Dr. Grant (Off-Limits)

No? She said no?

Amara walks past me and rushes toward the exit. I blink in disbelief and look up to find Harold looking at me in shock. He frowns, his confusion apparent, and I shake my head. I’m just as surprised as he is.

I jump to my feet and follow Amara out of the ballroom, catching her in the hallway that leads to the wing her family lives in.

“Amara!”

She pauses, turning toward me when I reach her. “Look at me,” I tell her, my voice soft. Amara raises her head, and the tears in her eyes nearly bring me to my knees.

“You don’t get to do this, Noah. You don’t get to walk out on us and then show up at my engagement party acting like all that stands between us is some minor disagreement, like you and I could actually be together if we wanted to.”

Her eyes reflect the helplessness she feels. Her pain matches my own.

“I know,” I whisper. “I know it won’t be easy, but I’m serious. I’m certain you and I can get through anything together. I admit that I was shocked and angry, and yes, my first instinct was to push you away. But Amara… you are not your father. I can’t blame you for crimes you didn’t commit, and I can’t live in the past. I won’t ask it of you either.”

She laughs humorlessly, the sound at odds with the tears in her eyes. “Do you know why my father was in your house, Noah? It was because of me. It was because Aria and I are the same age, and he wanted clothes and school supplies for me. I’m the reason you lost your parents, Noah.”

He takes a step closer to me and shakes his head. “You were just a child, Amara. You aren’t to blame for your father’s actions.”

“I might not be my father, but I’m still my father’s daughter. I nearly lost him, Noah. I knew right there and then that I was done shutting him out of my life. I want to get to know him, and there’s no way you’ll be able to live with that. What would our lives even look like? Would I never be able to have my father over for dinner? Will he be able to attend our wedding?”

I take a step closer to her, my hands cupping her cheeks gently. Her breath hitches and her eyes fall closed. She inhales shakily, her forehead dropping to my chest. “We can’t be together,” she whispers.

I smile as I wrap my arms around her, threading one hand through her hair. “I missed you,” I murmur. “I missed you every single day you were gone, and I won’t spend the rest of my life without you. I will not promise you that it’ll be easy, Amara. It’s going to take me time. At times it might fucking kill me to look your father in the eye and keep my cool. I won’t make you false promises…. But I can promise you this: every single day I’ll try my best. I’ll be with you, here in the present. I’ll work on overcoming the past, on healing instead of hiding from it. I promise that I’ll never ever blame you for crimes you did not commit. I swear it. So give me a chance, Amara. Just give me a chance. Let me prove to you that you and I could be happy together.”

She shakes her head. “What about your sister? She won’t be able to even look at me, knowing who I am. She’ll never forgive me. I can’t stand between you two. I can’t be the reason she won’t come see you.”

I smile and pull away to look at her. “Baby, Aria knew who you were long before she even met you. She knew long before I did, and she welcomed you with open arms. She welcomed you into her home. She invested in you knowing who your father is. Aria told me I was stupid for letting you go at all. I spent two weeks with her, but she was mad at me the entire time. If not for Grayson, I’m not sure she’d have let me stay at all.”

I see the disbelief in her eyes, and I’m not sure what to say to convince her. She and I… the odds are stacked against us.

“What about my grandfather? Your career?”

I smile. “Do you really think I’d have gotten into the ballroom without his approval? He loves you, Amara. He just wants you to be happy.”

She looks away and nods. “One chance,” she whispers, and I exhale in relief. “Everything you’re promising sounds great on paper, Noah… but it’s going to be hard. You might decide that it’s not worth it after all. It might be too hard, too painful. You might not be able to live with the guilt. I’m willing to try, Noah. But I won’t marry you unless I’m sure that we’d be happy together. Marriage isn’t between just the two of us, no matter how badly we want to believe it is. It’s a joining of families too. I won’t live the life my mother did. I won’t isolate myself from my family, and I have to be sure you won’t ask it of me. I love you, Noah… but sometimes love isn’t enough.”

I nod. “One chance is all I need,” I whisper, taking a step closer to her. Amara steps back, hitting the wall behind her. I smile as I lean in, my lips hovering over hers. “I love you,” I whisper.

She rises to her tiptoes, her arms wrapping around my neck as she closes the distance between us, her lips finding mine. My eyes fall closed as I lose myself in her. I fucking missed her. These lips. Her body against mine. “You look way too fucking beautiful tonight,” I whisper against her lips. “I don’t like the way you danced with Gregory.” I drop my forehead to hers and let my fingers trail down her arm, until I’ve got her hand in mine. I pull back to look at her and lift her hand, holding it up between us. “This ends now.” I pull the diamond engagement ring off her ring finger and drop it to the floor, enjoying the sound it makes as it bounces on the hard marble. “Would you have married him?”

She looks at me, and the look in her eyes kills me. “I would’ve done anything to make sure my grandfather leaves you alone. He promised me that he’d guarantee your career progression in return for this merger.”

I pull away, my heart sinking. “You and I… are we going to be okay?” When I went after her, I was so certain, but she’s right. It won’t be easy. Our good intentions might lead to mutual destruction.

“I don’t know, Noah… but I love you. I love you, and I don’t want to live a life filled with regrets. I want to try. Will you give me a chance? I’ll mess up too, Noah. It won’t be easy. I might not always realize when something is hurting you, when I’m being insensitive. We might not see eye to eye on matters, and we’ll have so much learning to do.”

I sigh and lean in to press my lips against her forehead. “I will. Of course I will. We’ll give it our all. That’s all we can do.”

She nods and rises to her tiptoes, her lips brushing against mine. “Then take me home, Noah.”

I smile and lean in, lifting her off the floor and into my arms. Amara smiles as I carry her out the Astor mansion. “Let’s go home.”