Looking at my computer screen, I’m not sure how I’m going to get through the entire day. Willow recommended I come back to work, and at the time, I thought it was a good idea. But sitting here, the faint smell of the flowers Merritt sent me still wafting in the air, looming from my trashcan, and I just can’t stop staring at the picture of us on my computer screen.

God, it hurts. It’s the most excruciating pain I’ve ever dealt with, and I want it to go away. Looking down at my bracelet, the one he bought for me, I pop it open and take out the tiny, tattered piece of paper. As I unfold it, the ink has faded, but still faintly visible is his name, Merritt. What was a wish of mine not so long ago, now will never come true.

Through a sob, I choke back the tears and drop it into my trash. I’ve got to let him go…I have to.

“Quinn,” the receptionist calls through my phone, almost making me jump out of my skin.

“Yeah.” I try and sound somewhat normal.

“Your nine thirty is in the conference room.”

“Okay,” I answer back, caught off guard. I don’t have a clue who my nine thirty is or what to do about it. Going into my calendar, I wait for it to load and it’s taking forever.

Goddammit!

Grabbing my iPad so I can search the company name if needed and fly by the seat of my pants, I make my way across the office and stop at the door, swallowing and taking in a breath of air before I go in and put on a fake happy persona.

But as I open it and step in, the wind is knocked from my lungs and I freeze. Everything around me slows. My senses that weeks ago died suddenly come back alive breathing him in, and I stand unable to move.

Merritt is sitting at the head of the conference table, his brown eyes hard to read. Why is he here? He hates me. Then in that commanding voice that I’ll do anything for, he orders me to close the door.

Gently I do and take a seat across from him, prepared for the wrath of what is next. In front of him is a folder. I’m sure it’s of more pictures or something that his dad sent him, and I begin to feel as though I could hyperventilate.

“How are you?” he asks.

I nod, still not speaking, and he says, “It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” My voice trembles; this is harder than I ever imagined it would be. He opens the folder and hands me a piece of paper. “What’s this?” I ask looking down at the blank white sheet.

“You tell me, what do you see?”

“Nothing,” I’m confused, but lately, that’s all I am.

“I see something different.”

I flip it over, the back is blank too, and I tell him, “I’m sorry, but my brain is mush lately.”

“Please don’t be sorry, Quinn.” Hearing him say those words when that’s all I should be makes me cry. Why is he doing this? “I see a blank page with nothing but possibility on it.” He slides me over a pen and tells me, “If you could have anything in this world, what would it be?”

I write the word you, very small, knowing he’s got to just be playing a game with me. It’s payback, I’m sure, but being in his presence, I can’t deny what I want. There is no way he’ll ever forgive me or look at me the same way, how could he? I can barely forgive myself for lying to him.

I pass him back the paper, and he opens the folder. Inside is another one, and in his very large handwriting is the word, YOU.

Reading it, it is hard to believe. Tears fill my eyes, and he says to me, “I know you had no idea my father and I were related, and…I forgive you for not telling me as soon as you found out. That must’ve been a hard moment for you.”

“Why would you forgive me?” I ask, needing to know his reasoning.

“Because you were set up, and so was I.”

“What do you mean?”

“Charles and Ari have been working together to push me out of the business. From the moment you met my dad, it was all part of a plan to get rid of me.”

“What the fuck, why?”

“I guess because I’m not his son,” he tells me, the revelation is a giant surprise. As he explains further, it all makes sense, but understanding how Ari had a hand in it all doesn’t add up. “But you bought Ari’s stocks and gave him the money for them.”

“It’s all such a shame. I’ve lived and breathed for that company since I was eighteen years old, and all along both of them were working against me.”

“I get why Charles did it, but why Ari?”

“We’ve all got a price, some more than others. Ari was willing to give his soul to the devil in exchange for an overinflated company that likely won’t last a decade being run the way those two do things.”

“I don’t know what to say, Merritt.” I’m at a loss for words, completely taken by surprise. I’ve known Ari for years; he’s like a brother to me. “Does Willow know?”

“No one knows, baby, but us.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why?” he scoffs like I’ve completely offended him.

“Because I can’t get my hopes up; I’m barely able to function as it is.”

“Quinn, did you or didn’t you write this on this paper?” He holds up what I wrote.

“You watched me write it.”

“Did you or didn’t you know Charles was my father?”

“I swear to God, I had no idea.”

“Then please, let’s get back to where we were.”

“But I lied to you.”

“Because you played into them. They put you in the worst spot imaginable. I’ve lost almost everything, Quinn; I will not lose you too. Do you understand me?”

I nod, holding back the tears the best that I can, and he stands, “Get up.”

I listen right away like I always do. He steps to me, and I wait as if this is all a dream that soon I will wake from. But as he places his palms against my face, I have found my place again. “Quinn Whitmore, I love you, more than anything in this entire world.”

His lips find mine before I can speak the words back to him. He tastes like heaven, igniting everything inside of me, bringing me back to life. The gaping hole I’ve lived with slowly closes. I love him, I love him too, more than anything.