Chasing Heartbreak (Dark Love #6) - Kat T. Masen Page 0,62

like the most miserable place on Earth.

My life is supposed to have been sorted by now. None of this was meant to happen. I’ve protected myself for as long as I could, avoiding exactly this—heartbreak.

And every part of me aches for a man, someone across an entire ocean, someone who has always been my safety net and held onto me when I’d lost my way.

The very man who used my insecurities against me, against us.

The heartache follows me wherever I go, never genuinely leaving my mind until momentarily I forget because someone else demands my attention. But then it hits me like a bolt of lightning, ferocious and unapologetic, always leading back to Noah.

In a city known as the romance capital of the world, my heart has become an open wound, but life, like always, forces me to move on.

There’s no time to dwell on anything with everyone demanding my time. Once again, my absence causes additional stress, and as soon as the plane touches the tarmac, my phone hasn’t stopped. Texts and emails to meetings scheduled every moment I have spare, to last-minute business trips to London and Rome over the next week. I’ve fallen back into the lifestyle I’ve known, but the loneliness will find me each night I lie wide awake, wishing this pain to disappear.

I arrive at the office at seven in the morning. Sleep barely found me last night, three hours to be exact. I woke up with no appetite but managed to eat something small and opted for intense cardio instead of my usual yoga.

“Kate,” Emile calls my name as she stands at my door with a sympathetic gaze. “Permettez à votre cœur de ressentir la douleur. Alors vous saurez s’il vaut la peine de se batter.”

Allow my heart to feel the pain. Then you’ll know if it’s worth fighting for.

The words repeat in my head, yet that’s all I’ve thought since the moment I left the States. Every ounce of my pain is because of him. I feel like I’ve been fighting this uphill battle. Noah leads a complicated life, and me being with him doesn’t fit the equation no matter how many times I run it through my head. Nothing adds up, and I’m not one to believe in signs, but I take this as the hazardous yellow sign staring me in the face.

I no longer want to discuss this, tired of the vicious cycle my emotions are caught up in. Misery really does love company, so I tell Emile to mark me as unavailable while I walk into the boardroom and close the door behind me. Only Charlie has called me repeatedly, but I told her the discussion is closed. There’s nothing left to say, even to Eric, who I hold back from contacting since our heated fallout over Dominic.

Boredom finds me once again, this meeting a waste of time. The CFO rambles on about numbers, his voice alone putting me to sleep. His team is starting to piss me off, and it will be only a matter of time before I let this moron go. He rose in the ranks thanks to management before I stepped in. I can see through his immaturity and his narcissistic behavior. He lacks any management style, and it shows in his turnover in staff. The rambling and pathetic excuses for budget restraints last five hours. By the time they all leave the room, Lex remains on the line wanting to talk further.

“Are you prepared for London on Monday? Jerry can be quite a shark but don’t let him deter you during the meeting,” Lex informs me.

Great, just what I need. Another man with a small dick trying to control the world around him.

“I’m prepared.” I breathe heavily, annoyed at having to deal with such arrogance. “I know his tactics, and frankly, if I don’t see improvements, I’m happy to show him the door. I don’t have time to waste nor fall behind on this project.”

“Agreed,” Lex says, then pauses. “And everything is okay with you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Listen, Charlotte is worried, and you know her heart is in the right place.”

“Is that her telling you to pass that on? Look…” I raise my tone only to realize who I’m talking to, “… I’m fine. If everyone will just let me be and stop worrying, I’ll move just like I always do.”

“Okay, I understand. It’s my job to check in on you as a boss and a friend.”

“I appreciate it,” I assure Lex. “But I’m an adult.