The CEO and Her Driver

Chapter 28

Have you ever cared about someone and suddenly realized how deep that care went when you saw them break for the first time? How badly you wanted to hold them tight and protect them from everything in the world that threatened to hurt them. That was my struggle. I was suddenly helpless to the pain that crossed Tate's face. A pain that ran so deep, I forgot how to breathe, how to think, how to do anything other than stand next to him and silently pray that he wouldn't actually shatter before my eyes.

I reached out, placing my hand over his knuckles that had gone white from gripping the railing so hard. He breathed out, as if remembering that was something he needed to do, his hands loosening slightly on the railing. "Mom was a police officer. She got that passion from my grandfather, Brandon."

"As in..."

Tate nodded. "Yeah, Brandon the owner of Silver Gate, the company I work for. He has a passion for security. Something that runs in the family I guess. Dad was a psychologist." Tate paused, thinking for a beat. "They actually met through work. Dad moved to Los Angles and started working in the same department. Apparently, they hated each other at first."

I could see the shy Tate. The one who was scared of being open. The one whose heart had once been so full of love and wasn't broken. The boy who was content to just explore, or enjoy the stars. Who didn't need to make the world feel brighter, because his world was bright. There was no pain or darkness to keep away.

"My mom was a fighter. While my dad was more of a thinker. He wanted to talk through problems and she wanted to strangle someone who was threatening." Tate laughed hollowly. "They argued a lot, but respected each other enough to try to tackle every argument together. Try to figure out where the other was coming from."

"They sound great," I said quietly.

Tate finally turned to look at me, swallowing before saying anything. "They really were."

Then, sensing he needed more, I scooted closer and placed his head on my shoulder. "I hate talking about this," Tate said, voice close to my ear.

"You don't have to you know. It's okay."

I felt him shake his head, brow pressed to my neck. "No. I want you to know me. And this is an important part of that."

I bit my lip, touched and afraid of the vulnerability of it all. It was terrifying. But I fought my instinct to run. To push him away. Now is not the time to freak out. Not all vulnerability is bad, Allie. It's okay to be open. It's okay to be that safe place of vulnerability for someone else too.

"What happened to them?" I asked gently.

"Mom died on the job. A robbery gone bad." His breaths were shallow, each one hitting my neck and wrapping me in his sorrow. "Dad kept trying to walk me through it. How all the emotions were normal, were healthy. Told me to feel everything... But... it didn't work. Not for him anyway. He..." Tate stopped talking, stopped breathing. Body freezing like a jolt freezing a man holding an electrical wire.

He moved several feet away, and I realized that he's shaking. He was shaking so bad that he suddenly melted into a puddle on the ground, back against the Griffith Observatory. He's having a panic attack.

I crouched down in front of him, taking his hands into mine. "I'm... sorry," Tate breathed.

I give his hands a tender squeeze. "No apologies. Never apologize for this. It's okay to hurt."

He leaned his head back against the wall, looking utterly exhausted, eyes scrunched shut as he tried to push the world away. "He died... Takotsubo cardiomyopathy..." He struggled to catch his breath. "Broken heart syndrome... It triggers stress after a loss."