2 weeks later…

Every day felt like an eternity. She was numb, exhausted, and missed Zephyr. Matter of fact, she'd had to do an intervention on her thoughts. She wouldn't last if she let thoughts about him plague her. She'd done the right thing for him, but the way she was carrying on was a workout for her.

"Malia."

Malia shook her head and blinked rapidly "Sorry Emily. I'm just—"

"I know. Distracted. Zoned out. What the hell is wrong with you?"

She didn't know why the tears started. She was fine. Totally fucking fine. Liar. But with the first slide of a wet tear rolling down her cheek, another followed. "Is it supposed to hurt this bad?”

Emily nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, honey, but yeah.”

“Well it sucks monkey turds.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah?” Even though she already knew what Emily would ask.

"Why? I mean you loved the guy.”

"I know. But I needed to stand on my own.” The lie rang hollow in her ears.

"Bullshit.”

The tears flowed freely now. "Mr. Tanashi came to see me a couple of weeks ago.”

Emily frowned. "Wait, Zephyr's boss?”

Malia nodded her head. "Yeah. Spoiler alert: he's Zephyr's grandfather."

Emily's mouth dropped open. "You're shitting me."

"Yeah. He wants Zephyr to take over the company. Says he can't do that if he’s distracted.”

"Okay, wow, you need to fill me in on the rest of the family drama. What the hell?”

"The guy believes that I am a distraction for Zephyr. He pretty much threatened to ruin my future if I didn't do as he said. And when that didn't sway me, he threatened Zephyr's future. Zephyr needed the second chance. After everything he did for me, I didn't have a choice.”

"Oh, honey. That's fucked.”

"You're telling me? We crossed the line. And now I have to pay for it so he doesn't have to."

Emily sighed. "So that's just it, you're going to give up?"

"I'm not giving up. We can't be together. If I'm with him, I cost him everything.”

Emily took her hand. "Honey, I understand. But you're costing him love instead.”

Malia frowned. "What am I supposed to do?”

"I mean, I get it. But shouldn't you let him make that decision for himself?"

"Yeah, in theory. But at the end of the day, he won't make that choice. He has to take care of people.”

Emily licked her lips. "Maybe this was your way out. Leave him before he can disappoint you. Leave you.” Emily squeezed her hand. "Hon, I love you. You are so scary smart it's unbelievable. And you're beautiful, and you're talented, but you are a fucking idiot. You are in love with that guy. And you let go because someone strong-armed you."

"I don't really have a choice. It was either destroy myself, or destroy the both of us. I choose to destroy both of us emotionally and save our careers." And Malia knew she would never recover.

“I need to get to class.”

“Fine, but think about what I'm saying, would you?”

In a foggy haze, she trudged to class, and her phone rang. She stared at the 212 area code for a moment. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Malia?"

"Yes. Who's this?"

"Hi, it's Delilah, Zephyr's sister."

Delilah? "Is he okay? I haven't seen him in class for two weeks. We were assigned a new mentor.”

"He's fine. No emergency. Everyone is okay.”

"Okay, if he's fine, what's going on?"

"Well, he's fine, but he is a complete dickhead."

"Oh. That doesn't sound like him."

"Look, I don't know what's going on with you guys, but I feel like maybe he'd listen to you. He's been … a mess.”

Malia dropped her bag and used it to sit on. "Okay, Delilah, I promise you he does not want to see me. Not after what I did to him."

"Look, whatever happened, he needs you now. He's hurting.”

"I never meant to hurt him. I—”

“You think this is about you?” Her laugh was sharp. “This isn't about you. He's wrecked about that, but he found out Hiro Tanashi is his father.”

Malia was silent for a moment. "Horuto said he wasn't going to tell him.”

Delilah didn't seem surprised. "Nothing about that man surprises me. But this is bigger than that. Our dad knew. It's fucked Zephyr up in the head.”

"Shit. I'm not sure what I can do, Delilah."

"Sometimes it's not about being sure of what you can do. Sometimes it's just about being here. I'll arrange a ticket at the airport and text you the details."

“Okay. I'm on my way.”

* * *

Maybe coming home wasn't the best idea he'd ever had. Zephyr was surrounded on all sides by family and love. But it felt fake, like he didn't know any of them.

All of them were loved up, some with kids on the way, and they were so busy making eyes at each other that it was actually pretty gross. Normally, he loved coming home. It was his reprieve, his respite from the crazy shit that was going on in his life. But now, it felt like he didn't even know them. Like he was an outsider all over again. Even now at the family barbecue, he felt the sharp sting of loneliness. Fuck, he missed Malia. But she'd made her choice, and he couldn't force her. She'd taken the deal with Tanashi. She'd chosen survival on her own instead of a life with him.

"Are you going to mope, or will you try to enjoy your family?"

Zephyr bit his tongue. "Dad ... Don't."

He nodded. “How long are you going to stay mad at me? Because right now, you're acting like a shit.”

From the back corner of the gazebo, Zephyr's mother called out, "Language."

His father muttered under his breath. "Shit." He chuckled. “Such a ball-buster. Look when you're ready to talk, I'm here. I love you. And I've always done what's best for you.”

“I get that. Just wish people would stop doing that. It fucking hurts.”

"I hear you, and I'm sorry. It's going to suck for a while. You and I, you're my son. You know I love you. I also know things have a way of working out.”

Zephyr shook his head. “I'm not sure about that, Dad. Not this time. I did everything right, and it still ended up like this. She still chose to walk away.”

"You sure about that?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Horuto has chosen her as the intern. All that's left is an announcement. She made her choice.”

His father took a pull of his beer. “I love you kid. No question.” Then turned to face Zephyr again. “You also have likely been duped. Horuto Tanashi knows how to twist a knife. Maybe you should talk to her before you make any decisions.

“Maybe, like you, someone forced her hand. You won't know until you talk to the woman." His father glanced at his phone. “Someone's here. Can you grab the door? I need to check the grill.”

"Yeah, fine."

He swerved around his younger sisters who were arguing about something. He also narrowly avoided colliding with the kissing Ryan and Mia. Those two needed to get a room.

His brain was still trying to process what his father had said. Make sense of it. Maybe Tanashi had strong-armed her. He dragged the door open and his heart stopped. Just over the threshold was the one woman he couldn't get out of his mind. "What the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

Malia stared at him. God, he looked good. Really, really good. "Well, I'm here for you."

He frowned. "For me?"

"Yeah. For you." She resisted the urge to lean in and sniff him. “Can I come in?”

For a moment, it looked like he might say no, but then he nodded and led her through the foyer to the right, to what looked like a study.

"It'll be quieter in here. We’re having an impromptu family reunion of sorts. Everyone's home except for Jezzie and Logan, who are on tour. They're all gathered to make sure I'm not losing it." Malia shifted on her feet. What was she supposed to say?

“Listen. Delilah called. She said you weren't doing so hot. Zephyr, I—I never meant to hurt you."

Zephyr pursed his lips. "Funny thing about that is you still managed it."

"I know. And I'm sorry." Note to self: next time you're going to make a big, grand gesture to someone, think through what you're going to say first. She took a deep breath. "When we talked and we said that we were doing this, I meant it. Every word. I was letting go of that fear, and I wanted us to take a shot. I understood the consequences, understood what would happen. I just—when Tanashi approached me, I didn't know what to do. And I knew how important that job was to you. He said if I didn't break it off with you, he'd ruin your career.”

“You chose for me instead of talking to me?”

“Isn't that what you do? Make the decision that’s in the best interest of other people?”

He tilted his chin up. “You can cut the shit. I already know he chose you as his scholar. He had your signature.”

What? “Zephyr, I signed a document saying I wouldn't interfere in your life. That I would break things off with you. That's what I signed.” She searched his face, looking for some sign that the old Zephyr was in there. He's not. You hurt him.

“So how about the two hundred thousand he put in an account for you?”

Say what now? “I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't get any money for tearing out my heart. All I got was pain.” She shifted. "Look, Delilah called me. Told me where you were and I just—shit, I'm so bad at this. I love you. It terrifies the hell out of me. I'm afraid of what it can mean. But I love you. And I gave you up so that you could have your dream. I—I'm not even supposed to be here. He's probably still watching me to make sure I follow the rules.”

He stared at her for a long moment. "Are you done?"

The shaft of pain in her heart was instant, white-hot. "Yeah, thank you for hearing me out."

“You can get out now.”

Malia's mouth hung open. “Zephyr. I—” But there was no love there. No softness. Just hurt. “Goodbye, Zephyr.”