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“What exactly are you sorry about?” she demanded.
“For ending us.”
“No.” She wrapped me in a hug. “No, Duke. No.”
I pulled her away from me and got out of bed. I leaned against a wall and looked at the picture she made as she sat on the edge of Mama’s bed—more furious than sad, more insulted than hurt.
“You’re throwing me away over Elena?” Her eyes fired anger now, the tears gone, the emotion now pure rage.
I met her gaze. “This isn’t about anyone else but you and me.”
She scoffed and closed the distance between us, standing toe-to-toe, her eyes flashing. Toodamn close—but that was Fiona, always pushing, always testing. “Bullshit,” she snarled. “You’re telling me it’s just a coincidence? That you see her and suddenly I’m a problem?”
Her voice was sharp, slicing through the space between us, demanding an answer I wasn’t about to give. Not the real one, anyway. I clenched my jaw. “Professionally, you’re not suited for the kind of deals that need to be made?—”
“Fuck you, Duke,” she screeched. “I have worked on other deals like this and?—”
“Keep your voice down.” My tone was low and sharp. She went pale.
I didn’t like histrionics. I didn’t do crazy. She knew that. I had enough of it with Mama, and I wouldn’t tolerate it from her. She’d learned that early on when she’d pushed me to have a screaming match with her. That was the kind of shit I didn’t do.
“I was helping you, Duke,” she said, tempering herself.
“I don’t know what you’re doin’, doll, but you ain’t helpin’.”
“I got you Piper Novak,” she reminded me.
“I own Wilder Ranch.Thatfact got me Piper Novak.” She knew that, too.
“I got you the senator and?—”
“Fiona, you’re good at working corporate deals with white men you can distract with your tits and take advantage of with your brains—that doesn’t work in ranch country. Yes, you got Piper Novak to the table, but you can’t close the deal because you’re too busy looking downyour nose at men like Hunt.” I put my hands on her shoulders, trying to keep my touch gentle even though I wanted to push her away and end this discussion. But she didn’t deserve that. “Here, business is done through handshakes while drinking dollar beers on tap at The Rusty Spur.”
“I don’t think this has anything to do with Hunt or anyone else. You’re into that bitch, aren’t you?”
The way she said it made me feel relief. I hadn’t broken her heart, just her pride and that I was okay with. I dropped my hands from her shoulders and walked past her to get the hell out of the bedroom.
“Duke, are you fucking her?”
I had my back to her, and I took a breath. I turned to face her. “We’re done, Fiona.”
“I’ll quit,” she warned, now her stance all professional bitch.
“That’s your call. Your contract has a non-compete clause and an NDA. Is this your two-week notice? If so, I need you to send?—”
“Damn it, Duke.” She launched herself on me, grabbing me into a tight embrace. “I love you.”
She didn’t love me, not really, but that didn’t change the fact that I felt like a jerk. No, Iwasa jerk. I was hurting this woman who had done nothing but follow my lead. Now, I’d changed my tune, and I expected her to get with the program, which she couldn’t; it wasn’t inherDNA.
I gently set her away from me. “Fiona, our personal relationship is over. You telling people we’re gettingmarried is a bridge too fuckin’ far.” I took a slow breath. “And our professional relationship? It’s on thin ice. Your behavior’s causing problems that could drive key people at the ranch to quit—and if that happens, selling this place is gonna get a whole lot harder.”
“I love you, Duke.” She looked at me, bewildered.
I never said I loved her. In fact, I have only said those words to one woman in my life.Elena.
“Did you ever love me?”
“Fiona, love wasn’t part of our relationship from either side.”