“Kayla, you are my fiancée, so if you do this, it reflects poorly on me,” he said.

“Since when have you cared about your reputation?”

He still didn’t look up but shrugged. “Fine,” he said.

“What?” I asked, what I was about to say lost on my own surprise.

“You want to do the deal, then do the deal,” he said.

“Elias, I—”

“Kayla, I’m agreeing with you. Why are you arguing with me?” he said.

“I…Okay,” I said, standing.

I wanted to kiss him, but instead I waved and left his office.

I was confused, more than, because it wasn’t like Elias to concede anything, not ever, but I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I got a phone call in less than fifteen minutes.

“Usual place, usual terms,” he said.

“When?” I asked.

“Three hours,” he responded.

I hung up the phone and then went straight for my bedroom.

Three hours meant I had enough time for a quick nap and shower.

Elias had been keeping me awake, and it was starting to catch up with me.

I lay down then groaned when I heard my phone buzz.

I ignored it, snuggled deeper into the covers, determined to rest.

But I couldn’t, not when the phone rang again, and then again.

On the fourth buzz, I snatched it off my nightstand.

“Hello?” I said angrily.

“Kayla?”

Even through the watery, teary sound, I recognized my mother’s voice.

The anger faded in an instant, and I sat up, at attention.

“Ma, what’s wrong?” I said.

“It’s your father! He’s had a heart attack. They think, anyway. He was at the garage…and they’re taking him to the hospital now.”

“What hospital? I’m on my way,” I said.

“St. Mary’s,” my mother said.

“I’ll meet you there. Do you need me to come get you?” I asked, my mind moving a thousand miles a minute.

“I’m on my way there. I just needed to talk to you first,” she said.

“I’ll meet you there,” I said.

Then I hung up the phone and got dressed.

Any sleepiness had faded completely, and I was focused on getting to my family.

Stopped short when I remembered the deal.

I dressed hurriedly and then went to Elias’s office.

“Elias, I’m sorry but I can’t do the deal today,” I said.

He chuckled. “You fought me and now you’ve changed your mind?” He looked up, and his expression dropped.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I… It’s nothing. But I have something to take care of. Something personal.”

“Kayla,” he said, his voice edged with warning.

I was still reluctant to speak because I knew how he felt about my father, but I said, “It’s my dad. They think he had a heart attack,” I said.