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"Shell left me a voicemail last evening from your phone telling me what had happened. She assured me it would be worth my time to see what you had."
"You didn't think that yesterday," I shot back.
Raph winced. Good. He should know how hurt I was.
"I'm here now."
I flattened my lips into a frown. I felt strange, didn't know what I was supposed to think or feel. Or what to show. Shell had done me a favor I wasn't prepared to accept, but I, too, was here now.
The waitress brought my cocoa to the table with a lemon water for Raph. She hurried away when she saw we were busy with work.
Here goes nothing.
I pulled up the original design and turned my computer screen toward Raph.
I showed him my floor plan models, the paint colors, fabrics, concepts for furniture, then sat back and let him read everything over. Fine details mattered, and Derrick had left them out of his at-bat.
After a couple of minutes, I stole a glance at Raph's face. He didn't look upset, but he didn't look like he'd had any trouble sleeping last night. He also didn't look disappointed in what he saw.
I took a tentative sip of my frothy drink. The velvety smooth sweetness did little to calm my frazzled nerves, but it was something. I held my breath.
"This is what I was expecting from you. I should have known better when this wasn't what I got."
"Yeah, you should have. We walked that raw building together and talked about your vision and my plans. You took a damn tour through my life, Raph. You know me better than many people do, but you didn't trust me. You thought I wouldn't come through."
"Would it help if I apologized?"
"Try it and see where it gets you."
Raph angled himself toward me. He was so tall, his jaw so sharp. He looked imposing; he was so put together and I was a total freaking mess.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you called me. I should have heard you out."
"Is that all you're sorry for?"
"What else is there?"
I stared hard, then broke and looked away.
"I thought I knew you, but I don't. When you're dealing with your baby, your project, it's like you're not the man I thought I'd come to know."
"Business is different, Lia. Geoff gave me everything I have. He mentored me. I'm doing everything I can to maintain his legacy. To live up to his standards and put everything he taught me into practice."
I took another sip of my hot chocolate and stared out the window. A misty rain blocked out the details. I met Raph's eyes and saw something there; a flash of pain? It was gone as soon as I noticed it.
"Maybe if you ran a business like you instead of like someone else, you wouldn't have these problems."
"I'm doing what I have to."
I held his gaze this time. I would not back down. His steely facade cracked, and I saw pain seeping through again. He wasn't getting out of this unscathed after all. No one dances that close to fire and doesn't leave with a singed heart.
He reached toward me, but I pulled back. He let his hand drop to the table.
"I really have somewhere I need to be," he said finally, standing and excusing himself from our meeting.
"Fine. But send me an updated contract. I got fired yesterday morning."
Chapter Twenty-Six
