Owned by Fate (Serve #1)(54)

What would she think of this place? If she could see the home he’d created, so vastly different from his dark cave above Serve. Would she approve of the blue billowy curtains he’d had a hell of a time figuring out? The ones so similar to the ones he’d seen in her bedroom that he’d had to have them. Needed them, if for no other reason than a reminder she’d invited him into her room for a brief time. What it had felt like to hold her. Would she climb into his big, new four-poster bed and flop back, stretching her arms above her head, inviting him to climb on top of her?

Jesus. Stop. He had to stop.

Every time he got to this point, which had been countless times over the last couple days, he remembered how she’d looked walking into the conference room. Even now, the memory had sharp denial flooding him. Dammit, a stiff wind could have knocked her over. Her eyes, already so big in her face, had looked larger, haunted, smudges of black beneath. Skin, usually glowing and vibrant, had looked pale in the harsh lighting. And still, still, he’d been able to see the outline of his garter beneath her skirt.

He’d been selfish with her. Incredibly so. He’d made it his responsibility to care for her, to make sure their relationship only caused her to thrive, but he’d withered her in the process. Forgiveness for himself wouldn’t be happening any time soon. He didn’t deserve it. Maybe she’d been right all along, and he didn’t deserve her.

Jonah backed out of the bedroom, commanding the image of Caroline stretched out on his bed to fade. It wouldn’t. It followed him all the way to the subway station, sitting on his shoulders and slithering through his consciousness like smoke. He had a driving need to know she was in better shape than when he’d left her, but he wouldn’t allow himself that privilege. No, he would keep his vow to her. If nothing else, when she thought of him in passing weeks, months, or years from now, he wanted her to remember him as a man who kept his promises.

He stood on the subway platform, waiting for the train to arrive. The train that would take him back to Serve, a place that used to fill him with pride and purpose but now only felt empty, lifeless, now that she’d been inside it and gone. He leaned over the track to check for the train’s headlights and saw none yet, so he turned toward the underground newsstand behind him and asked for a pack of Red Vines. As the clerk dipped below the counter to retrieve the licorice, the headline of Preston’s ReVAMPed demanded his attention.

“What the hell?” he murmured, reaching for the partially covered magazine. What he saw made his heart slow, slow, before racing wildly. The sound of the oncoming train roaring past the platform behind him matched the deafening pulse ripping in his ears. On the cover of the magazine was a picture of Caroline and Oliver, announcing their plans for a merger, turning Preston’s into a sophisticated lifestyle magazine with a financial twist. Jonah tried to focus on the words, the announcement, but his eyes were continually drawn back to the picture of Caroline, her posture so composed but her solemn expression jumping off the page and going right through him.

He tore his gaze away from the sight of her and glanced at the bottom of the page where the article ended.

I’m in love with you, Jonah Briggs. Everything about you. Don’t give up on me.

Missing you. Needing you. C

As Jonah slowly lowered the magazine to his side, the train screeched to a stop behind him.

…

Caroline threw a glance over her shoulder, sighing at the abundance of news camera lenses trained on her as she approached Serve. They’d been following her doggedly since that morning, about an hour after the Times piece ran. She’d refused to give them any kind of statement or sound bite, hoping they would leave her alone and let her work speak for itself, but she’d had no luck avoiding them.

The response to her Ponzi scheme exposé had gone beyond anything she’d imagined. The arrest of Joseph Kimble at his Long Island residence that morning continued to run as the lead story on every major news station in the country. As soon as that footage had gone live of Kimble’s walk of shame, news agencies had begun scrambling to find the next biggest scoop. Namely her. The upstart financial journalist who, while respected in the journalism community, hadn’t quite made a name for herself yet. Until today.

Coupled with Preston’s front-page announcement that their renowned financial publication would be transforming into a magazine dedicated to walking on the wild side, the media had sat up and paid attention. For hours, her cell and office phones had been ringing off the hook. Several interview requests and one oddly endearing marriage proposal later, she’d turned off her phone just to keep her sanity. Perhaps tomorrow, when the dust settled, she could consider the offers with an eye as to how the publicity could jump-start the new Preston’s. But not today. Not when any kind of future with Jonah was up in the air.

Oliver had thought her insane for leaving the office this evening, walking straight into the throng of question-hurling reporters, but she’d had no choice. The abhorrent thought of going another day without seeing Jonah had propelled her out the door, speed-walking along the sidewalk from the Financial District toward Tribeca. She’d taken down one of the country’s most influential money moguls in the business, but her nerves had remained intact until now.

Caroline planned to walk into Serve and get her man. On live television, if necessary. Getting him back was the plan, anyway. Said man had to be willing to be gotten. For all she knew, he’d turn away from her, having already moved on to someone who wouldn’t treat him unfairly. Granted, the cameras were annoying, but maybe her walking into Serve with them filming her every step would help Jonah get the message. I’m not ashamed of you. I not only accept everything about you, I celebrate it.