-Leia-You would think I’d get used to my mother dropping bombs on me, but right now I am more pissed off than hurt.“Why?!”“Leia, calm down-”“No!” I exclaim, shaking my head at both Christian and my mother. “No, I want to know why you’re cutting your vacation short. We haven’t even left for Greece yet!”My mother looks down at her hands in her lap and one of her nurses takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’m tired, Leia, and I want you two to have fun without worrying about me all the time.”I shake my head. “Mom, this vacation is so we can spend time with you before… before…” I can’t bring myself to say it and a sob chokes me up. “You can’t leave!”I feel Christian’s arms around my waist and lean into him without even thinking. He’s become my rock lately, always there when I need him, and I’m starting to worry if he’ll ever get sick of me. That would just be the icing on this ruined cake called my life, wouldn’t it?My mom gets to her feet and I reach out for her. “No, please,

-Christian-Leia is dressed in a skimpy little silk PJ set while I’m wearing a t-shirt and boxers, whipping up a stir fry.“I still can’t believe you can cook,” she says, leaning over the kitchen counter with a glass of red wine in her hand. “Why don’t you cook for me at home?”“Well, if you remember correctly, I’m barely home to even cook for myself,” I say while cutting up the chicken breasts. “But if I have some time off, I’ll gladly cook for you.”That smile on her face is everything and guilt rears its ugly head as I know when I get back, we’ll barely spend time together. My company stocks are stable again, but that doesn’t mean we’re still not the subject of sabotage.“Thank you, Mr. Moore, I’d love that,” she says before getting to her feet and walking to the windows overlooking the snow-dusted mountaintops.If I knew she loved this place so much, I would have brought her here sooner. The absolute wonder in her eyes is another favorite of mine, I need to see that more often so

-Leia- The emerald dress I’m wearing seems to bring out the color of my eyes and I’m starting to see why Christian chose this color. It’s our last day in Aspen, and he’s decided to take me out for dinner before we have to leave. I sniff, but maintain a smile.We’ve been holed up in the cabin, wrapped up in each other without a care for the outside world. Well, Christian tried to but he was on his laptop and cell phone often. I can tell by the clenching of his jaw that something is up, but he’s adamant everything is fine. However, I know that look in his eye; it’s the same one Alexander wears when he’s about to face an oppositional CEO of a rival company. There’s something up with Christian’s company and he’s refusing to talk to me about it.By the third day, Christian was asleep, and I decided to go outside into the shed to get more firewood. Don’t ask me how I did it, but I slipped on the tiles next to the heated swimming pool.Yes, I fell in.He heard my scream and came running ou

-Christian- Full tilt into work and I’ve barely come up for air. I was right about being wary of the rival CEO because we found out he had rats in my company. They were feeding him information, and details about our marketing campaigns, strategies, and who we had in our crosshairs. To say I’m angry is putting it fucking lightly; my company is close to losing everything and the more I fight, the more I get pulled under. Balling my hands into fists, I lean my head against them and breathe out a long sigh - today has been worse than usual. We lost three big clients because of the rival company showing them my marketing campaigns and there’s nothing I can do to prove they were our ideas. Everything is snowballing, and I have no idea what to do. The little voice in the back of my head tells me this wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t go on that vacation with Leia. But even as I think it, guilt grips my heart. There’s no way I can blame this on her when I planned it. How am I going to

-Leia- I forgot how therapeutic it can be to just have a good cheesecake with my coffee and company who is not expecting you to say a word. I’ve been listening to Oliver droning on about his boyfriend (I know, right?) but oddly I don’t feel annoyed. It makes me forget about my own problems for a little while and that’s exactly what I need right now. Throughout our chat, he doesn’t ask me about why I broke down, he simply talks my ear off and I am eternally thankful for it. Now I’m on my way back to the penthouse, wondering what I’ll find. My phone died sometime during my visit to the clinic, so I don’t even know if Christian has tried to call me. Has he realized he missed our anniversary? I’m actually terrified of going home only to see he’s not there and as I pull into our designated parking spots, that fear turns into anxiety. He’s here at home, waiting for me. Breathing out a sigh, I make my way to the elevator and wait with bated breath until the door opens. I didn’t know wh