“You look exhausted, Carmen.”
I looked at my shoes. “My father died. I’m going through a lot.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Vince whispered. “But the way you’re acting, Carmen? It’s not right.”
The elevator doors opened with a soft chime. I stepped out without answering. Because I wasn’t sure if he was wrong, and that scared me more than I wanted to admit.
Vince followed me up to Theo’s office, not backing off. He leaned against the wall near Theo’s door, arms still crossed, but now with a softer look in his eyes.
“You don’t have to settle for this,” he said quietly, almost pleading. “You don’t have to let him keep you in this…place.”
I stopped in my tracks, facing him fully now, my voice steady but firm.
“I’m happy, Vince,” I said, my eyes locking on his.
Doubt: You’re lying.
“I’m not leaving Theo. You need to understand that. You can’t fix this, because I don’t need to be fixed, and you certainly can’t ‘save’ me.”
He frowned, a deep line forming between his brows. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.”
I could feel the genuine care, even if it came wrapped in the wrong intentions.
“I’m not going anywhere, Vince,” I repeated. “I’m not leaving him. Not for you. Not for anyone. I’m not the same person I was when I came here, but…I’m learning to be okay with that.”
Vince didn’t respond right away. His expression was unreadable, but I knew that if he was trying to get to me, it wasn’t going to work. I had made up my mind.
“I’m not trying to save you, Ms. Reyes. I was trying to get you to open your eyes, but I see you enjoy being blinded.”
Doubt: What the fuck does that mean?
“It doesn’t matter, though,” he finished. “I’m transferring out of this office. I’ve seen what Theodore Clayton has done to you, and I can’t watch anymore. I can’t watch him turn you into the miserable person you seem hellbent on becoming. You deserve better. And one day you’ll see it.”
I stared at him, letting the words sink into my flesh.
“Goodbye, Ms. Reyes.”
I walked into Theo’s office with my head high.
“Goodbye, Vince.”
And I shut the door.
?????
Theo was up to something.
I could always tell by the smug little curve of his mouth and the annoying gleam in his eyes whenever he thought he was being smooth. He’d taken me to dinner—an actual dinner.
The last few days, we had been ordering room service or takeout while I cried in his arms when I thought of my father. I tried to keep myself busy with planning his funeral while Theo was at work or talking to my friends. Jayda and Tyler’s drama distracted me just enough for the grief to subside. But the minute Theo would walk into our penthouse, I would unravel.
This day out was needed. I was tired of being locked up in that room, and my mind kept trying to set a date to go back to the States, but I continued to draw blanks. Of course, I’d have to leave Italy sooner or later.
At least for the funeral.
But the way Theodore looked at me made that decision hard. It was hard to leave the man who had me on top of Rome, literally and figuratively. The rooftop restaurant he picked had wine I couldn’t pronounce, and a perfectly cooked risotto that made me forget for a second that I’d cried in the shower this morning.
Yet, all I could focus on was him.
