“I know, baby. You would have been ostracized and painted a villain. I get it. Trust me.”

She lifted her head to look into his handsome face. “If you understand, then why do you hate me?” It wasn’t a fair question, but Eleanor suddenly didn’t care.

“I don’t hate you, Eleanor.” He cupped her face with one hand, expression pained. “I love you.”

*     *     *

In all the time Cael had known Eleanor McKinley, he’d never seen her cry. Not when driven to frustration and fury by her husband and the politics, not when her father died unexpectedly, sure as fuck not when breaking things off with him. Thank fuck for that, because every tear that slipped from her eyes felt like a punch to the solar plexus. He couldn’t breathe properly. He couldn’t think properly, either. It was the only excuse for saying what he did.

I love you.

“Cael,” she whispered.

He couldn’t tell if she was about to let him down easy or… What other option was there? He broke eye contact before she had to. Now that they were here, alone and in the dark, he felt vaguely sick to his stomach. “But I was never enough for you.”

“That’s not true.”

“Don’t lie to me, Eleanor.” He didn’t raise his voice, but she flinched at his harsh tone. He hated that she flinched. “If I was enough for you, you would have come to me after he died.” He hated that she’d broken things off last year, but he could understand it. What Cael didn’t get, what he couldn’t wrap his head around, was the fact that it had been six months since Eleanor buried her bastard of a husband and he hadn’t heard from her once during that time. It wasn’t like she didn’t have his number.

She wiped at her eyes. “There were…complications with the will. I only just got it figured out this week.” Eleanor looked up at him. Even with her makeup smudged and her eyes reddened from her tears, she’d never looked more beautiful. She gave a trembling smile. “I hoped you’d be here tonight. That’s dramatic of me, isn’t it? I suppose I could have simply called.”

Something strange and light unfurled in his chest. Something that felt a whole lot like hope. “What?”

“I’m a coward, Cael. I wanted to call you, but I was afraid after all this time you wouldn’t want to hear from me. I thought if I accepted the invitation to the Morellis’ Christmas ball… If we saw each other again where it all ended…” She pressed her lips together, and then powered on. “I thought it might be a new beginning. I’m sorry for all the harm I’ve caused. I…” She looked away.