Micah (The Corsetti Empire)

Micah looked up from his computer. It was two days ago he sat in a private room at the Palm Restaurant looking at rings for the woman asking him that question. He had gotten swept up in the moment and throughout the lunch allowed himself to believe that it was real. That Izzy really loved him, that they would really spend their lives together. He looked at dozens of rings before deciding on one for her. It wasn’t the biggest or the most expensive, but it was all Izzy. Now that ring sat in a safe behind his desk and she looked at him with eyes that were begging him for forgiveness. The only problem was he couldn’t answer her. He wanted to turn back time and redo everything from the first day he met her. He should have pressed for the truth back then. Run a deeper background check, got to the bottom of gaps in her employment, but he didn’t. Her charm, wit, and dedication to him and his company made him look past all of that. Now, seven years later, he was faced with dealing with the fallout of being a shit business owner.

“Head to bed Izzy. I’m going to email Nadia and the PR team and tell them what our plan is. In the morning, I want you to draft a letter to the clients outlining however much you are willing to share. Since you gave up your investment licenses in California, I don’t know what bearing that has on the ability to re-license in Florida. I’ll have my legal team look into it. Go get some sleep.”

He watched as Isabel got stood and made her way to the door. This was not how he planned to spend his night. It was killing him to know she was hurting. But no matter how much it hurt the both of them, he didn’t want to lead her on to believe everything would be fine. He wasn’t sure if he could forgive her completely and only time would tell whether their clients would even care. Some of them he knew well, and figured they would understand, but the older money clients that he had been trying to hold on to for years could walk. If they could salvage the Morales Estate and he renewed the bylaws of the company, they may be okay. Currently, the way the company was structured, he and his brother were the sole owners. But they had put plans in place to protect their personal wealth, plans that limited how much money either of them could put into the business. Luca ran his own technology firm now, and Micah would never ask him to do more than was necessary, so it would fall on him to save things if it all fell apart. He would need to remove those protections from himself so he could invest whatever was needed to keep everything afloat. The bigger issue was Isabel. He couldn’t lose her. If it came down to her or the business, he would have a hard decision to make and right now, it felt like she was the better bet to place. Forgiveness and belief were two different things. Micah believed every word she said. She was young and was taken advantage of. Omission of information is the same as lying, and she had done both. He would need to find a way to forgive her or it would end up tearing them apart.

“Izzy, I expect you in our bed when I get up there, not in the guest room,” he added, catching her attention as she was leaving the office. She nodded and then continued out the door.

He said our bed, Isabel thought as she made her way back through the apartment. The need to run was threatening to overtake her until he said that. Micah hadn’t given up on her yet. He didn’t forgive her for lying, but it was a start. Dealing with the stress of everything was going to be the hardest part. Her mind was running through every worst-case scenario she could think of. Being with Micah always helped her keep her thoughts straight. From the day she walked into his office, his presence always helped her feel calm. Dealing with so much drama attached to a man she trusted at such a young age left a lasting effect. She had a hard time trusting other people, but the worst of it was she didn’t trust herself. Her poor judgement and bad decisions placed her in that situation all those years ago.

She made her way to the guest bedroom, knowing she needed to get her phone and something to help her sleep. Picking up the bottle of water on the nightstand, she went to the bathroom and opened the drawer where she had been hiding all of her medications. She sat down and pulled them out, looking for a sleeping pill to help her get through the night.

“What’s all that?”

Isabel jumped at the sound of Micah’s voice behind her.

“Prescriptions I take. I didn’t think you would be done so quickly.”

“I saw you come in here and I wanted to make sure you weren’t leaving.”

“I’m not.”

“Good,” he said, stepping forward and picking up one of the bottles from in front of her, “Why do you take all these? Are you sick Izzy?”

“No, not sick.”

“Then what is it?” he asked, moving the bottle around in his hand to read the label, “You take these every day?”

“That one I do, actually I take these daily. There are others that are as needed, but it kind of depends on how I’m feeling.”

“This says it’s for anxiety?”

Isabel looked away, as if tonight wasn’t hard enough now she had to explain what a mess she was too. She bit her lower lip and looked up in his direction. The pain centered her as she looked up at Micah. His eyes were narrowed, as if he was confused, and he slowly placed the pill bottle back on the counter in front of her.

“I’ve been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Severe Anxiety for years now. It causes me to have trouble sleeping at times and I’ve been known to have a panic attack or two, but it doesn’t get in the way of my work. I can recognize the signs now, and with practice, I’ve learned to regulate myself so I can move forward.”

“Your work? Izzy, I don’t care about that. You are sitting here telling me you have been battling mental health issues for as long as I’ve known you and I never knew? I considered us friends, and I was clueless.”

“Then I guess that means the pills are still working,” she said with a small smile.

“Izzy, I... ugh… I can’t think straight,” he said, shaking his head, “I need to get that email sent. Meet me in the bedroom when you are done in here, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She expected him to turn and leave, but he took a step forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I won’t be long.”

Isabel had barely made it into bed when he walked into the bedroom. He didn’t say anything when he saw her. She watched as he made his way into the bathroom. When he returned, he had on nothing but a pair of black sleep pants and the sight of him made her heart skip a beat. Tonight had been a disaster of epic proportions, and yet her body still craved his.

“Come here,” he said, pulling her toward him as he got in bed, “I’m sorry for freaking out on you.”

“You didn’t really freak out. In fact, I think any reaction you had would have been fair. I fucked up,” she said once she settled in his arms.

“I’m not going to deny that, but we can get past some of this. It may be painful, but together we can do it.”

In her mind, she knew he was talking about the business, and he was right. As embarrassing as it was that she had to face her actions, it seemed like the penance she needed to move on. Her heart, on the other hand, was singing praises, thinking what he meant was more than business. Somewhere along this mess of a journey they were on, her heart was falling for Micah. It’s possible her heart fell for him years ago, but her mind had been worked overtime to keep them safe.

“Your mom... she made a comment the night I brought you home. I didn’t think of it much of it then, but she said something about how you came through hell years ago and she didn’t think you would make it. We were at dinner, and you cut her off so quickly. I didn’t ask, but now I want you to be honest with me. Was all of this what she was talking about?”

“It was.” Isabel adjusted her position, so she was sitting next to him. It was now or never. He needed to know everything. “When I finally came back to Miami, I was heartbroken. Not only had I been deceived by a man I thought I loved, but I had broken up a marriage and lost the chance at a career I was passionate about. He stole everything from me.”