The head of security opened the glass door and raised a black umbrella. I asked him to stay inside and stopped beneath the covered portico.
The lobby doors shut behind me, cutting off the guards’ low conversation. Rain blew under the shelter and chilled my face.
Julian moved toward me on his knees, halting where the wet pavement met the dry stone. He opened one muddy hand. My engagement ring lay in his palm.
Rain had collected around the diamond and darkened the grime in its setting. The polished ring I had left on his desk was almost unrecognizable.
“Harper, please take it back. I was a fool. An arrogant, blind fool.”
He wiped his face with his sleeve. “I’m nothing without you. The company, the parties, the respect, you built all of it.”
He pushed the ring toward me. “I spent my tim
