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“And risk your job, too?” She shakes her head. “I don’t want you to do that for me.”
“I don’t want to do this job without you,” I say.
She half-smiles. “You’ll find someone to choose your ties for you,” she quips, dry and humorless. “Trust me.”
I exhale hard. “You’re more than that, and you know it.”
Paige says nothing. She stands still, planted in the doorway. She’s made her decision, too, obviously.
And I’ve made mine.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “You know that, right?”
She looks down.
“You don’t have to go through this alone, Paige,” I say. “When you need me, I’ll be here.”
“I know,” she says, softly. “I just... I don’t need you... right now.”
Paige will be fine, Kingston said.
He believes it. She believes it.
Why can’t I?
Because we’ve been through this before. I could have been there for her worst moments, but I wasn’t. She didn’t let me in. I gave up long before I ever should have.
I won’t make that mistake again.
“Paige, please don’t shut me out,” I say.
She hesitates, but, ultimately...
“Goodnight, Oliver,” she says, looking me in the eye.
Willful and strong. Beautiful.
Stubborn, too.
I take a step back. “Goodnight, Paige.”
She smiles stiffly and closes the door.
Annoyingly stubborn.
But... so am I.
And I know exactly what to do.
CHAPTER 48
PAIGE
Something strange happens when you’re suddenly unemployed.
You wake up the next morning and you think, ‘There’s somewhere I’m supposed to be right now.’
But, no. You don’t have to be anywhere.
