Killian

I'd spent the better part of my morning clearing the piled-up stacks of documents on my desk. The other part consisted of planning a date that put me in a royally pissed mood because nothing was going the way I wanted it to.

What the fuck was I thinking when I'd said that in the first place?

I had rehearsed last night a thousand times since my conversation with my mother. What I'd say to her, how I'd make my plea. And I thought I'd figured it out but then this happened and I had only a few hours to plan the perfect date.

That woman was going to be the death of me; I just knew it.

I took off my glasses and tossed them on my desk. My mind was trying to narrow down a plan but nothing fit, nothing fucking fit. I scrubbed my hands over my face and I inhaled a deep breath before pressing the intercom button. "Cleo?"

I waited for her to reply or at least walk into my office but when nothing happened after a minute, I pressed it again. "Cleo?"

Another minute passed.

Was it so impossible to find dependable staff anymore?

I smacked the intercom button down harder and practically yelled with all the pent-up anger and frustration I possessed. "Cleo!"

There was no way she hadn't heard that. I drummed my fingers on my desk, waiting for her to step in so I could rain down more pent-up frustration on her but nothing happened.

With no response, I got up and stormed out of the office.

Her desk was empty.

"Mr. Fobster."

I turned around and saw the receptionist walking toward me with a stack of papers in her hand.

"My secretary. She's not at her desk."

She blinked. "She quit last weekend sir."

Did she quit?

Jesus Christ. How on earth did I forget.

"Is there anything I can help you with sir?"

I groaned. "Make yourself useful somewhere else."

She nodded and walked out of my sight. I rubbed my head, feeling a headache coming on.

"Someone's not in a good mood," My heart lurched at the familiar voice that sounded behind me.

I turned around and saw Brad narrowing his eyes at me. "You look like shit."

I expelled the breath I was holding high in my chest. "I feel like shit too."

"As you should." He drawled and walked into my office. I followed behind and sat. "Did you send the gifts?"

I was a bit skeptical about the flowers and chocolate gesture for a romantic idea because it had failed me once and I wasn't sure people still did that but all the romantic movies I watched throughout the night suggested it.

When he nodded, I proceeded. "How's the reservation coming along?"

"Well, I checked O' by Claude Le Tohic like you asked but they're fully booked for today."

My brows furrowed. "What about Acquerello?"

He shook his head. "Still booked."

Shit shit shit. I leaned back in my chair and exhaled a breath of venom as uneasiness vibrated inside my chest.  "This whole thing is fucking falling apart."

"Calm down." He coaxed. "You don't have to do it in some fancy restaurant. Your mother's beach house would suffice. You could host a picnic there or something. I'm sure she'll love the view."

I groaned. It never occurred to me that my mother's beach house would come in handy after all the years of never visiting it.

I clutched my forehead. "The place is probably a mess."

"I'll get in line with Mandy Scott and have her touch it up."

My nostrils flared and breath escaped through my mouth. "Can we find another place?"

He pinned me a look. "Don't you think you're a little too old to be running away from anything that involves your mum? She's not a monster under your bed you know."

I inhaled another breath as my heart reverberated in my chest. He was right. Now was not the time to think about her.

Sorry mother but I had to focus on winning my wife back. For good.

"Get the lodge ready."

HOPE

Today, I'd woken in a quagmire of sweaty sheets and lingering dreams so taunting I feared my heart would burst out of my chest. It was hard trying to remember the details. Nothing was precise. The only thing that was however was Killian and the fact that ever since I fled the party in a hurry to get away from him, he occupied my mind, creeping into my heart, gnawing me.

I tried to forget him, I didn't want to think about him because It was wrong. Because I wasn't supposed to feel like this about him anymore. I thought I guarded my heart competently but turned out, I sucked at it. And to make it all worse, since I arrived at work, it'd been coming in droves; the chocolate, the dozens of roses—red ones, white ones, yellow ones— delivered every hour.

I didn't know what he was trying to achieve with this. My first intention was to throw them in the dumpster and I was so close to doing so but this was the closest Killian had been to showing me his passionate side.

I breathed in deeply and tried to clear my thoughts. That was when Becca walked to my desk with another huge bouquet high enough to cover her face.

She placed it beside the rest and exhaled through her mouth. "Okay, that was heavy." She placed her hand on her round hips and wiped the sweat away from her forehead. "What gives, do you have an admirer or something?"

Heaving a breath, I plucked the card out from between the blooms.

Counting down the hours until I get to be with you.

_Killian.

"I don't know why he's doing this. He knows we're not together anymore." I muttered, loud enough for her to hear.

"Let me see." She craned her neck to the side and read the card with a grin evading her face. "Ooooh. Your husband is such a lover boy. It's clear he wants you back and you should totally take him up on that invitation."

Saying nothing, I let the moment wash over me. I didn't want to feel anything so I shut my eyes and tried to slip behind the steel barrier that had been keeping me safe, but in just two days, he'd put too many cracks in it.

Hours dragged on and on with more flowers coming in and by five in the evening, my desk looked like a botanist grange. When it was time to leave, I powered off my computer, grabbed my purse, and headed for the door.

When I arrived at my apartment, I was in a less depressing mood and a more apprehensive one because I had only an hour before Killian arrived. He never asked for my house address but then I figured since stalking ran in their family he already knew.

"Finally." The solitary voice that rang from inside my room as I opened the door made my heart leap into her throat.

I reached for the light switch immediately and turned it on to see Scott sitting on my couch.

"Scott, you scared the hell out of me!" I placed my hand on my chest as I breathed down. "How did you get in?"

He shrugged and got up. "I have the spare keys."

I narrowed my eyes. "You could've called, you know."

"What I'm about to tell you isn't something that we can discuss over the phone."

I lifted my brow at him as I shut the door behind me. "What discussion?"

"I've got news for you but don't panic, it's a good one." He breathed in. "I was talking to Maria a few days ago, and she agrees that you need to get away." His eyes were solely on me as he continued and I hoped he didn't notice the dress I had set out for my date tonight. "You need to get out of the city. It's not healthy for you and your baby. Everything here is a reminder of that asshole."

My brows furrowed as I placed my purse on the coffee table. "Where are you getting with this?"

A smile etched on his face. "Well, I might not be as rich as your billionaire jackass husband but I was able to pull a few strings."

"Okay…"

"Remember Milton right? My college bud whose dad is a minister?"

My heart thundered in my chest as I nodded.

He continued. "Well, he's moving the headquarters of his company to Australia and needs a marketing analyst. I just so happened to put in the word that I had a sister who studied marketing in college and I submitted the copy of the resume you sent me to him too and just last night, he gave me a call saying you got the job."

I opened my mouth to speak but no word came out. "What-what do you mean, I don't understand."

Australia?

Blood rushed to my head.

That was many many miles away.

"You don't have to worry about the expenses. He's taking care of anything. He owns a condo right near the ocean in Queensland. It's going to be your new home, also, you get a company car too."

I felt cold, too cold. I sat down on the couch and stared down at my hands.

"Isn't this great? you've always wanted to visit Australia remember?"

He was right, I always did want to go there. I always dreamt of seeing the setting extolled in many of the television shows I'd grown up watching. I'd itched to see the Coral Sea, the sun-bronzed shores powder-soft sands. I wanted to experience carefree living. But I didn't want to leave, not now, not when Killian was just...

"Hope?"

I breathed inward, feeling my eyes blur over. No, no, no. I swiped the moisture from my eyes with the back of my arm but there was very little point in doing that because the tears leaked anyway.

Scott suddenly sat down beside me. "Are you okay?" His face creased with concern. "Did I say something wrong? Don't you like it?"

I shook my head. "I do, of course, I do. I love it very much, it's just..." My body racked with sobs. Why couldn't he have left me alone? Why had he forced me to agree to this stupid date? For the first time in weeks, the tide of emotions I worked so hard to repress rose inside me and I didn't know how best to handle it.

"Do not tell me this is about Killian."

When I did nothing but spew out tears, Scott frowned. "Hope you need to forget about him and move on with your life. Do you think he's really going to give a fuck about you when this baby is born?"

A breath seeped out of me and all I could say was. "But he's changing...he's..." Everybody deserved love. Everybody deserved to be loved.

"Hope, listen to me. I know you're blinded by the ideology that you're in love but don't let that ruin the chance of having the life you've always wanted. You can't just give this up when your future with that man isn't certain."

"I don't... I don't know...i..." My throat choked up. This was huge, really huge— a chance to finally own my life, and three days ago, if he'd asked me this, I would've agreed immediately, I would've said anything was better than staying here. But now, Killian was back in my life again and I'd promised I'd give him a chance.

"He said he loved me, Scott. He said he loved me."

"He's feeling guilt not love."

I shook my head. "That's not true."

He squeezed my hand softly. "That man cannot love you, Hope. Ever wondered why it didn't work with Gold and me? He was the cause, he knew I loved her and he knew we were engaged but he slept with her regardless and got me fired." He squeezed my hand a little tighter. "A man like that cannot love you or this baby and will only bring pain into your life because that is what he does."

I shook my head, refusing to let his words sink into my head. "I'm sure he loves me, he just needs a little push to—"

"Don't let it get to your head." He cut me, looking me directly in the eyes as he said. "He's a proud man, he might be back in your life right now with all the lies but it's not because he loves you. It's because he feels guilty for hurting you. Know the difference."

A spasm of anguish slipped through me at the realization of his words. "Scott, I—"

"You're seeing what isn't there, Hope. You're in love with the version of Killian you've created in your head.  That version of him doesn't exist so stop trying to change him and move on with your life." He countered.

"And please think about this." He cleaned my cheeks with his thumb. "I know I've not always been there for you as a brother should but this is my way of making amends. You don't have to accept it if you don't want to but please think thoroughly about this." He got up and kissed my forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."