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will,” she said, now standing. “I came here to warn you, if you so much as contact him again, he won’t be able to stop me from dealing with you.”
    I shut the door and turned on her. She seemed taken aback that I wasn’t intimidated by her threat. I glared at her as she took a step back at my step forward. “The truth is, I was truly sorry for what I did, until I realized what you are. I had no intention of sleeping with Devin again. I had no clue he was married. He didn’t act the part, and for that I am forever a fool. But what I didn’t count on was your wrath. I’d been deceived and, well, your antics prolonged our inevitable end. I fucked him to spite you.” Liar. Okay, I fucked him because I couldn’t get enough, either. “And my ending it has nothing to do with you. I’m not afraid of you, Eileen, never have been.” I leaned in close. “Take your entitled ass out of my fucking office before you’re thrown out by this street rat .”
    She pushed past me before turning back and facing me head on. “People like you can never possess the things we have. You wouldn’t know what to do with them. You could never preserve history or covet tradition. Look at you…You can’t even hold marriage in high regard. You will never have a piece of my life.”
    I peeked my head out the door as she walked off, shooting myself with a finger gun in the head so Taylor laughed and relaxed. She was well aware of who Mrs. McIntyre was. Watching Eileen retreat to the elevator, I let out a deep breath and sat down to sign the contract for the sale of 3445 Peach Tree Way, Savannah and stopped my pen and snickered.
    Looks like I would possess some very important land her family had originally owned. And if I felt like it, I would burn it to the ground. I tore up the contract, knowing I was starting another fight.
    And for once, I would be ready for it. I picked up the phone to buzz Taylor to send for our courier.

 
    DEVIN
    Certain I would go blind if I stared at the torn shreds Nina had sent me that once resembled the contract on the land, I pushed the paperwork into my trashcan. I had a consult in twenty minutes and my head was pounding. What in the hell was she thinking? She’d made it clear she wanted to be free of me and the only thing tying us together was this last shred of business. Fear crept through me as I thought of the possible repercussion of her action. For a brief minute, it was accompanied by a glimmer of hope. Did she still want me in her life? Was this an attempt to prompt me into badgering her some more? I took a shot of whiskey to even the scales of last night’s binge, followed by a thorough teeth brushing and topped it off with a fresh tie.
    Sitting behind my desk, I clicked on a picture I’d kept with me¸ the last shred of evidence I had left that Nina was once mine. It was the night she told me she loved me. She was covered in a sheet with just fucked hair and looked absolutely beautiful. She was talking to me when she saw me position my camera on my phone and smiled. I loved everything about that photo. There was nothing between us then, nothing holding us back from simply being us. No rules to adhere to. She was mine and I was irrevocably hers.
    She’d told me she loved me. I hadn’t said it back.
    “Mr. McIntyre, your two-thirty is here.”
    “Thank you, send him in.”
    I spent the majority of my meeting zoning out as my client spoke, thinking of all the ways I’d had Nina: angry, submissive, subdued. I missed her.
    I ended my meeting knowing I wasn’t doing either of us justice and handed over a large homework assignment of investments to research to keep him stifled until we could reschedule. My head wasn’t in it. I was going home. I pulled out of the garage, feeling like utter shit as memories swirled around in my head. Her smile, her laugh, her lips, the way her mouth opened slowly into a perfect ‘O’ before she came. My need was insatiable for her and it was only getting