His Secret Addiction

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Alex's POV

Damien took me to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Saturday morning.

We'd never been together. It was quiet and perfect and he'd clearly planned this. We walked through the Japanese garden, past cherry trees that weren't blooming yet but would be beautiful in a few weeks.

He stopped near a pond.

"This is where I'm supposed to get down on one knee," he said.

"Are you?"

"I'm thinking about it. Deciding if I'm that traditional." He pulled the ring box from his pocket. "I want to marry you, Alex. I want to make this official and permanent and legal. I want to stand in front of people we care about and say out loud that I'm choosing you. Every day. For the rest of my life."

"That's a good speech."

"I practiced."

"I can tell." I stepped closer. "Yes. Obviously yes."

He opened the box. The ring looked different in daylight. Still perfect. He slid it onto my finger and it fit exactly right.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

We kissed next to the pond while an older couple walked past and smiled at us. Everything felt perfect and settled and right.

Then my phone rang.

I ignored it. It rang again. Then Damien's phone started ringing.

"Something's wrong," I said, pulling it out.

Fifteen missed calls. All from Casey. Three voicemails. Text messages saying CALL ME URGENT.

I called her back. "What's wrong?"

"Chris Morrison showed up at the office."

I went cold. "What?"

"Your ex. He said he needed to talk to you. That it was important. I told him you weren't here but he wouldn't leave. He's been waiting in the lobby for an hour."

"Tell him to leave."

"I did. He said he'll wait as long as it takes."

Damien was watching my face. "What's happening?"

"Chris is at my office. Won't leave." I looked at him. "I'm sorry. I have to deal with this."

"We'll deal with it together."

**********************

We got to the office forty minutes later.

Chris was sitting in the lobby exactly like Casey said. He stood when he saw me.

"Alex. Thank god."

"What are you doing here, Chris?"

"I need to talk to you. Privately." He glanced at Damien. "It's important."

"Anything you need to say, you can say in front of Damien."

"It's about us. Our relationship. I made a mistake two years ago and I need you to hear me out."

Damien stepped forward. "Alex asked you to leave. Multiple times according to his assistant. So leave."

"This doesn't concern you," Chris said.

"It absolutely concerns me. I'm his fiancé."

Chris looked at my hand. Saw the ring. His expression shifted. "You're engaged."

"Yes. As of about an hour ago. So whatever you came to say, the answer is no." I moved toward the elevator. "Casey, call building security if he's not gone in five minutes."

"Alex, wait." Chris followed. "I know I screwed up. I know I hurt you. But I've spent two years regretting it. And when I saw you were single again, I thought maybe we could try again. Start over."

"I'm not single. And even if I was, we wouldn't be starting over."

"You don't know that. We were good together."

"We weren't. You left without a conversation when something better came along. That's not good together, that's convenient." I pressed the elevator button. "Leave, Chris. Don't come back."

"You're making a mistake. Him?" He pointed at Damien. "He's your boss. That's not real, that's just—"

Damien grabbed Chris by the arm. Not violent. Just firm. "You're leaving now. Voluntarily or with security. Choose."

Chris jerked his arm away. "This isn't over."

"Yes it is." I took Damien's hand. "It's been over two years. I've moved on. You should too."

The elevator arrived. We got in. Chris stood in the lobby watching us until the doors closed.

Upstairs, Casey was apologetic.

"I should have called security immediately," she said.

"It's fine. You handled it correctly." I looked at Damien. "Can you give us a minute?"

He nodded and went into my office.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Casey asked quietly. "Your ex showing up like this?"

"No. Chris is dramatic but he's not dangerous. He'll realize I'm serious and move on." I hoped that was true.

"Okay. Congratulations, by the way. On the engagement. The ring is beautiful."

"Thanks. Tell me if Chris shows up again. Immediately."

She nodded and went back to her desk.

In my office, Damien was standing by the window.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what? Your ex being an i***t?"

"For him ruining our proposal this morning."

"He didn't ruin anything. We're engaged. That's what matters." He turned around. "But we need to talk about this."

"About Chris?"

"About the fact that he thinks he can show up and win you back. That he doesn't see our relationship as real." Damien came closer. "Does he have reason to think that?"

"No. God, no. I haven't talked to Chris in two years. He called once months ago and I told him I wasn't interested. That's it."

"And you told me about that call?"

I thought back. "No. I didn't think it mattered."

"It matters if he's showing up at your office thinking he has a chance."

"He doesn't have a chance. I'm engaged to you. I love you. Chris is nothing."

"Then why didn't you tell me he'd reached out?"

"Because it was one phone call that lasted three minutes. Because I didn't want to make it a thing when it wasn't a thing." I sat down. "Are we fighting?"

"I don't know. Are we?" He sat across from me. "I'm not angry. I'm trying to understand if there's something I should be worried about."

"There isn't. Chris is my past. A past I don't want back." I showed him the ring on my finger. "You're my future. The only future I want."

He was quiet for a moment. Then nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"I believe you. And I'm sorry for pushing."

"You weren't pushing. You were asking legitimate questions." I reached for his hand. "I should have told you about the call. Even if it seemed insignificant. I'm sorry."

"We're still learning this," he said. "How to be engaged and communicate and not keep things separate out of habit."

"We are. But we're learning together."

He pulled me up and into his arms. "Tomorrow's your turn to propose. Make it good."

"It'll be better than yours."

"Impossible."

We stayed in my office for another hour. Talked through what happened with Chris. Made sure we were actually okay and not just saying we were okay. By the time we left, the morning felt less ruined and more like something we'd handled together.

Which was exactly what it was.

---

That night Chris texted me.

*I'm sorry for showing up like that. You're right. I should move on. I just needed to say it out loud. Be happy, Alex.*

I showed the text to Damien.

"Do you believe him?" he asked.

"I want to. But I'm also blocking his number just in case."

"Good call."

I blocked Chris and deleted the text thread. Put my phone away and focused on Damien sitting across from me on the couch.

"Tomorrow's still my proposal day," I said.

"It is."

"Any hints about what I should do?"

"Make it personal. Make it us. That's all I want."

"I can do that."