His Secret Addiction

Chapter Nine

Damien's POV

The first month apart was hell.

We talked every night, video calls that stretched past midnight, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to touch him, to see him in person, not through a screen. The apartment felt empty without him. Work felt pointless.

"You look terrible," my grandmother said during one of her rare lucid moments. I'd been visiting her at the hospice, something I did twice a week now.

"Thank you, Eleanor."

"It's that boy, isn't it? The one you gave up the company for."

"I didn't give up the company. I'm still CEO."

"Barely." She coughed, her nurse immediately stepping forward with water. "You're distracted. The board notices. Catherine called me, said you're not yourself."

"I'm fine."

"You're miserable." She gripped my hand with surprising strength. "When does he come back?"

"Eleven months."

"That's too long."

"It's the deal we made."

"Deals can be renegotiated." She studied my face. "You really love him."

"I do."

"Then go get him. Life's too short for waiting, Damien. I should know."

But I couldn't. We'd agreed to the terms, and breaking them would prove the board right—that we couldn't maintain professionalism, that the relationship was just a distraction.

My phone rang. Alex, right on schedule for our nightly call.

"I should take this," I told Eleanor.

"Go. And Damien? Don't be stupid like your father. Don't choose work over love."

I answered in the hallway. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Alex's face filled the screen, and something in my chest loosened. "How's Eleanor?"

"Fading. She asked about you."

"What did you tell her?"

"That I'm counting down the days until you come back."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "About that."

My stomach dropped. "What about it?"

"The New York office offered me a permanent position. Senior Vice President of Strategy. It's a huge promotion, Damien. More than I'd make in Austin for years."

"And?"

"And I'm considering it."

The words hit like a punch. "You're considering staying in New York."

"It's a good opportunity."

"We had a deal."

"I know we did. But things change. Opportunities come up." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not saying yes. I'm just saying I'm thinking about it."

"For how long have you been thinking about it?"

"They offered it two weeks ago."

"Two weeks? And you're just telling me now?"

"Because I knew you'd react like this."

"Like what? Like someone who's been waiting eleven months for you to come home?"

"We never said I was coming home, Damien. We said we'd try long distance for a year, and then we'd see."

"I thought 'see' meant you'd come back to Austin."

"You assumed that. I never promised it." His voice was quiet. "And maybe that's the problem. We've been making a lot of assumptions about what happens after the year is up."

I couldn't breathe. "Are you ending this?"

"No. I'm saying we need to talk about what we actually want. Because I can't put my career on hold forever waiting for the board to approve of us."

"Your career isn't on hold. You're a VP."

"In New York. Away from everything I'm building here." He paused. "They want an answer by Friday."

"That's three days."

"I know."

"And you're actually considering saying yes."

"I don't know what I'm considering. That's why I'm telling you." He looked exhausted. "I miss you, Damien. Every day I miss you. But I also love this job, this city, this life I'm building. And I don't know how to choose between them."

"You shouldn't have to choose."

"But I do. That's reality."

We stared at each other through the screen, three thousand miles feeling like three million.

"Come to New York," Alex said suddenly.

"What?"

"This weekend. Come see what I'm talking about. See my life here before you ask me to give it up."

"I never asked you to give it up."

"You didn't have to. It's implied in every conversation." He leaned closer to the camera. "Please. Come see it. Then we'll talk."

I should have said no. I had board meetings, investor calls, a company to run. But Eleanor's words echoed in my head: Don't be stupid like your father.

"I'll be there Friday night," I said.

His smile was real this time. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Text me your address."

We talked for another hour about nothing important, both of us avoiding the elephant in the room—that this weekend would determine everything.

Friday came too slowly and too fast. I took the company jet, telling Catherine it was a site visit to the New York office. Technically true, even if my real reason was Alex.

He met me at his apartment in Brooklyn, a small one-bedroom with exposed brick and windows overlooking the city. It was nothing like my penthouse in Austin, but somehow it felt more like a home.

"So this is it," he said, watching me look around.

"It's nice."

"It's small."

"I didn't say that."

"You're thinking it." He moved closer. "You're thinking I gave up Austin for this."

I pulled him into a kiss instead of answering. God, I'd missed this. Missed him. The feel of him, the taste of him, the way he melted into me like he belonged there.

"I missed you," he breathed against my mouth.

"Show me."

We barely made it to the bedroom. Clothes hit the floor, hands relearning familiar territory, and for the first time in weeks I felt whole again.

After, lying tangled in his sheets, he said, "I haven't decided yet. About the job."

"I know."

"But I need you to understand why I'm considering it."

"Tell me."

"Because for the first time in my life, I'm not just surviving. I'm thriving. I have a team, a budget, projects that matter. People respect me here because of my work, not because of who I'm dating." He turned to face me. "In Austin, I'll always be your boyfriend who got promoted. Here, I'm just Alex Parker who's good at his job."

"You think people in Austin don't respect you?"

"I think it's complicated. And I think if I go back, it'll always be complicated."

I understood. I hated it, but I understood.

"What if I moved here?" I said.

He blinked. "What?"

"New York. What if I moved to New York?"

"Damien, your company is in Austin. Your grandmother is in Austin."

"My grandmother is dying. The company can be run from anywhere." I sat up. "If the issue is geography, let's solve geography."

"You'd really leave Austin?"

"For you? Yes."

He was quiet for a long time. "They'd never allow it. The board."

"The board doesn't control where I live."

"They control whether you're CEO."

"Then maybe I shouldn't be CEO."

"Stop. Don't make decisions like that in bed after sex."

"I'm serious."

"So am I. Think about what you're saying." He sat up too. "If you move here, you lose everything you've been fighting for."

"I lose a title. I don't lose everything."

"Your grandmother's legacy—"

"My grandmother told me not to choose work over love. She told me not to make the same mistake as my father." I took his hand. "I spent the last month alone in Austin realizing she's right. The company will survive without me. Owen's legacy will survive without me. But I won't survive without you."

"That's too much pressure."

"It's the truth."

He pulled away, standing up and pacing. "You can't just upend your entire life for me."

"Why not? You're considering upending yours for a job."

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because—" He stopped. "Because what if this doesn't work? What if we're not meant to be and you gave up everything for nothing?"

"Is that what you think? That we're not meant to be?"

"I think we met in unusual circumstances and we're trying to force something that maybe isn't sustainable."

The words cut deep. "You don't believe that."

"Don't I?" He turned to face me. "We had three months of texts, three weeks together, and now eleven months apart. When have we actually been a normal couple?"

"There's no such thing as normal."

"You know what I mean."

I stood up, pulling on my pants. "What do you want, Alex? Honestly."

"I want you. I want this job. I want both."

"Then take both. I'll move here, you keep the job, we figure it out together."

"And what about your life?"

"You are my life."

He laughed, but it sounded broken. "That's not healthy, Damien."

"Maybe not. But it's true." I moved closer. "I love you. That doesn't change based on geography or job titles or what the board thinks. So tell me what you want, and I'll make it happen."

"I want—" His voice cracked. "I want to believe this is real. That we're not just caught up in the drama of it all."

"Then believe it. Take the job, I'll move here, and we'll prove everyone wrong."

He looked at me for a long moment, and I couldn't read his expression.

"I need time," he finally said. "To think. To figure out what I actually want without you offering to sacrifice everything."

"How much time?"

"I don't know. A few days. A week."

A week felt like forever, but I nodded. "Okay. Take the time you need."

I left Sunday morning, and the entire flight back I wondered if I'd just lost him for good.

Monday morning, my phone buzzed with a text from Alex: "I took the job. I'm staying in New York. I'm sorry."

That was it. No explanation, no phone call, just those three sentences ending everything.

I stared at my phone, numb.

Then I called Catherine.

"I'm moving to New York," I said. "Figure out how to make it work, or accept my resignation. Your choice."

I hung up before she could respond.

If Alex thought distance would make me give up, he was wrong.

I was just getting started.