Back To Rule; He Wants Me

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

LEXI

SIX YEARS LATER

“Lexi!”

I turn, and there’s my best friend, Tonia, waving from across the terminal, her smile wide and bright, and impossible not to return.

“Did we have to leave Canada?”

I glance down at my son, Liam, who is tugging a small suitcase behind him, tiny legs wobbling under its weight. His brows are furrowed in stubborn displeasure, his little pout making him look both fierce and ridiculously cute. Already, there’s that mix of independence and mischief that makes him seem older than his years.

I can’t help but smile at him. “I know, sweetheart,” I murmur softly. “I don’t exactly want this either.”

Canada had been our sanctuary. After that night, after everything fell apart, I went straight to the hospital, where I found out I was pregnant.

A complete surprise given the circumstances, but I made my choice. I packed up the little I had, moved across the continent, and built a life where he could be safe; where the past couldn’t touch us.

Now we’re back in New York. Business brought us here. My interior designing and event planning company had flourished in Canada, and London clients were insisting we expand. I wasn’t thrilled. Neither was he. But business is business, and I had a reputation to uphold.

“You look so good!” Olivia loops her arm around me the moment I reach her.

I grin and hug her tight, letting myself melt into the familiar comfort. “You look better,” I tease, nuzzling my cheek against hers.

“Oh puhlease!” She rolls her eyes like I couldn’t be more ridiculous. Her smile is infectious, and her eyes light up as she crouches slightly to Liam’s level. “Hi champ.”

“Hi.”

They bump their hands together in a little celebratory high-five, and a chuckle spills out of me, light and easy.

Olivia and Liam have always had this effortless connection, even when miles separated us. Seeing them together now, laughing, comfortable, like nothing ever changed fills me with a warmth I didn’t realize I’d missed. I love that she’s here with me, at this moment, when it matters most.

We move to the trunk, peeling it open, and start loading the luggage. Liam climbs into the car, wiggling his legs into the seat with a satisfied grunt.

“I can’t wait to see you every day,” Olivia says, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “The house is ready, too. You just need to move in.”

I pause for a second, glancing at Liam in the backseat, then back at Olivia. Her excitement is contagious, and I can’t help but feel a flicker of hope. Maybe this chapter will be simpler, warmer. Maybe this time, it’ll really feel like home.

“Thank you.” I pass over a smaller bag and freeze when I see only two left. There’s supposed to be another.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia asks.

My gaze snaps to her, eyes widening. “I think I forgot one of my bags.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Stay with Liam.” I’m already turning back toward the airport before she can respond. I don’t need to; I trust that Olivia will keep my son safe.

Each step toward the baggage claim makes my legs wobble and my heart hammer against my chest.

That missing bag holds some of my most important documents. I can’t lose it—not today, not on my first day back. The thought of sorting that mess out makes my stomach twist.

I turn a corner and slam headfirst into a wall. No. Not a wall. A wall of muscles.

A jolt of warmth trickles down my stomach, and I jerk back instantly.

Fuck. My shirt is drenched in coffee poured by—

My mouth drops open when my hands land on a pair of familiar eyes. Not just familiar eyes, but the face. The one that had been part of the day that upended my life years ago. The one I thought I’d buried along with everything that came after.

“It’s you.”

My one night stand stares back at me and his expression mirrors mine: wide-eyed, disbelieving, like neither of us expected to meet here, in this chaotic, impossible moment. My chest tightens. My pulse spikes. Coffee seeps through my shirt, sticky and hot, and suddenly I can feel every inch of him too close, too real.

A sharp throb hits my forehead, and I press a hand there, trying to steady the spinning in my head.

What. The. f**k.