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A cufflink with BB.

I closed my hand around it, squeezing it and thinking about him putting it on that morning. Every instinct screamed at me to crumble. I wanted to sink onto that bed and sob until I couldn’t breathe. But I didn’t have time.

I didn’t have the luxury of time to process the look on his face when I’d called us fake. There was no time to think about what just walked out that door and what that meant. I had to get back to the office.

I finished dressing, buttoning my blouse with fingers that wouldn’t stop shaking. I checked my reflection in the bathroom mirror and barely recognized the woman staring back at me. Smudged lipstick. Hair a disaster. Eyes wild.

I splashed cold water on my face and fixed what I could. Twisted my hair into something resembling professional. I wiped away the mascara smudged under my eyes. Good enough. It would have to be good enough.

I grabbed my purse and phone, scanning through the messages as I headed for the door. My father’s texts were increasingly urgent.

Where are you?

The board wants to meet. Now.

Darcy, call me immediately.

This is important.

Where the hell did you go?

I didn’t have answers for any of it. I’d left my own launch event to have sex with my fake boyfriend who wasn’t actually fake, and now everything was falling apart.

The elevator ride down felt endless. I kept seeing Beau’s face. The hurt. The disappointment. The way he’d looked at me like I was a stranger.

Who the fuck you are, Darcy?

I didn’t know. That was the terrifying truth. The perfect daughter. The competent executive. The ice queen.

I burst through the hotel lobby and onto the street. I couldn’t afford to let my personal life interfere with the professional crisis waiting for me. Beau had abandoned me. I couldn’t blame him.

I hailed a cab and gave the driver the address of Corwin Gems headquarters, my leg bouncing with nervous energy the entire ride.

My phone buzzed again. Another text from my father.

Board meeting concluded. We need to talk.

My stomach dropped. Concluded. Whatever they’d decided, they’d decided it without me.

By the time I walked through the doors of Corwin Gems, I’d managed to regain my composure. There was nothing to do with the scent of Beau clinging to me. I just hoped no one else smelled it. My father’s assistant saw me coming and her eyes went wide.

“Ms. Corwin, your father is in his office. He’s been trying to reach you.”

“I know.” I didn’t stop to explain. Didn’t offer excuses. Just walked straight to my father’s corner office and pushed open the door.

He was sitting behind his desk, phone in hand. When he saw me, his expression cycled through about five different emotions. Relief. Confusion. Frustration. Disappointment. And finally, a blank look that was worse than all the others.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“I stepped out for a bit. I’m sorry I missed the meeting.”

“Stepped out.” He set down his phone. “Darcy, the board called an emergency session thirty minutes after your speech. Do you have any idea how that looked when you weren’t there?”

My stomach twisted. “What did they want? The launch went well. People loved my speech. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

He leaned back in his chair, studying me with those sharp eyes that never missed anything. Did he notice the swollen lips? The redness on my neck from Beau’s very exuberant tongue and teeth?

“They wanted to make it official,” he said. “The launch was a success. Better than projected. The board was ready to formally announce their support for your appointment as CEO.”