Caleb had a client dinner.

Leaving work, Lucas reappeared.

"Finished playing runaway yet?"

Seriously?

"So that's why you left so cleanly! Thought you were sulking! Found your rich man already!"

He lunged for my wrist. I sidestepped.

"Touch me, security sends you to the clink."

Lucas flinched, remembering. His bluster faded.

"Irene, why target Mia? Don't you see? The more you act like this, the more pathetic you look."

I almost laughed. Almost.

"Lucas, I haven't thought about you or Mia in four months. I didn't 'target' anyone. I left."

"You blocked me everywhere—"

"That's called a boundary. Look it up."

His jaw worked. The arrogance was cracking. Underneath it, something raw and desperate was trying to claw its way out.

"I made a mistake," he said quietly.

"Which one? Hiring people to scare me? Getting engaged to someone else while I was still in love with you? Or coming to another country to tell me I'm pathetic for moving on?"

Silence.

"All of them," he said.

"Great. Acknowledgment noted. Now leave before I call Caleb, and trust me—you don't want to meet Caleb."

"Who is he to you?"

"Someone who's never made me feel small. That's all you need to know."

Lucas stood there, rain starting to patter on the sidewalk. He looked like a man watching a door close in slow motion, finally understanding he'd been the one who locked it.

"I'll go," he said. "But I'm not giving up."

"That's your problem, not mine."

I walked inside. Didn't look back.