Page 59 of The Billionaire's Promise

Gathering my courage, I raised my eyes to his and asked, "Are you in love with me? Do you want to get married? Have kids with me?"

His face went blank, his lips pressed together. Not the resounding yes I was looking for. My shoulders slumped in defeat.

In a voice that was almost too quiet to hear, I said, "I deserve that, Vance. I deserve to be with someone who loves me, who wants a life with me. I'm tired of going with the flow, hoping things will work out. We've known each other for years. If you don't love me now, you never will."

"Magnolia," Vance said. "Don't do this. Give me a chance. Everything is upside down right now. I'm still getting used to Rosie. I haven't thought about anything long-term. I just need time."

"No, you don't. You've had years of me by your side, every day. Now we're sleeping together. More time isn't going to change anything."

I crossed the room and shoved my feet into a discarded pair of flip-flops I kept by the back door. Picking up my purse from the counter, I took in his perplexed expression and said, "I don't trust my own judgement anymore, Vance. I love you. I love Rosie. But I don't want to be convenient. I don't want to wait and see how it works out. You and Rosie are my whole world. And I'm not yours."

I turned to leave the kitchen. Vance called out behind me, "Magnolia, we can talk about this."

Without looking back, I said, "I'm going out for a while. I don't want you here when I come home."

He said something else, but I didn't stick around to listen. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door, tears streaming down my cheeks. I'd put everything I had on the line and I'd lost.

Again.

I had my self-respect back, but it was cold comfort without Vance.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

VANCE

"Mr. Winters, he's in a meeting. It might be better if you waited—"

I waved a hand at Aiden's PA and strode past her, ignoring her protests. I needed to talk to my cousin. I pushed open the door to Aiden's office to see him sitting behind his desk, a man and a woman in dark suits sitting on the other side, both of them taking notes as Aiden spoke, one on a tablet and the other on a legal pad.

Aiden looked up as I entered, his familiar dark eyes assessing me. When Aiden looked at me like that, I always felt like he had x-ray vision. He saw everything, and he knew me better than anyone except Magnolia.

Fuck.Magnolia.

What the fuck had happened? I was drinking a cup of coffee, thinking about the logistics of turning the carriage house into a studio, and then she asked me to move out.

I was still reeling. I’d called her over and over for the first hour after she left. She ignored me at first, then texted to say,I'm coming home in 30 minutes. Don't be there.

I packed up some of our stuff, and Rosie, and I left. It wasn't like Magnolia to overreact or lose her temper. I was good at convincing her to agree with me. All I had to do was get her to talk to me. But since she'd kicked me out and wouldn't answer her phone, that wasn't looking likely.

"We'll continue this later," Aiden said to the two people in his office. They stood and left, eyeing me but saying nothing.

I took one of the seats opposite Aiden, setting Rosie's baby carrier in the other. She was awake, but was happily occupied by the travel mobile on the handle of the carrier.

"What's up?" Aiden asked. It was the definition of a loaded question. Everything was up. And down. And fucking sideways. I started with the easy part.

"I need you to watch Rosie for a few hours. I have to meet Abigail at the gallery to make arrangements for a donation and take care of some things for the show. And I have a meeting with an investor I completely forgot about. I can't take Rosie with me."

Aiden studied me for a long moment before he said, "What about Magnolia? She can't watch Rosie for a few hours?"

I looked out the window of Aiden's office, unable to meet his eyes as I said, "Magnolia kicked me out. She won't answer my calls."

"What did you do?" Aiden asked evenly.

"Why do you assume I did something?" I demanded, glaring at him.

Fighting with Aiden was always a waste of time. He never lost his temper. That steely look in his eyes only got colder, sharper. I looked away and said, "I didn't do anything. She flipped out on me, wanting to know what our relationship meant and where it was going and how I felt about her before I even had a cup of coffee, and then when she didn't like my answer, she threw me out."

I was working up a good sense of righteous indignation when Aiden shook his head and let out a laugh. "I love you, Vance, and I'm proud of you. You've been successful in almost every area of your life, but you are a total idiot when it comes to women."