The Carrero Effect - Falling for the Boss (Billionaire CEO) novel Chapter 39

“One week?” she asks softly, and I hate the desperation in her eyes; her affection for my mother is strong. I close my own and steady the internal war. I need to relinquish a little over this. I don’t want to push her away, but this is hard.

“Okay … But you come to me in one week and we go from there. You call me every night, Sophie, so I know you’re okay. And no lies!” I am stern.

She snaps up to look at me and we see each other, deeply. She knows that I know she lied for my mother. She forgets I used to do it too. She nods and bites her lip; another teen Emma trait and I wonder if that’s why she keeps her hair tied up away from fidgeting fingers. I sigh at the girl, the shadow of my past, only this one has a chance at being saved.

“Okay.” She finally pouts, and I nod not fully happy. She makes me think of everything I was when I first arrived in New York. She has a fire inside of her just like I did, a determination to rise from the ashes. She’ll be okay, she’s a fighter and she is no longer alone.

Jake sits up suddenly and fishes his cell from his pocket putting it to his ear, he says a few words then looks across at me with a glance and it catches my interest.

“When then?” he moves to sit properly and plants his feet on the floor, sounding annoyed.

“Okay, well yeah … Sure … First thing … Keep me updated.” He presses the cell and casts me an apologetic grimace.

“No flight home tonight, Emma … Jets grounded; there’s a storm brewing outside Chicago and heading this way. New York is already in a full-blown blizzard.” He shrugs as if to emphasize that there’s nothing he can do, and I curse inwardly. The drop of weight in my stomach at the disappointment is painful.

“When’s the soonest we can leave?” I ask, certain he can hear the edge to my voice.

“Maybe in the morning, we have to wait and see.” He gets up and comes to stand beside me in the kitchen, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear and then moving to lean on the counter between Sophie and me. His touch makes me smile.

“Need any help?”

I shake my head. Jake is a half-decent cook as his mother taught both her sons at a very young age and he told me he does it occasionally.

“We’re about to serve.” I shrug at him. Inside I’m deflated; I pinned my hopes on leaving tonight.

“I’ll head to my hotel after we eat. After I lock this place up and check there are no snooping assholes. I’ll call you in the morning to let you know when the plane is ready to go.”

“You’re not staying?” I snap my eyes up to him, the fear of Ray still in the back of my mind. Still shaken from earlier, despite pushing it to the depths of my brain. He clocks the hesitation on my face and moves close so our noses almost graze. Tilting his head in toward me and stooping slightly to bridge our height difference.

“You just need to ask.” He utters softly and the overwhelming urge to lean forward and rest my face against his grasps me, I move back unsurely.