famous Vegas sign stamped on the front, tiny denim shorts, and Adidas. Giant palm tree earrings swung from her ears and gleamed gold beneath the sun.
“I lost a bet with my sister.” She grimaced. “She told me to wear this to see you. She was drunk at the time, so her judgment may have been off.”
His brows knit together. “Alina? I didn’t realize you two were drinking and making bets with each other now.”
Last he’d heard, the Tang sisters were on barely civil terms.
Then again, he hadn’t spoken with Olivia since Italy. It’d killed him not to talk to or see her, but he’d kept his word and given her space to sort out whatever she needed to sort out.
“It’s a long story.” Olivia blinked up at him, looking so beautiful—even in that ridiculous outfit—that his heart hurt. “Can we talk? I have...a lot to tell you.”
He smiled, his heart glowing at being near her again. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Two hours and two coffees later, Sammy sat in a nearby cafe’s leather booth, digesting what Olivia had just told him. Her mother, her sister, her father...Jesus, her father.
She’d lived a lifetime in the time they’d been apart.
“I found out about him right before I left for Italy.” Olivia swirled a finger over the tabletop, tracing an invisible pattern. “For the first time in my life, I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t think. The situation with us, my job, my family, plus the craziness of school and Kris’s wedding—it was too much. I wasn’t in the right place mentally or emotionally to jump into a relationship again, and it didn’t seem fair to bring you into my mess. I didn’t expect to be so affected by what happened with my parents, considering I wasn’t close to either of them—I didn’t even know my father—but I was. I couldn’t talk about it because I didn’t know how to talk about it. I’m still figuring it out, but the trip to Nevada brought some much-needed closure, and I’m in a better place now. Plus, I wanted to talk to you. To see you.” Her voice softened. “To thank you for waiting.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I said I would wait for as long as you needed, and I meant it.” Sammy reached across the table and took one of her hands in his. Her cool palms warmed beneath his touch. “For the record, you wouldn’t have been stringing me along. I want to be there for you, even when you’re a mess—especially when you’re a mess. That’s what a relationship is all about. Being there for each other through the highest of highs and lowest of lows. If you don’t want to talk about something, you don’t have to talk about it. If you do want to talk about it, I’m here. Like I said, I love you. That’ll never change.”
That was all there was to it. Love. Such a simple concept that humans liked to twist and complicate with their fears and insecurities, but eventually, everyone had to make a choice—let the doubt consume them, or let love carry them through.
Olivia squeezed his hand back, and the glow in his chest burned brighter.
“I have something else to tell you,” she said. “I didn’t want to say anything until it was official.”
He waited, his breath stuck somewhere between his lungs and throat.
“I quit Pine Hill.”
“What?” The word exploded out of him. “Liv—”
“Let me finish.” Her eyes glittered. “I quit, and they hired me back. I agreed—on the condition that I could date whoever I want unless it’s a coworker. They have no say in my personal life as long as I don’t do anything illegal or anything that conflicts with the business. You and I? Not a conflict, not based on the flimsy reasoning they gave me about ‘preventing image issues before they arise.’”
“How?” Sammy managed, still trying to sort through his shock.
“Leverage.” Olivia lifted her shoulder in a tiny shrug. “I applied to a bunch of other PE firms and got an offer that matched my current position and salary at PHC. It would’ve taken a few extra years to become VP, but I didn’t care. I made sure they wouldn’t care who I dated on my personal time before I put in my two weeks' notice with PHC. I swear I heard their eyes pop out of their head over the phone—I don’t think they expected me to push back like that. They asked me to hold off on