The Takeover (The Miles High Club 2)

He’s not going to let this go.

I’m going to lose him.

We get into the elevator and ride up to our floor in silence.

Oh my God . . . no. Don’t let this happen.

I stand behind him silently as he opens the door, and I walk in and take a seat on the bed.

He closes the door and walks straight to the bar and pours himself a scotch. “Do you want a drink?”

“No, thanks.”

In slow motion he sips his scotch. His eyes hold mine.

“Tristan . . . what I said yesterday—”

“Yes,” he cuts me off. “Let’s talk about that.”

Nerves begin to thump in my chest. “You need to understand where I am coming from. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” I pause.

“But?”

“But I made promises to my first husband. These children are his, and I need to honor his wishes.”

He clenches his jaw; his eyes hold mine.

“We decided to live in that house for a reason.”

“Such as?”

I smile, grateful that he’s at least listening to me.

“Wade wanted that house. We could have afforded better, but he wanted that house. He wanted the boys to grow up in Long Island.”

He stares at me, and I have no idea what he’s thinking.

“He wanted the boys to go to a public school, and yet I let you take them out.”

He screws up his face in anger. “You would keep them in a school that is no good for them, just to prove a fucking point?”

“No,” I stammer as I begin to panic. “You were right on that one. I know you were—it was for the best.”

I wring my hands in front of me. “I’m stressed out. I feel like I’m losing control, and I just want things to stay the same between us.”

He puts his hands in his suit pockets and smiles as he drops his head in amusement.

Oh no . . . I know that look.

“So . . . what you are saying, Claire, is that you want me to step in and be Wade.”

My face falls. “What? No.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I don’t. I swear.”

“You want me to live in Wade’s house, with Wade’s wife . . . with Wade’s children.”