Brides, Babies And Billionaires. Rebecca Winters
laid a hand on the railing of the staircase, bracing herself for support, and took a moment—just one—to close her eyes and soothe her aching heart. But she knew that soothing wouldn’t be possible—not when her pain could only be compared to what she’d felt after her parents had died. But still she stood, rubbing a hand over her chest, as though doing that would make a difference somehow.
The look on Blake’s face flashed through her eyes—the look that had told her all she needed to know about the awkwardness between them over the last few days—and another wave of grief rushed through her.
But instead of giving herself another moment, she hurried back to the room she had got ready in to change and get her things. Before she changed she looked in the mirror for one last time, wondering who the woman who looked back at her was. That woman looked so glamorous she might be royalty—nothing like the broken woman Callie knew really stood there. The one who was using every last bit of her strength to keep standing, not to fall into a heap on the floor and cry until she couldn’t think about him any more.
Until she couldn’t feel the pain that sliced through her at every memory of him.
She carefully took off the necklace and the shoes, placing them back into their boxes, and peeled the dress from her skin. When she was done she laid the dress bag over her arm and took the boxes in one hand, her own things in the other. She struggled out through the door and smiled her thanks when Tom, one of the bellboys, offered to help her.
She’d just handed over her things and asked him to call her a taxi when she heard Blake’s voice.
‘Callie—wait. Callie!’ he said, more loudly when she didn’t stop. ‘I’ve been looking for you all over. We need to talk.’
She gestured for Tom to go ahead, and stiffened her spine when she saw Blake walking towards her even as the pain crushed through her chest.
‘I’m on my way home. I was going to put this in your office with a note for Caroline. Actually, I think I’ll do that now.’
She walked past him to his office, silently thanking Kate for getting her a room on the ground floor, so that she didn’t have to get into an elevator again. She opened the door and laid the things gently over the desk Connor had put up for Blake, and turned when she heard the door slam.
‘Let me explain,’ he said, tension in every part of his body.
‘Explain what?’
‘Why I’m leaving.’
‘So you are leaving.’ She nodded as her heart broke, but coated it with anger. ‘I thought you were just going to let me assume something was wrong, like you’ve been doing for the last few days.’
‘I’m sorry. But—’
‘I don’t want to hear it, Blake.’
‘Callie, I think the least you can do is let me explain myself.’
His tone was testy now, and she felt anger clutch at her.
‘Why, Blake? Why should I let you explain yourself? You’ve been pushing me away for days. You’ve lied to me. And now you’re leaving. So give me one reason why I shouldn’t walk out of here right now and forget about whatever we had?’
‘Because we care about each other. At least I care about you.’ His hands were on his hips; his face was fierce. ‘I care enough that I’m leaving because it’s what’s best for you.’
‘What’s best for me?’ she repeated, almost shocked at his audacity. ‘You’ve decided what’s best for me based on what?’
‘Based on the fact that I know you,’ he said angrily. ‘You need someone who can be a father to your children. I can’t do that.’
Pieces began to fall into place somewhere at the back of her head, but she didn’t take the time to see it. ‘Of course you can’t. Not when you’re so stuck in your own world that you don’t really care about how I feel.’
‘Excuse me?’
Although she heard the warning in his voice, she couldn’t stop now. ‘I can’t actually believe that I thought you might tell me what was going on in your head. I made excuses for you. I went against my gut.’
Tears pricked at her eyes, and for once she didn’t care.
‘That night you took me home from your house—the night you lied to me—I told myself that you needed time, and that I needed to be patient. But I waited and waited and waited. And all I got was distance, a day of pampering—because you needed to distract me from the fact that you were leaving, right? And from a decision made for my best interests. All because of what?’
She wiped at the tears that came when she realised that he had been saying goodbye to her from the day he’d dropped her at home. Today had just been the finale.
‘Because you couldn’t have a conversation with me about having a family?’
The shame she saw in his eyes confirmed her words.
‘You have no idea what it’s like to care about someone and realise that you can’t give them what they want,’ he said.
‘You have no idea what it feels like to have someone you love decide they don’t want to give you what you want,’ she snapped back at him, and then stopped when the words fell between them like the blade on a guillotine.
‘You love me?’
‘I’ll get over it—don’t worry.’
It felt like a weakness, now—a mistake. Loving him. One she would rather have kept to herself. But she hadn’t, and now she had to keep herself from falling for that expression on his face. It made her want to beg him to stay, to face his fears, to let himself love her.
To let her love be enough for him—for them.
But then she saw the sadness behind his surprise at her declaration—the sadness that told her he wouldn’t let go of whatever was keeping them apart—and she felt devastation rip through her. With tears still threatening, she walked to the door, and then she paused, the fire inside her burning just enough for her to turn back to him.
‘You could’ve missed it, because I made the mistake of saying I love you, so I’m going to say it again. You think that you’re leaving because you can’t give me what I want. But what I want is exactly what you want—a family. So don’t use me as an excuse, Blake. The real problem here is you.’
‘Callie...I’m trying. I mean, I’ve tried it before, and I failed miserably at being a father.’ He said the words through clenched teeth. ‘I’d rather walk away than have you witness me failing at it again.’
She choked back the sob that threatened, and felt completely helpless as she said, ‘Well, then, luckily for both of us I’m used to the people I love leaving me.’
And with those words she walked out through the door, slamming it shut on him and on their relationship.
And breaking whatever had been left of her heart.
BLAKE STOOD LOOKING OUT of the window of the office he shared with Connor, and felt the weight of his decision heavy on his shoulders. The weight that had settled there the moment Callie had shut the door to the office—to them—what felt like years ago.
He rubbed a hand over his face, tried to get his thoughts in order. The first day of negotiations had gone well—he thought he already knew who would be giving him a call, even though they still had four more days to go. It would take a few days after that to draw up the contracts, and then that would be the end of the personal responsibility he felt after letting the Elegance Hotel, Cape Town, slip through the cracks because of Julia.
He wouldn’t be needed in Cape Town after