Chapter 189
Rowan's POV
The door clicked shut behind Lena with a finality that sent ice through my veins.
I stared at the closed door for half a second, my mind still catching up to what had just happened. She'd been warm when she arrived—tentative, yes, but there'd been that softness in her eyes that had started appearing after the cabin. And then in less than five minutes, she'd gone cold, shut down completely, and practically fled.
"Lena, wait—"
I lunged for the door, yanked it open, and caught sight of her disappearing around the corner toward the elevators. Her shoulders were rigid, her pace just short of a run.
Something was very, very wrong.
I strode after her, long strides eating up the distance, but she'd already jabbed the elevator button. The doors were sliding open as I rounded the corner.
"Lena." I kept my voice level, non-threatening, even as my pulse kicked up. "What's going on? Talk to me."
She stepped into the elevator without looking back. "I just remembered something I need to handle."
The same words she'd used before. The same careful, neutral tone that meant she was barely holding it together.
I reached the elevator just as the doors began to close. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second—hers were bright, too bright, and determinedly blank.
Then the doors shut between us.
"Fuck."
I spun toward the second elevator, stabbing the button repeatedly as if that would make it arrive faster. My mind raced through the last ten minutes, trying to pinpoint what had shifted. She'd seemed fine when she walked in. Nervous, maybe, but in a good way. The way she'd been at the cabin.
And then she'd been alone in my office for what—seven, eight minutes?
The elevator chimed. I stepped in and immediately pulled out my phone, dialing Jack as the doors closed.
He answered on the second ring. "Boss?"
"I need you to pull the security footage from my office. Last fifteen minutes." I watched the floor numbers descend with agonizing slowness. "Send it to my phone. Now."
"On it." I heard the click of his keyboard, then a pause. "Everything okay?"
"No." The elevator reached the lobby. I stepped out, scanning for Lena's distinctive dark hair, the green pantsuit she'd been wearing. "Where does she usually park?"
"West garage, level two."
I broke into a jog, earning startled looks from the lobby staff. My phone buzzed—Jack, confirming the footage was uploading. I ignored it for now, focused on reaching the garage before she disappeared entirely.
But when I burst through the stairwell door onto level two, her parking spot was already empty.
I stood there for a moment, breathing hard, staring at the vacant space. Then I turned and ran back to my own car, my mind already calculating routes. Emily's place was northwest. If Lena was heading there—and where else would she go in this state?—she'd take Riverside or cut through downtown.
I peeled out of the garage faster than was strictly legal, scanning traffic for her silver sedan. Caught a glimpse of it two cars ahead at the intersection of Fifth and Riverside, switching lanes.
My phone rang. I answered on speaker, eyes locked on her taillights.
"Mr. Reynolds." Jack's voice was tight. "You need to see this footage."
"Tell me."
"She went to your desk. Opened the drawer. The one on the right."
My hands tightened on the wheel. The right drawer. Where I kept—
Oh, fuck.
The gift box. The one Lucas had shoved at me, insisting I take it to the airport for Nora's arrival a year ago. I'd opened it later, seen the expensive necklace and that fucking card, and realized exactly what Colin's "word game" at the club had been about. They'd gotten me drunk, had me write out random words for their stupid puzzle, then rearranged my handwriting into that saccharine message.
I'd been furious. Told Lucas exactly where he could shove his manipulative bullshit, tossed the whole thing in my drawer, and forgotten about it.
Until now.
"She saw the card," I said flatly.
"Yeah." Jack paused. "Boss, the message—"
"I know what it says." The light ahead turned yellow. Lena's car accelerated through it. I swore and hit the brakes as it flipped to red, watching her taillights disappear around the corner. "I know exactly what it fucking says."
Welcome back, Nora. I'll always be here for you.
The same words I'd said to Lena. The same promise I'd made her at the cabin, holding her, swearing I wouldn't leave.
And now she thought—
Christ. She thought I'd said the same thing to Nora. That I was playing both of them. That every word out of my mouth was just another manipulation.
The light changed. I gunned through the intersection, but she was gone. I turned onto Emily's street anyway, following the hunch that had been correct too many times before. Lena ran to Emily when things fell apart. It was one of the few constants I'd learned about her.
I pulled up outside the modest brick building and killed the engine, already dialing.
"Jack. I need you to get Colin and Lucas. Tell them to meet me at the Oak Club in two hours. Private room. And make it clear this isn't a request."
"Consider it done." He hesitated. "For what it's worth, boss—Lucas is going to feel like shit when he realizes what happened."
"Good." I ended the call and stared up at Emily's building.
Two hours to fix this. Two hours to prove to Lena that I wasn't the man she thought I was—the man I'd been, maybe, but not anymore.
I climbed out of the car and headed for the entrance.
---
Emily opened the door with an expression that could have stripped paint.
"You have exactly thirty seconds to explain why I shouldn't slam this door in your face."
"It's a misunderstanding." I kept my voice steady, non-threatening, even as every instinct screamed to push past her and find Lena. "The gift, the card—it wasn't what she thinks. I can explain everything, but I need her to hear it."
Emily's eyes narrowed. "A misunderstanding. How convenient."
"I'm not asking you to believe me. I'm asking you to let me prove it." I met her glare without flinching. "Please. I know I don't deserve the chance, but she does. She deserves the truth."
For a long moment, Emily just stared at me. Then she exhaled sharply.
"This is your only shot, Reynolds. Your only one. If this is anything less than completely genuine, if you hurt her again, I will make it my personal mission to destroy you. Are we clear?"
"Crystal."
She stepped back, jerking her head toward the rear of the apartment. "She's in the garden. And Rowan? Don't fuck this up."