Owned By Fate(55)

No, not freely. Nothing ever came free.

He’d regret this decision for a long time. Maybe forever. He’d always wonder if he’d just tried a little harder, given her a little more time, she would have eventually seen him. Not the man who built his livelihood on other people’s sexual proclivities. The man underneath, the one he’d never wanted to show another soul until she showed up. It figured that the one time he wanted to expose himself, it would be to someone who couldn’t, wouldn’t accept what she saw.

In a few minutes, he would walk into the most important meeting of his life. Nothing had prepared him for this. He didn’t know how to love a child or even be around one. His parents had left him in the care of a man with no parental skills to practically raise himself. The few times his uncle had tried to bond with him, there had been a six-pack of Coors Light and fishing magazines involved.

But he knew one thing for damn certain. If he didn’t believe he could help raise a child, then he wouldn’t be able to convince anyone else of it, either. That’s why he’d agreed to release Caroline from the hold he’d placed on her. One he already missed and selfishly wanted to snatch back. No. He couldn’t do it to himself—or her—anymore. He’d reached the point where being around her and knowing she didn’t find him good enough was equal to the pain of being without her. There wouldn’t be any getting her out of his system and there wouldn’t be any convincing her he had what it took to be her man.

Fuck, it hurt to even think it. To know he could feel this much for her, could want to give her everything, all the while knowing she didn’t want it. How was such a thing possible?

He wouldn’t change Caroline’s mind, so he had to focus on what he could change. A child’s life. His own. Because he knew the kind of man he was, even if Caroline couldn’t see it. He knew he would kill himself making up for the shitty childhood he’d had, replacing it with a good one for Gabby.

Jonah leaned up against the hallway wall, just outside the office where the meeting would take place. When his lawyer had called him, after his disbelief had worn off, he’d had an image of Caroline and himself, walking with Gabby. Laughing. Just being together. He wished he’d never thought it now, because the image was seared on his brain like it had been branded. Even knowing today would be the last time he saw Caroline, he could still feel his blood singing with anticipation. The driving need to get eyes on her. But he wouldn’t let the hope bloom. Not this time. She’d chosen being cut loose over seeing him again. God, she’d even sounded eager.

Distract. He would need to distract himself from thoughts of her. Focus on one thing at a time. The meeting. Keeping his business thriving. At one time, his work alone had been enough to sustain him. Would it ever be again?

He didn’t have a choice.

The pinging of the elevator had him pushing off the wall. But it wasn’t Caroline who made her way down the hallway toward the meeting room. It was Gabby’s mother, Renee. One look at her face told Jonah he had his work cut out for him.





Chapter Sixteen

I’ll let you go.

Caroline stared at her reflection in the steel elevator door. The girl looking back at her was wide-eyed and pale, definitely not someone equipped to inspire confidence in Jonah or help his cause. Propelling herself into action despite her overwhelming fatigue, Caroline made quick use of the hairbrush and lipstick in her purse, deciding she couldn’t do any better on such short notice. At the very least, it served to distract her. I’ll let you go. I’ll let you go.

The door slid open soundlessly, and she exited into an air-conditioned lobby, her heels clicking on the black marble floor. A smiling receptionist stood as Caroline approached, a look of expectancy on her face. “Ms. Preston?”

She bobbed her head. “Yes.”

The receptionist indicated a brightly lit hallway at the opposite end of the chicly decorated waiting area. “Second door on the left. You can go right in. They’re expecting you.”

Caroline murmured a thank-you as she crossed the waiting area, then paused to take a deep, calming breath outside the conference room. On the other side, she could hear muffled voices, Jonah’s being one of them. Just knowing he was so close made her pulse dance against her will. She wished like hell her head was clear, wished she didn’t feel like everything around her was moving in slow motion. Even her depth perception felt off, as though she could reach through the fogged-glass door if she could gather enough strength to attempt it.

Before her nerves could drag her under the surface, Caroline pushed open the door.