She stared at him, the wild fire in her eyes like nothing he’d ever seen there before. And wild as she looked in that moment, he suspected she was just getting warmed up. Surely she couldn’t actually be angry about this? She’d reminded him that the partnership should have been hers often enough for him to know she’d wanted it.
A heavy silence hung in the air before she spoke, enunciating the words too calmly for his comfort. “You told Jonathan Pritchard to give me a partnership. After I told you I don’t want people interfering in my career. After I have told you how many fucking times that I need to earn my own way?”
Cole dropped his gaze, unable to look her in the eye. How could he explain it? She was angry and maybe she had a right to be. Hell, she probably did. He tried to imagine how he’d feel if their positions were reversed.
Olivia shook her head. Her hands were pressed firmly in her lap, her knuckles white. “Why? Why did you it, Cole?”
Cole couldn’t think of anything to say, so he sat and said nothing.
“Was it so you could keep screwing me?” she spat, glaring daggers at him “It was, wasn’t it? Make me partner so you get to have sex with me, let me see, what were your words? Whenever I want, without giving a damn?”
“No!” he argued. She didn’t really believe that, did she? After all the time they’d spent together, didn’t she know him better than that? “I mean, I thought about that, too, but it wasn’t the only reason, Olivia. I swear it wasn’t.”
“Was it because of Alex? You were such an asshole to him at the fundraiser, I knew you’d try and pull some sort of power play. I don’t get you, Cole, I just don’t.” She slouched down into the couch cushions, her face now pale instead of flushed. “You don’t want me to be with anyone else and you don’t want to be with me, either. What do you want?”
What did he want? Cole didn’t even know himself. How could he tell her something he hadn’t figured out even in his own fucked-up head? He knew better than to commit to expressing his feelings before he understood the whole situation. That had only led to serious damage in the past.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know.”
Olivia shook her head. “How selfish can you be?” she asked, tears suddenly breaking free and streaking black streams of mascara down her cheeks with them. “Did you even think about what was best for me? Or was it all about what was best for you?”
Cole wanted to go to her, to comfort her, to take her in his arms and make her forget about all of this, but he didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say to make her understand?
“Forget it. Your silence says it all,” she said, sinking into the couch cushions again and covering her face with her hands.
“I felt bad,” Cole said quietly, desperate to ease her pain and fix what he’d broken. Again. “I had no idea when I came to PBA that Pritchard was giving me your partnership. You earned it. I just wanted to make it up to you. Just calm down and listen to me for a second.”
Shit. That was the wrong thing to say. Olivia jerked her gaze to his, her blue eyes hotter than a gas flame, her cheeks blazing red again. “Calm down? Are you fucking kidding me? How many times have I told you that people already think I’m some sort of corporate-ladder-climbing office bimbo who sleeps her way into promotions?” she yelled, each of her words like an angry blow to his chest. “And now you go and confirm that, again, by talking Jonathan into this hare-brained bullshit? How could you possibly think I could take it? That I would want it?”
“I just wanted to he—”
Olivia cut him off. “I never asked for your help. In fact, I thought I made it pretty damn clear that I didn’t want it. Again, and again, and again! Just stop already! You don’t get to decide for me. You don’t get to decide where I work or who I sleep with or who I take on dates to stupid fucking fundraisers. I’m not some pawn in your little game, that you can shuffle around at will. I can’t believe I trusted you. I thought you really cared about me, but you clearly don’t know me at all.”
Panic began to set in. What was he supposed to say? That he liked her? That he wanted to keep her around? It didn’t seem like anything he said would matter at this point. “Just listen,” he began, but Olivia held up her hand to stop him.
“I’m done listening,” Olivia said, her voice soft. “I’m the only one who’s been listening this whole time. It’s clear you’ve never listened to me or what I want. I thought maybe we had something, that maybe if I would just open up a little we could even have more, but this is over. We’re done.”
She rose from the couch and smoothed her skirt, suddenly cool and dangerously collected, the Ice Queen again. The little gesture that he’d seen dozens of times broke his heart. Over? Done? The idea of that hurt more than he’d thought possible.
Cole watched silently as the only woman he’d ever loved walked out of his life and out of his apartment, into the night.
Chapter Twenty