Chapter 14 - THE PROMISE HE MADE WITHOUT A CONTRACT
One year later, Gideon asked Tessa to dinner.
He was no longer her employer.
His legitimate businesses were being reorganized under independent oversight.
He had cooperated with legal proceedings and accepted the consequences of his past actions.
He wasn't the same man she'd met three years earlier.
And Tessa wasn't the same woman who had cried in the alley.
They met at a small Italian restaurant.
No bodyguards.
No private dining room.
Just two people sitting across from each other.
Gideon looked nervous.
Tessa smiled.
“Are you okay?”
He laughed softly.
“Not particularly.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
He looked at her.
“Because I've negotiated deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
He paused.
“And I have absolutely no idea how to ask you on a second date.”
Tessa laughed.
“Maybe start with dinner.”
Gideon smiled.
“Dinner?”
She nodded.
“Then we'll see.”
He reached across the table.
Stopped.
“May I?”
Tessa looked at his hand.
Then placed hers in it.
May you like
“Yes.”
And for the first time, their relationship began without fear, obligation, or secrets.
