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I hurried forward, expecting it to be Brian.
To my surprise, it was the person I least expected to be present at my mother’s grave.
Noah Amhurst kneeled before the gravestone with his eyes closed. A big bouquet of pink carnations lay on the clean gray stone before him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked at once.
His eyes snapped open. Turning toward me, he stared at me with those cool, silvery orbs.
“I was praying to your mother to give you some good sense,” he said in a deep voice that reverberated through me.
My insides tightened with an emotion that was half-fear and half-arousal. I was still reacting to being alone with him the same way I did five years ago.
He doesn’t own me anymore, I reminded myself.He can’t hurt me again.
“You look different from this morning,” he said, getting to his feet. “You must be working very hard to get what’s mine.”
I almost told him about my conversation with Corey and Caleb, but stopped myself.
If he was aware of my kidnapping, he’d know why I looked so tired and pale now.
“I have been hard at work,” I lied. “Most of the morning went by in going through the list of construction projects we’re handling.”
Noah’s expression turned colder.
Moving closer to me, he forced me to crane my head to meet his unfriendly gaze. “No matter what anyone thinks, you’re not suited for the position of CEO,” he bit out. “I wouldn’t have said this if you were taking over any other subsidiary company in Amhurst Co. but the construction business isn’t a place for a woman.”
“I knew you were an asshole but didn’t peg you for a sexist,” I replied.
“I’m not being a sexist,” said Noah. It looked like he was about to say something more but stopped himself. He glanced toward Mom’s grave and stepped away from me. “You’re here to see her. I should leave you to it.”
Walking past him, I dropped the bouquet on her grave. The two bunches of pink carnations were a vivid splash of color against the gray stone and the dark soil.
“How did you know what kind of flowers she liked?” I asked before he could leave.
“I saw Dad bringing them to her.”
Surprise flickered through me. “You’ve visited her before?”
A strange emotion swirled in his beautiful eyes. “You weren’t around,” he said in a low voice. “I didn’t want her to get lonely.”
I stayed quiet, wanting him to keep speaking. This was the first time I’d heard an emotion in his voice that wasn’t anger or hatred.
“I’m sorry.”
The words hung in the air between us.
I couldn’t believe I heard that correctly. Noah Amhurst was saying sorry?
“For what?” I challenged in return, refusing to lower my guard.
“Everything.”
I watched him as he struggled to maintain that stone-cold, impassive expression on his handsome face.
“I didn’t mean to injure you that time,” he said in a low, deep voice. “I’m sorry you were hurt so badly you couldn’t see your mother for one last time.”
I inhaled a sharp breath.
