Page 43 of The Billionaires' Gamble

Tell me I’m wrong.

Tell me this is all a mistake. That I have it wrong. That there’s a reasonable explanation. A timeline that doesn’t utterly screw me over.

But she doesn’t say a word.

“Tell him, Wildfire.”

God, I am so fucking stupid. Falling for the enemy’s granddaughter. Believing we had some destined connection. That she was different. That she was trying to escape her childhood, just like I was.

“So that’s all this was?” I brace my hands against the cool stone countertop. “A desperate bid to snag a husband?”

Nothing. Not a peep from her.

I grunt a laugh, backing away. “And we gave you three to choose from.”

I nod as the pieces of our story break apart and realign to form a new puzzle with an entirely new, sinister picture.

Did she even have a panic attack? Was it all an act? What an incredible actress she is.

“Stop,” King says.

“Nah. It’s okay. But I’m taking myself out of the running. You’re down to two, Your Highness.”

I jog up the stairs and switch into a pair of running shorts. I’m lacing up my shoes when King storms in.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

I glare up at him, needing to guard my heart against his handsome face. Still, his frown slays me. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Tugging a t-shirt over my head, I grab my phone, and I’m out the door and jogging down the stairs. Katherine stands to the side of the foyer, an arm crossed over her middle, eyes downcast.

“It’s probably best for you to be gone by the time I get back.”

She looks up at me, and I see the unshed tears in her eyes. For a split second, I soften. My heart begs me to go to her. To wrap her in my arms and get back to the happiness of last night, where everything felt so complete and perfect.

But then she nods.

The last bit of hope inside me shrivels and dies.

Acid burns through me, and I bolt out the front door, slamming it behind me, and then I run. And run. And keep on running.

Only when I’m in a quiet corner of Central Park do I stop and look around. Birds chirp, hopping through the trees. A siren blares in the distance. And all my demons come out of the shadows, an insidious army hell bent on finishing my destruction.

A shout bursts from me, and I throw my arms back, letting it all out. Then I crumble, landing in the dirt, sitting back on my heels.

I feel my security team pressing in. The tech wunderkind has lost it. Finally. They have no idea what to make of me. I have no idea what to make of me either.

Before Katherine, I never paid any attention to the energy around me. What were others thinking? Doing? Feeling? Before her, I only concerned myself with facts, figures, ones and zeros.

Now, their concern is so obvious.

“Are you okay, Mr. Rothburn?” one of them asks.

“I’ll live.”

Because I have no other choice. I existed before I met her, and I can go back to that. Back up to my penthouse in the sky, where no one can touch me. Where I’m chasing every high, making every last dream I ever had come true.

And that’s where Kingston finds me. Ass in the dirt watching squirrels chase each other around a tree. He sits across from me, arms braced on his knees. We stare at each other, but he doesn’t say anything.