Right Billionaire, Wrong Wedding (Sexy Billionaires)(64)

“I’ll send you an updated invoice at once.”

“Please.”

“Thank you for understanding. Again, my apologies.”

“Just send me the information,” he said before hanging up.

In the grand scheme of things, he supposed a soup instead of salad wasn’t that big a change. He’d email Jenny to make sure she approved.

But he should compare the new quote to the old one.

Glancing at his desk, he tried to remember the last time he’d seen it. Allison had shown it to him before they’d done naughty things on his desk. Had she taken it with her when she’d left?

With a shrug, he headed for her office. How hard could it be to find?

Going to her desk, he started rifling through the files on top of it.

“The wedding binder,” he breathed. That’s where it would be. A quick scan showed it wasn’t worked into the work binders on her shelves. He moved back to the desk then grabbed the top drawer and pulled it open.

Nothing but pens and some paper. He was about to close it when his name caught his attention.

Dear Mr. King.

It was addressed to him? Grabbing the sheet of paper, he straightened.

It is with a heavy heart…

His fingers tightened on the fragile parchment as he read further. It was impossible to stop. Line after line seared into his mind. This was a resignation letter.

Ali was leaving him.

The past few weeks shifted into clearer focus. Her hesitation talking about the future. Those brief flashes of guilt in her eyes. He studied the date of the letter. This had been written before they even started sleeping together.

Was that why she’d done it? Because she’d be gone soon?

A pit opened in his chest. In the course of five minutes he’d gone from being utterly sure of what the next days held to feeling…

Empty. Hollow.

His feet carried him back to his own office without any conscious volition on his part. The letter hung by his side, crumpled in numb fingers.

She hadn’t given him her resignation. Maybe she was still weighing her options.

But she’d written it. Whether she’d delivered it or not, these were her true feelings.

She wanted out. Wanted to be away from him.

He looked around his office with unseeing eyes. Someone else would be working by his side. Someone else huddled over his coffee table at ungodly hours.

Logic told him the city was full of people willing to replace Allison. But the idea seemed laughable.

There was no replacing her.

The pit pulsed, sending pain swirling through him. Assistants left. They advanced their careers, climbed different ladders. He knew it was the way of the world. Turnover had never caused him to lose sleep.

Allison leaving was different.

He reached out, leaning against the glass window. Though he knew he was far too high to hear any street traffic, he could have sworn the sound of sirens filled his ears. Darian shook his head. This wasn’t the same. This was professional, not personal. Losing her shouldn’t crack open the seal he kept on the old despair that had festered for so many years.

“Everything okay?”

The sound of her voice was usually a soothing balm on his emotions. This time, however, it burned like acid.

Her reflection moved into view as she stood beyond his left shoulder.

“I got the goods,” she said cheerfully. “Plus a bag of M&Ms we can split later if we need a chocolate boost.”

She’d been doing this for weeks, he realized. Smiling at him, working beside him as if nothing was wrong. And through it all she’d been intending to leave. She’d known. Before she kissed him in his kitchen she’d known they had a time limit.

And she hadn’t let him in on the secret.

Anger surged through his veins, banishing the crushing emptiness in his heart. He was the CEO of a powerful company. His rivals dreaded his arrival in the boardroom. He brokered deals that made billions for his shareholders. Who was she to think she could keep this kind of secret from him?

“Darian?” A hand touched his shoulder. “Is something wrong with the deal?”

Shrugging it off, he rounded on her. “I think we have something more pressing to discuss.”

He lifted the damning letter and watched as the confusion in her eyes was replaced with horror.

He knew the smile that shaped his lips was cold but couldn’t summon the will to care. “You have some explaining to do, Ms. Reed.”

…

He was holding her letter.

“How?” The word left her in a whisper. She’d been afraid of him finding out her plans, but she’d never thought it would end like this.

She should have told him when she had the chance.

“Sam called about some menu changes. I wanted to check them against the initial quote.”

“So you went into my desk?”