Page 80 of Strictly Business
“I get it, you feel betrayed, but—”
“You don’t get it!” Her eyebrow raises. “You’re Davina fucking Villa. You don’t have to worry about things like this happening to you. You get everything handed to you on a silver platter.”
“Are you forgetting who I’m fucking married to? What we went through?”
“That’s not the same,” I sigh.
“No?”
“No,” I shake my head. “It’s not the same because Nick loved you!”
“Finn loves you!”
“Don’t say that.”
“He does, Michaela,” Nick’s voice interrupts us. He leans against the open doorframe freshly changed into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.
“Get out,” I hiss towards my cousin. “This is an A and B conversation, so C your way out of it.”
“Oh, very mature.”
Nina visibly rolls her eyes before walking towards the door. She places a hand on her husband’s chest and urges him out of the doorway. “Just… Give us a few more minutes. Please?”
“You may not be ready to say it, but the feeling is there,” Nick says over her shoulder.
“Nick, please, you’re not helping.”
This time, he finally gives in when Nina urges him away. She closes the door turning back to me with a softer expression than before. I freeze when she steps forward and gathers me in her arms. I’m not expecting it, Nina isn’t a big hugger, but it’s comforting, and I feel myself relax. She squeezes me gently, and I hug her back taking a deep breath of her warm magnolia-sandalwood scent.
“Michaela,” she pulls away and wipes a tear I hadn’t realized fell down my cheek. “I wish I could say I’m sorry for not telling you, but I’m can’t. His private matters are his own; the only reason he told me was out of desperation. He knew I’d never take him seriously unless I knew why he was doing it. I promise you, in the end, this meant more to him than getting his inheritance back. You mean more to him than getting his inheritance back.”
“I don’t know why I thought someone like Finn and I could make it work. We were doomed from the start.”
“You’re being a little dramatic.”
“Says you.” I roll my eyes and fall into one of the blue toile armchairs on this side of her desk. “What am I supposed to do, Nin?”
She shrugs, falling into the other chair. “Talking to him seems like a good place to start.”
“I’m not ready yet.”
“Then take a few days — nothing wrong with that.”
I rub my eyes, a wave of exhaustion falling over me as the adrenaline begins to subside. All I want now is to go back home and crawl in bed next to Finn. But, I know I shouldn’t because I’m not over this and I don’t want to cause more problems with my conflicting feelings. Then I remember who I’m sitting next to. “How did you do it?”
Nina looks at me, confused, “Do what?”
“How did you decide you could be with Nick again after…everything? He lied and—”
“Oh,” Nina says. She wets her lips and laughs softly. “Well, I guess, I always knew his secrets had something to do with Brina. I couldn’t blame him for not—”
“What about Rosecliffe?”
“It’s not his fault I didn’t recognize him, right?” Nina folds her hands over her stomach. “I knew I loved him, and I knew the only reason he hid certain things from me was to protect me. He tried to tell me, I just— I didn’t let him. It was never the right time to have those conversations. As upset as I was after everything, I still wanted him. I was so thankful he was the one who found me when Daddy died…and despite our argument, he was the only one I wanted there. My heart already belonged to him, and as if I needed any more confirmation, when JJ tried to weasel his way back into my life all I could think about was how I wished Nick was there.”
My shoulders rise and fall with a sigh.
“It’s okay to want him, Michaela. And, it’s okay to be upset, but don’t hold on to that. Don’t lose something good because of a misunderstanding. We’re not kids anymore. Talk to him. Take a few days and then talk to him.”