Enough was enough. For over an hour, I’d been grilled on how I’d handled Elise’s care and the people who’d attacked us, insinuation piling on that I’d fucked up. All the blame on my shoulders.
I couldn’t call Gordain—under the pretence of needing a security scan, the head fucker had taken my phone.
Nor could I go to Elise.
But I could leave.
They’d made it perfectly clear that, at any point, I could get in the Cadillac and never darken their doorstep again.
Nothing about this was right. Not the way they sneered at my explanations and refused to answer my questions. It could be they were just doing their job, and maybe they didn’t trust outsiders, or maybe they were just a joke.
I stood with a foot in two camps. One where I stayed and tried to push for better treatment of Elise. The other where I gave in to their wishes and left.
The fact that I was conflicted personally only worried me more. I couldn’t trust myself to make a decision on logic alone. Not now feelings were involved.
Borderline exhausted, and with my brain strung out, I reached a conclusion. I’d do whatever the lass asked of me. In the car, she’d begged me to stay. So here I was. The moment she asked me to leave, I’d go.
“McRae,” a voice snapped.
I jumped to my feet in the conference room, gazing warily at the guard at the door.
He jerked his head outside. “Miss Darcy wants to see you.”
My pulse skipped, and I broke for the door, pushing past him. The corridor was empty, so I made my way through the ground floor.
Near the front door, the head guard waited. His gaze narrowed on me, and he pointed to the porch.
Elise stood there, her back to me.
My contempt for the man could wait. All I could see was her. I paced to her side. With her hair damp and her face pale, she gripped her arms around herself.
I so badly needed to hold her, my whole body ached. But too many eyes watched us.
“Are ye okay?” I asked, hushed.
She swallowed, and her gaze flitted to the side. “Fine. I’m sorry you’ve been waiting around for me. I should have let you go when we arrived.”
My heart sank. “I stayed because ye asked.”
She didn’t reply for a long moment, and my internal battle grew stronger.
Weakly, she flicked a hand at the house. “I forgot how it could get. There’s so much to do. So many people to talk to. I’m wasting your time.”
She was backtracking. Urgency had me leaning closer. “Never. Just give me a word and I’ll get ye out of here.”
“Cameron…” She folded her arms tighter. “This is my life. I can’t expect you to understand. I’m not about to leave.” Then she finally linked her gaze to mine. “But you should.”
I clamped my jaw against the rising rush of emotion. “Ye want me to go?”
“I think it’s for the best. Staying will just make things…difficult. You don’t want that. Your parents need you, and you should go to them. Head straight to the airport then home.”
My parents? Difficulties? Then it dawned on me that, for some reason, Elise was making this conversation public.
A woman, her manager I guessed, poked her head out of the door. “Elise. They’ll be here soon. You need to get ready.”
“Who’s she talking about?” I asked.
But Elise only shook her head. “I’m sorry, Cameron. It’s better if you’re not here.”
“Better for who?”
No answer came, nor would she make eye contact again. Hurt cramped my stomach into a ball.
And yet… She’d never indicated she wanted me beyond a casual interlude in her busy life. I knew she liked me, but that gave me no rights to demand more.
A simpler view was that she’d needed someone to help her heal, and to protect her for a while. She wasn’t alone now.
No matter what I thought of her security team, they’d undoubtably do a better job than me. If only by sheer volume of force.
Then came the more bitter, crushing blow.
I’d caught feelings, but that didn’t mean Elise had, too.
Which left me where exactly? A friend? I couldn’t do that. I didn’t have in me to pull back.
Tiredness and rejection cluttered my thinking, and I forced down my misery and stepped off the porch. The Cadillac waited in the drive, and I trod towards it. Every footstep weighed a ton.
I hoped beyond reason that Elise would call me back, but no voice came. In the driver’s seat, I chanced one final look her way.
Only to find that she’d gone.
So I gave way to shattered pride and followed her example, leaving, too.
