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She pursed her lips. “You’re an asshole.”
That, we could agree on. Because I was an asshole. A real fucking prick who never saw this coming.
“Get rid of that replica,” I said, pointing to the ring again. “Print a retraction. I won’t ask for an apology because I know you’re not capable of admitting what you did was wrong.”
“And if I don’t?”
I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “A court case would be the least of your problems. I’ll go after every company you’ve ever touched and make sure I own them by the end of the week.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Fucking try me, Lena,” I said, turning around and jerking the door open. “I’ve got nothing left to lose.”
* * *
“Fold,”I said, leaning back in my seat and tossing my cards into the muck pile a little harder than necessary.
“Easy,” Ethan said, who’d taken over as dealer tonight. He straightened my cards, eying me.
I shot him a look that told him exactly where he could take his ill-timed word.
He stared right back at me, silently conveying I couldn’t keep being a prick without letting him in onwhyI was being a prick. Jesus, even in silent conversations he was a pain in the ass.
But it wasn’t his fault, or any of their faults that I didn’t want to be here.
I glanced over my shoulder at the spot where Brynn would usually be sitting and a stab of pain radiated through my whole body.
She wouldn’t speak to me. Wouldn’t take my calls.
I’d succumbed to texting her the truth, explaining what Lena had done. A fury like I’d never known sliced through me at the memory from last week. Lena had gotten a retraction printed and as far as I knew, sold off the replica of my grandmother’s ring.
Didn’t matter though, because Brynn still wouldn’t talk. All she gave me was that she needed a little time, and fuck me, I’d definitely give it to her. I’d give her all the time she needed if I could somehow earn back her trust in the end.
Even though I didn’t have a hand in Lena’s scheme, I was the one who’d never told Brynn how much she meant to me. Never let her know that I’d loved her for far longer than she knew, too afraid of saying the words out loud and somehow losing her because of it.
And here I was, lost without her anyway.
“Goddamnit,” Doyle barked from the other end of the table, shoving his iPad toward Serenity, who sat behind him. She quickly took it from him, almost dropping it in the process.
Gareth reached out and caught the thing before it fell, no doubt not to save anything of Doyle’s but to stave off any repercussions for Serenity.
“Thanks,” Serenity said after she’d secured the thing on the table next to her.
Gareth only grunted in response, turning back to his cards.
“What’s up your ass?” Ethan asked Doyle.
“I don’t like losing,” Doyle said.
“Aren’t you used to it by now?” Crossland said, throwing in a chip.
Asher called whatever he’d bet, but remained silent, casting me concerned glances every few seconds that I was getting tired of ignoring. I knew I needed to fill the guys in, but I wasn’t about to spill my heart on the table while Doyle was here.
“Fuck off, Crossland. Talk to me when you want to put something real on the line.”
Crossland flipped him off, focusing on the game.
“Your numbers came through,” Doyle said, and it was only after a few seconds of silence I realized he was talking to me.
