Alexander
“You know what’s interesting?” Anthony sald, pulling me from my thoughts.
1 looked up from my whiskey. “What?”
“At first, Katherine left you, and you said nothing. Didn’t chase her. Didn’t fight for her. Just let her walk away like it meant nothing. Then she came back, and you got engaged, and that was that. No drama, no grand gestures, just a business arrangement disguised as a relationship.”
I said nothing, just turned my glass in slow circles on the table.
“And in the same way Madison left,” Anthony continued. “Same pattern. She walked out of Knight Industries, disappeared to Connecticut, and you said nothing. Didn’t call, didn’t text, didn’t try to find her. Just let her go like she was interchangeable with any other employee.”
“Your point?”
“My point is you have a pattern of letting people walk away without fighting for them.” He paused, taking a sip.” Which raises an interesting question. What do you actually want, Alex? Do you want to marry Katherine? From my perspective, it doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon. Five years engaged and you can’t even set a date.” 2
The question hung between us, uncomfortable and unavoidable.
I opened my mouth, then closed it. Opened it again. “Katherine and I have an understanding.”
“That’s not what I asked.” Anthony’s tone was gentle but firm. “I asked if you want to marry her. Not if you have an understanding, not if it makes business sense, not if it looks good for your public image. Do you actually want to spend the rest of your life with Katherine Sinclair?” (1)
The silence stretched too long.
“That’s what I thought,” Anthony said quietly. “Look, Katherine is brilliant. Beautiful, successful, ambitious. She’d be perfect for you on paper. But you don’t love her, Alex. And she doesn’t love you either.”
“How would you know?”
“Because I’ve seen her with other people. At events, at charity functions, even just talking to reporters.” He set down his glass. “She lights up when she talks about her fashion line, about expanding into new markets. But when she talks about you? It’s professional. Courteous. The same tone she’d use discussing a business merger.‘
I wanted to argue, to defend my engagement, to explain all the logical reasons why Katherine and I made sense together.
But I couldn’t.
Because he was right.
“Five years,” Anthony continued. “Five years of being engaged without progressing. No wedding plans, no house hunting, no discussions about kids or future or any of the things couples actually planning to marry talk
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about.” He paused. “You’re both stalling because neither of you actually wants to go through with it.”
“Katherine and I are busy people.”
“Bullshit. Busy people get married all the time. They make it work because they want to make it work.” He leaned forward. “You don’t want to marry Katherine. You’re just too stubborn to admit it.”
I drained my whiskey, welcoming the burn. “What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to be honest. At least with yourself, if not with me.” Anthony’s expression softened. “What do you actually want? Not what makes sense, not what’s convenient, not what looks good for Knight Industries. What does Alexander Knight want?”
The question echoed in my head, mixing with whiskey and exhaustion and five years of carefully maintained denial.
What did I want?
Katherine, with her perfect poise and strategic mind? The woman who understood power and influence and how to navigate Manhattan’s elite circles without breaking a sweat?
Or Madison, who’d left and built a life I knew nothing about? Who had a kid I’d just discovered existed, whose very presence disrupted every carefully constructed wall I’d built? 1
“I don’t know,” I admitted finally. 1
“That’s the most honest thing you’ve said all night.” Anthony signaled for another drink. “But here’s the thing. You need to figure it out. Because right now you’re in limbo, engaged to someone you don’t love while chasing after someone who clearly moved on. That’s not fair to anyone. Not to Katherine, not to Madison, and definitely not to you.”
“You make it sound simple.”
“It is simple. You’re just making it complicated because that’s what you do.” The waitress brought his drink, and he thanked her with a smile that made her blush. “Break it down logically, Alex. You’re good at that. What do you feel when you’re with Katherine?”
I thought about it. “Comfortable. She understands the business world, the expectations, the demands of running an empire.”
“Comfortable,” Anthony repeated. “What about when you think about Madison?”
My chest tightened. “Frustrated. Confused. Like there’s something I’m missing that everyone else can see.”
“That’s not what I asked. I asked what you feel, not what you think.”
I stared at my empty glass. What did I feel when I thought about Madison?
That tightness in my chest when I saw her at the café. The way my pulse had jumped when our eyes met across
the parking lot. The hollow feeling when she’d driven away without looking back.
“Lost,” I said finally. “I feel lost.”
Anthony was quiet for a moment. “You know what I think?”
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“I’m sure you’ll tell me,”
“I think you loved Madison. Maybe still do. But you were too scared to admit it, so you got engaged to Katherine instead. Safe choice, logical choice, the kind of decision that made perfect sense on paper.” He paused. “And then Madison left, and you convinced yourself you were over her. Spent five years pretending she meant nothing while your engagement to Katherine went nowhere.” 1
I said nothing.
“At some point, Alex, you’re going to have to stop lying to yourself. Face the truth about what you want and who you want it with.” He took a long drink. “Because time’s running out. Katherine’s not going to wait forever, and Madison’s clearly moved on. If you don’t figure this out soon, you’ll end up alone with your empire and your expensive cars and absolutely no one who gives a damn about you as a person.” (1
The words hit harder than I expected.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
