Page 92 of Broken Rules
“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Mr. Saito. Here are those reports you asked for,” she says, her voice low, uncertain.
The guy smiles a perfect grin, lifting his strong cheekbones, the slant of his ebony eyes thinning until he relaxes back into his seat, continuing to look at his computer screen. “Good. Place them on the desk and take a seat.”
His gaze flicks to me, still standing at the entryway, the clock ticking on our thirty-minute session. “Come inside, Ms. Ross.”
I don’t register the fake name for this session or anything else around me until he stands from his seat, walking toward me while unbuttoning his suit jacket. “Um—” Pressing against the door jamb, I blink a few times as he gets too close for comfort. “I left something outside.”
The guy’s straight black hair touches his forehead as he leans his forearm above me. “Are you new here?” he asks, touching the first button of my blouse, each one coming undone as he jerks them open with his finger, exposing my tits, then drops his hand on my thigh, lifting the hem of my skirt, and I’m frozen. “Do you need a proper introduction?”
Swallowing deeply, I shake my head, my heart racing, needing to get the fuck out of this room. “No—”
“Why are you here? Leave, now!”
“Tell me which room?!”
There’s a commotion outside the voyeur box, my heart skipping at the familiar distressed voices, Gin’s muffled tone, and someone else banging on the door. The man steps back, dropping his act when he furrows his brows, and Roni walks toward me as I race for the exit to see.
He can’t be here.
“Open this door!”
Instant pins and needles spread across my skin as I halt my step, my pulse skyrocketing when the door opens and Dad walks through, his face turning red when he takes in my outfit.
“Evie.” He snaps his head toward Gin with his nose flaring. “You let our daughter work here?”
“Dad…”
“Marco, please, you need to go,” Gin says as security enters soon after, but Dad pushes Nate back when he grabs his arm.
Gin shakes her head. “Nate, you don’t need to. He’s leaving,” she says, and he nods, stepping back but staying close by.
“I’m leaving with my daughter. I should’ve known you’d run back here, but never did I think you’d allow Evie to follow the same path as us—accepting her to stay with you was my biggest mistake.”
Her eyes gloss over, getting in between Dad and me. “You have no say in what I’ve done to survive since returning home. You knew who I was before we met, what I left behind to raise our child with you miles away from the only place that took care of me, but don’t you dare stand here passing judgment when you met me in this very box.” Gin pokes his chest. “Do you regret me, too? For not using protection that night, we crossed the line because we weretoo deep in loveto care about the rules?”
She met him here?
Dad furrow’s his brows. “Our history doesn’t shape—”
“Our history has everything to do with this very moment! I don’t want to hear excuses—have you told your daughter why I took off to Oregon with her? Or should I tell her?”
His body stiffens. “She doesn’t need—”
“Evie’s an adult. She deserves to know how you treated me seconds after making the biggest decision of my life. How I lost two people that night.”
“There were other options!” Dad shouts, and I jump, my heart hurting at the pain behind his voice, the way he intakes a shaky breath. “Why choose that one?”
Gin huffs a laugh and wipes under her eyes as she shakes her head. “Because not having a second child was the best option for me. I was happy—content living in our little bubble as it was. I’m not like you, wanting the big family you were so passionate about. I was one and done, and you couldn’t accept that. It made me feel like shit for terminating the pregnancy, but I did what I had to do. I left to give you what you wanted, freed you so you could find someone with the same mindset as you—”
“I wanted you!” Dad moves in close, touching her face, and my lip trembles when she quickly shakes her head, breathing in a sharp breath. “Dammit, Gin. I wanted you, baby. I loved you.”
“No, you didn't. You wouldn’t have turned on me when I felt most vulnerable if you truly loved me—you would’ve understood my reasoning, but you didn’t, and now you need to leave.”
His jaw clenches, and he takes a step back. “I’m not leaving without Evie.”
“She’s not a child, Marco.”
Dad strides up to me and makes me walk into the hall, where several people stand. Jared included. “Let’s go. Get your clothes on now. We’re leaving back to San Francisco.”
