But the truth is, I’m not unaffected.
Not even close.
“I was just doing my job.”
We both know that’s a lie.
His lips twitch with a ghost of a smile. “No. You were brilliant. Calculated. Unshakeable. Even when I gave you every reason to walk away.”
He closes the space between us, each step careful. Intentional. He’s not looking at me like a man who's grateful.
He’s looking at me like a man who sees the woman who stood by him when no one else would and doesn’t know how to say thank you without setting her on fire.
“I owe you more than I can say.” His gaze drops to my mouth for the barest second before flicking back up.
And just like that, the air is thick again.
I shift to make room as Alessio lowers himself onto the other end of the couch.
He doesn’t push, doesn’t crowd me. But his presence is a gravity I can’t ignore.
“You didn’t just clean up my mess. You made people see me.”
I glance down at my lap, picking at a loose thread on my sleeve. “Well… it’s easier to fix a mess when you know what caused it.”
He pauses. “What caused yours?”
The question lands like a sucker punch.
“I don’t have a mess,” I say quickly, too quickly. “At least, not one worth talking about.”
He tilts his head, not buying it. “That why you never talk about why you left Chicago?”
I go still.
“I just needed a change. New scenery. New start.”
“You don’t strike me as someone who runs from things.”
I swallow, hard. “Well, maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
His voice is patient, coaxing. “Maybe not. But I want to.”
The silence stretches long between us.
Part of me wants to keep it that way. The other part, the fractured, exhausted, raw part, is aching to be seen.
His eyes go steel hard. “That fucking country singer?”
I nod. “I was working as lead of his PR team. He made a pass. I turned him down. My guess is he didn't like that. Bruised his ego. Then a week later, the contract I’d negotiated vanished. My team was disbanded.”
His jaw flexes. His hands curl into fists on his knees. “He blacklisted you because you didn't want to fuck him?”
“No one said it out loud. That’s how men like him work. They don’t need to. The silence speaks loud enough. But the whispers followed me everywhere. Some said I was too ambitious. Others claimed I was reckless. And of course, there were those who insisted I must have done something to deserve it.” I shake my head. “All they saw was scandal. And just like that, I became radioactive.”
I don’t realize I’m trembling until the couch shifts, and Alessio’s hand finds mine. Not tight, not possessive. Just there.
“The press never got the full story. Hell, I’m not even sure I did. But whatever it was, it was enough to make me an untouchable punchline in industry circles. No firm would touch me. No client would take me seriously. The respect I’d spent a decade building evaporated overnight.”
