24

I was so blitzed I didn’t even notice someone snapping shots.
“I’m handling it,” I say in a low voice.
“It’s worse than this. There’s a video.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Yes. Have you?”
“Yes.” A heavy sigh escapes my lips. The tabloids already sent it over to me for comment. Now I’m doing everything in my power to tie them up in legalities and prevent that damn video from seeing the light of day.
Killian snorts. “We run a business empire, not a back-alley racket. You handle the casinos, the clubs, and that does afford you certain… liberties. But this?” He jabs the envelope with enough force to dent the mahogany beneath it. “This is a PR ticking time bomb. We’re one headline away from our shares crashing and the gaming commission revoking our licenses.”
His words send a cold shiver down my spine, but there’s a bigger dread gnawing at me. The one he doesn’t see. The one he doesn’t care about. If the story leaks, Lucy will be gone for good. My second chance at mending things with her will be snuffed out.
“I’m aware.” I force the words out through gritted teeth.
“And it’s not just about the media,” Killian continues, ignoring my interruption. “Our employees see you as a leader, a role model. What happens when they see this?”
I drop my head into my hands, my mind reeling. “I’ve got the best lawyers working on it,” I assure him, my hands muffling my words. I look up, my gaze hardening. “It’s under control.”
He raises a skeptical brow. “You sure about that?”
“As sure as I can be,” I reply, my tone steadier than I feel.
It’s a well-practiced routine, a front of confidence carefully constructed and maintained over the years. But the cracks are showing now.
“All right, then,” Killian finally grunts. “Just… fix this shit, yeah?”
I nod, watching as he strides out of the office. I catch my reflection in the glass window behind him-the dark eyes, the tense lines around the mouth, the look of a man being crushed under the weight of his own sins.
How did I end up here? At the top of the world, surrounded by wealth and power, yet feeling so fucking empty.
Lucy was my ray of sunshine. But I let my demons consume me, and in the process, I lost her.
In that elevator ride, it took every ounce of restraint not to pull her close and make her mine again. I’m walking on thin ice, perpetually caught between what I want to say and what I can say.
“I am my own worst enemy,” I mutter to myself.
My phone rings, jolting me from my thoughts.
“Hey, big bro.” The cheery lilt in Maggie’s voice is a jarring contrast to my own turmoil.
“Maggie.”
“Wow. You sound worse than I expected. I take it you haven’t made any progress with Lucy then?”
Maggie, my closest confidant, my little sister, knows about Lucy. But she isn’t privy to the whole brutal truth behind why Lucy and I fell apart. I’m too ashamed.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” My voice wavers, breaking the facade I’ve been maintaining for far too long. “Acting like she’s just another employee… it’s killing me.”
Maggie’s response is brimming with empathy. “I know this is tough on you, JP.”
The admission rips a tortured growl from my throat. “I’m on edge, Maggie.”
“Just… don’t do anything rash, okay?”
A pang of guilt hits me. Now I’ve worried my little sister.
She knows about my demons but never sees them.
I always shield her, keeping her away from my dark side. Ever since we lost our parents and I took on the role of Maggie’s guardian at nineteen, it’s been my responsibility to protect her from everything. And even though she’s now in her thirties, only four years younger than me, I still treat her like my little sister.
“I can only imagine what you’re going through,” Maggie offers. “But remember, Lucy needs space and time to heal. Just be patient.”
“Patience? That’s not one of my strengths if you haven’t noticed.”
She doesn’t back down. “Feeling sorry for yourself won’t help. You need to keep your focus on Lucy. She needs you, even if she’s blind to it right now.”
I let out a dry chuckle. The irony is overwhelming. This situation is more nerve-racking than death, if that’s even possible. Death, at least, makes sense.
But this? This is a torment designed specifically for me. Grief for the living and breathing, yet utterly unreachable. A woman who walks, talks, breathes but doesn’t remember.
“She’s completely blocked me out. She doesn’t want to remember us.”
“Now listen here, you grump, that’s ridiculous. I’ve seen the two of you together. Lucy cares for you deeply.”
That was before I fucked it all up.
As I steal a glance at Lucy, her furrowed brow and intense focus stirs something within me. She’s in the zone, her dark brown hair cascading over her shoulders, laser-focused on the task at hand. Her smile, a rare treat, is worth any gamble I’ve ever taken.
She’s gorgeous, not in that obvious pin-up girl way, but it’s the kind that sets my heart pounding.
There’s an unpretentiousness about her. Would she have bailed on me like my ex-wife did when my first company went belly up?
Instincts tell me otherwise.
Instincts tell me Lucy would stick by me even if my empire crumbled overnight. And in this volatile market, you can never be too cocky.
I’m lucky enough to know the woman behind that stunning face, even if she doesn’t remember what’s behind mine.
She once looked at me with a fire in those baby blues that made me willing to hand over my kingdom. Now all I see is wariness.
A long, uncomfortable silence hangs on Maggie’s end of the line. “So what do the docs advise?”
“Gradual reintroduction,” I reply, my eyes never leaving Lucy. “Let her rediscover her memories at her own pace. Problem is she looks at me like I’m some kind of monster.”
“Killian told me everyone at the office is terrified of you. The Big Bad Wolf,” she jokes.
I respond with a grunt, devoid of any humor.
From the corner of my eye, I see Lucy having a heated conversation with the data protection guy. He places a sign on her desk and she counters by trying to return it.
Maggie’s voice is all sympathy. “Just hang in there. Give her time, she’ll start to feel something. Let the treatment do its thing.”
Easier said than done. I’ve built a life, a fortune, an empire on my impatience, on my drive for results, and now the same tenacity grates against the reality of my situation. It’s like being at the casino table, with the house having all the odds.
“Her memories are still there, JP,” she continues, hating silence. “They’re locked away, yes, but they’re there. I know they’ll come back. I just know.”
“Maggie, don’t presume to fucking know,” I snap with a biting tone. She’s trying to help in her usual, optimistic Maggie way. She’s always been the one to see the silver lining, even when we were kids. When our parents passed, when my first business venture tanked, when my ex walked out on me, she always had faith.
“Sorry. I’m just… I’m so fucking unsure right now. I’m drowning here. I don’t know how to navigate this.” I let out a harsh sigh. “I’m going to have to step this up. Create a situation where she has to be around me.”
“Like work meetings and having lunch together?” she asks excitedly.
“No.”
That wouldn’t be enough. Too slow. Too damn slow.