Chapter Ten
Micahwaslivid.Every time he trusted someone, they betrayed him. It didn’t matter if it was family or friends, either way, he would end up fucked. Now Izzy was standing in front of him packing a suitcase and he was paralyzed. Was she a risk he could afford to take? She was the perfect employee and had become a great friend. Over the last two weeks, things had shifted between them yet again, and he wasn’t willing to let that go. If she left him now, it would leave a gaping hole in his business, his life and his heart. She was his Izzy… but she’d lied.
“Where do you think you are going?”
“Home. I need to go home.”
“So you are just going to walk away and leave me to deal with all of this myself?”
“If I’m gone, then people will lose interest. I’ll leave the firm willingly. There will be nothing for you to worry about. I can even make a statement to the press if I need to, and tell them I deceived you. I’ll protect you and your business, Micah. You deserve that much from me.”
“Stop packing and come with me,” he said, turning his back to her.
It was late, and he was exhausted, but they needed to figure this out before the morning or no one would get any rest. When Micah got back to his office, he poured himself a drink and waited. He hoped she would actually follow him. Part of him wanted her to insist on leaving and give him an easy out, but the other part of him screamed inside, telling him he wouldn’t survive without her. He sat down at his desk and, as his computer was powering up, she walked into the room. She had her arms clutched to her chest, and she avoided eye contact, but she was there.
“Sit, I want to show you something.”
Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, but it quickly closed and she took a seat.
“This is why the cameras were out tonight.” He flipped around his laptop and there on the screen were the pictures his PR team sent to him about an hour ago.
“That’s you and Richard.”
“I know.”
She began flipping through the photos. As soon as she hit the picture of the rings, she leaned in closer. “You bought a ring?”
“Someone who works for Richard leaked it to the press that I was buying an engagement ring. You know Richard has been my jeweler for years. I never would have expected something like this to happen, but it did. Now the press are hungry and they want to know who the lucky lady is that tamed Miami’s most eligible bachelor. Or at least that’s what the morning news articles will say.”
“They don’t know?”
“It doesn’t appear so, at least not yet.”
“Who is the ring for?”
“For you, obviously. I told your mother I was getting you one and I don’t make it a habit of lying to my girlfriend’s mother.”
“But I’m not - ”
“Izzy, I don’t want to argue. What we need to figure out is how we are going to handle what you just told me.”
“There isn’t anything for you to worry about. Like I said, I will write up my notice and you can let me go immediately. Maybe if I’m gone, then it won’t come up. I know you have worked hard to repair the reputation of the firm and I hate all my lies could derail all that work.”
“You don’t get to walk away, Izzy. That may have been how you handled things in the past, but not anymore. There is no running and hiding. You helped me rebuild this firm, whatever you do affects it.”
“I understand I fucked up, but what else can I possibly do to make this better?”
“We draft a letter to the clients.”
“What?”
“You heard me. We need to disclose what happened and allow them to decide to stay. You are not leaving, and they need to know that.”
“I can’t do that, Micah. They will think the absolute worst of me.”
“Why? Because you were a young girl who got pulled into some bullshit with an older man? If you tell the entire story, they will understand and forgive you for keeping up with the lies.”
“But will you?”