Chapter Twenty-Two

Alexa stepped off the elevator onto the second floor of NorthStar Transportation Solutions. She nodded politely and said hello to the staff as she walked down the hall. She’d lost sleep over the past two nights, imagining this.

She wasn’t moving to Seattle. She loved Rafe. Her grip involuntarily tightened around the velvet ring box. She was staying at NorthStar, and if Brad wanted to stick around, too, they needed to get something straight.

Brad’s thirtysomething, dark-haired assistant sat behind a curved work station outside of his office. “Ms. Cayne?” Her expression morphed from shocked to a mask of professionalism. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. “He’s in a meeting. Why don’t I call you when he’s free?”

The sound of a woman’s weeping filtered through the closed door.

Brad’s assistant looked from Alexa to his office and back to Alexa again.

The wails grew louder.

Brad’s voice filtered through the door. “I can’t see you anymore. I’ll lose my inheritance.”

Was he talking to Karma Sunflower?

The assistant’s brow rose, as if eager for the drama to unfold.

Alexa couldn’t stop an eye roll. The woman probably couldn’t wait to pick up the phone and inform the gossip hotline. Then again, who could blame the gossipmongers for tuning in? Her and Brad’s life continued to play itself out like a reality television show. She was done with serving as the company’s entertainment.

“This won’t take long.” She strutted past the assistant’s desk, walked into Brad’s office, and shut the door.

He stood in front of his large wood desk. A willowy brunette wearing a loose yellow dress gripped his forearm.

In her fantasies, she’d envisioned Karma as a troll or a tarted-up bitch with too much makeup and zero class. Not the delicate, fresh-faced young woman who appeared just past twenty.

Brad pulled Karma’s hand from his arm. An inner battle of his own played out on his face as he stepped back from her.

Morning sun, shining through a wall of glass, illuminated Karma’s hurt expression. “Brad. No.”

“You should go.” He walked to the window and looked out.

Karma’s light gray gaze landed on Alexa. The woman’s chin wobbled before she dissolved into tears. As she ran out of the office, for a brief moment, the loose fabric clung to her slightly swollen belly.

She’s pregnant? Alexa braced for the reality slap, but it was more like an internal nod. He had left her for this woman. It was an acknowledgment that, surprisingly, didn’t hurt. She didn’t care what he did. Brad didn’t have that type of power over her anymore.

The sounds of anguished sobs faded.

She honestly felt pity for Karma.

Brad cleared his throat. “Sorry about that.” His gaze fell to the ring box. “You’ve made your decision. Good.” He smiled as if it took effort. “No time like the present to make our re-engagement official.”

Alexa opened the box. The solitaire twinkled.

Revenge. Vindication. It was all hers for the taking. She just had to slip the ring on her finger, and Karma would have nothing. Brad, who was desperate enough to protect his inheritance, would have to give her anything. Everything. She could make him grovel. Fuck with his mind. People would praise her triumph in reclaiming him and call it a coup. She would insist he put in writing that he never see Karma Sunflower again, and if he broke that agreement, he’d suffer the consequences…but so would Karma and their innocent baby.

The fantasy in her mind dissolved to the equivalent of dust, easily swept away. Alexa closed the ring box. And she’d suffer too. Last night, she’d dreamed of Rafe holding her. Loving her. She’d awakened with tears streaming down her face, moved not only by the beauty of her dream, but from the ache of wanting to experience that moment with him in real life.

“We’re never getting back together.” She pressed the box into his hand.

“Alexa, wait.” Brad raked a hand through his hair. “Karma isn’t in the equation. What you saw was me saying goodbye.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’m no longer confused about what’s important.” He held out the box. “I know where my priorities lie in all of this. With you.”

“And don’t forget about your inheritance. Don’t bother trying to deny it. I heard what you told Karma.”

“You don’t understand. What am I supposed to do without money?”

“How about you try working for a living?”

“Where?” Brad jerked up his hands. “Bagging groceries at the market with Karma? According to my father, if I don’t shape up, I’ll not only lose my inheritance, but I’m also fired from this job. And he’s promised to make sure no decent company will hire me.”

“My father wouldn’t allow you to be let go.”

“Wouldn’t he?” Brad chuckled bitterly. He rounded his desk, tossed the ring on top of some papers, and dropped into the brown leather chair. “I heard that your father swore he wouldn’t let me come back to NorthStar, even if I begged. The only reason I’m here is because my father talked him into it.”

Brad stared down at the ring box. When he looked back up, bleakness filled his eyes. “I’m sorry I tried to drag you into all of this, but my father won’t budge. He’d rather destroy me than not get what he wants. I have to follow through.”

“But what about what you want?”

“It doesn’t matter. You need to face facts, the same way I’m doing.” Brad’s lips flattened into a thin line. “We don’t have a choice. In the real world, I can’t be with Karma any more than you can keep shacking up with your stripper. Look, why can’t we just be practical about our situations? We can get married to make everyone happy, but you can keep seeing him quietly on the side, and I’ll do the same with Karma.”

“And the baby?”

He sat back in the chair. “Of course I’ll make sure Karma has money. Who do you think I am?”

Someone she didn’t know as well as she thought she had. He was willing to throw over raising his own child for an inheritance. Did he even realize what he was saying? Dishonesty. Pride. Greed. Fear. The rocky pillars that would have supported their marriage. She’d dodged a bullet when he’d left her at the church. Now it was her turn to walk out and go after her chance at happiness.

“I won’t marry you, Brad. I don’t love you, and I don’t care what anyone, including my parents, thinks about me and Rafe.” She spun around and headed for the door. Just before she opened it, she looked back at Brad. “You do have a choice. Be brave and stand up to your father for once, or be an asshole to Karma and your child and possibly lose both of them forever. It’s up to you.”