Chapter 29

29

F iona

Amanda was cute. She wasn’t posting the face of the man she’d been spending time with lately, but she didn’t mind showing his arm and chest. The video she posted about thirty minutes ago was of her against his chest. They were standing outside somewhere. He rubbed and squeezed her ass while she smiled. I had to admit, she looked happy. That gave me more confidence that my relationship with Elias would work. He’d been a bit distant lately, and I knew it was because I’d kept giving him excuses as to why we hadn’t announced our relationship to my parents yet.

It hadn’t been my intention to wait this long. A part of me thought Daddy would be open to me being with a black man if that man was Elias. His strong rejection thwarted my plan, and I’d been scrambling ever since. The little girl in me who wanted to please her parents battled with the grown woman who wanted to control her life and make her own decisions.

The elevator dinged, and I smiled at the sight of my man. That smile faded when I noticed the scowl on his face. Elias had a naturally unfriendly expression most times at work because he was always so serious, but this was different.

“In my office. Now.”

With a gulp, I stood and took small steps toward his office. With no idea why he was upset, I could only assume. I’d canceled his meeting with Daddy, so it couldn’t have been that. Closing his door, I chewed my cheek.

“What’s wrong?” I asked softly.

“Sit down.”

Loosening his tie, Elias paced. I watched as he rolled up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt. The veins that ran along his arms…those tattoos…God. It was crazy how I found every little thing about this man sexy.

“I’m only going to ask you this once, Fi. Is there anything you need to tell me?”

I was slow to speak. He knew something, so I couldn’t say no. I didn’t want to assume this was about Daddy and give myself away. What else could it have been? Did he know about my fake profiles?

“Can you just tell me why you’re upset with me?”

His tongue rolled over his teeth as he charged over to me, but he stopped abruptly and backed away.

“You’ve been canceling my meetings with your father.”

Oh shit.

He knew.

“I can expl—”

“I need you to explain why you’ve wasted my time, Fiona. He made it exceptionally clear that you knew he would never approve of you being with me, yet you allowed me to commit to you. Why?”

Gritting my teeth, I blinked back tears, but they fell anyway.

“I-I thought I could make him change his mind.”

Elias scoffed. “You know what… I want to yell at you. I want to give you the anger and hurt your secrecy and inconsideration caused. But you know what? You’re not even worth it. Your punishment is going to be a life and marriage controlled by your father. You don’t need me adding to that.”

I didn’t respond right away. I couldn’t. It would have made me feel better if he yelled at me. This was worse. Standing, I cupped my hands.

“I’m sorry, Elias. I kept that truth because I didn’t want it to stop you from taking me seriously. I really wanted to be with you. I thought I could make him change his mind. I’m sorry.”

Avoiding my eyes, he looked out of his window. “We’ll meet with HR in the morning to cover the next steps. You’re dismissed.”

“Elias, I—”

“You’re dismissed , Fiona. Leave,” he demanded through gritted teeth.

“So you’re just going to give up on us?” I asked, standing. “I’m not worth a second of a fight? You won’t even give me the chance to choose you.”

Finally, he turned to face me with a laugh. “Choose me? If you were going to choose me, you would have already done so. Instead, you’ve hidden me. This isn’t a forbidden love book, Fiona. You don’t get to go against your father and have a happily ever after with me. Even if you wanted me, family means too much to me to join yours. Can you stand there and tell me you’d give them up to be with me?”

My brows wrinkled and mouth opened but I couldn’t say yes. I wouldn’t say yes.

“I didn’t think so,” he continued. “I gave up my girl for you, but I’m not giving up my morals and principles. I’m not going to let you hide me, and I would never ask you to give your family up for me. Even if you wanted to, I wouldn’t let you.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is about?” I took a step in his direction. “This isn’t about me not telling Daddy about us. This is about you wanting a way out. You’ve wanted your baby mama all this time. Now, you can have her.”

He licked his lips as he closed the space between us. His voice was calm when he said, “You damn right I’ve wanted her all this time, but I denied myself because I saw a future with you. I thought you were the perfect partner for me professionally and that that could overflow into our relationship personally. I thought your father would welcome me into your family with open arms. I thought we could get married, have kids, travel the world, make millions, and live long, happy lives.

“But none of that was ever possible, and deep down in your mind and heart, regardless of how you tried to convince yourself otherwise, you knew it wasn’t.” I wiped a few tears, and he released a shaky breath. “If you want to use my feelings for Amanda as an excuse for why it’s so easy for me to end things, go right ahead. But we’re over because of you. Now leave.”

Giving up, I took a step back and looked at him for a few seconds through teary eyes before walking away. What he’d said was true. This was all my fault. If I would have just been honest from the beginning, I wouldn’t have taken away his choice and left him in the dark. Hell, if I would have been honest in the beginning, we wouldn’t have had the time we had together. For that reason, I didn’t regret keeping things from both men at all.

It might have hurt and angered Elias, but I didn’t care. I wanted him, and even if it was for just a short while, I had him. Daddy may have kept me from having him forever, but he would never be able to take away the memories and experiences Elias and I shared.