Chapter 32

ALEXANDER

The tie was fine. It had been fine the first time I adjusted it and the tenth time after that, but here I was, fixing it again like a nervous schoolboy. The polished mirror in the car visor reflected a man who was supposed to be composed, confident. Instead, my fingers fumbled with the knot for what felt like the hundredth time.

This wasn’t me. I didn’t get nervous. Not during business negotiations, not ever. But this wasn’t just business, or any of the other things I’d perfected over the years. This was Raina.

She had always had this effect on me, even before I was foolish enough to let her go. And now, as I sat in my car, parked just a few yards from the Graham property, waiting for the right time to make my move, I felt like I was twenty again, standing outside her door, waiting to ask her on our first date.

Except this wasn’t a first date. This was an apology wrapped in a desperate attempt to win her trust back.

I checked my watch again, t