That building was never going to love me back. You do.”
His words hit bone-deep.
I pull back just enough to look at him.
