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She’s exactly right. “That’s why it all ended. He couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“Well, he’s not the only one. I couldn’t stand it anymore, either.”
She’s referring to me. “I’m sorry for everything. What we did was wrong, but I want to make it right for you now.”
Her eyes well with tears. “I disgust him. Did you know that I work with him five, sometimes six days a week and most of the time he can’t even look me in the eyes?”
I’ve never noticed Leith being that way with her.
“I’m going to give you a bit of advice, Sin. Make sure Bleu never finds out what we did because I can promise you this. You never want to see revulsion in the eyes of the person you love when they look at you.”
“Bleu knows.”
“No!” Lorna slaps her hand on the table several times. “No! How?”
“I told her.”
“No!” Her mouth gapes as she shakes her head. “Why the hell would you do that?”
Lorna doesn’t yet understand the relationship between spouses. “She knew we had history and asked me to tell her about it.”
Lorna puts her head down on the table. “That was a dumb, ignorant, stupid move.”
I disagree. It’s probably one of the best I could’ve made for my marriage. “I’m glad she knows. I never have to worry about someone else telling her.”
Lorna kicks me beneath the table––in my prosthesis. “Fuck you, Sin! Fuck you!”
I reach down to ensure it’s still in place. “Why are you so angry?”
“Because Bleu’s a dear friend who now hates my guts.”
If I were married to any other woman, Lorna would probably be right. Most wives wouldn’t so easily forgive what we did. “She doesn’t hate you.”
Lorna lowers her voice to a whisper. “She just found out one of her best friends slept with multiple men at the same time and one of them was her husband. How could she not despise me?”
It indeed sounds bad when she says it like that. “You spoke to her less than an hour ago. Did she sound angry or say anything to make you believe she hated you?”
“No.”
“Because you’re a beloved friend to her. She doesn’t like the things we did but she harbors no ill feelings toward either of us about it. What has passed is past. That’s what she said.”
Lorna covers her hands with her face. “I don’t know how I’ll ever face her again.”
“You’ll act no differently because she’ll have it no other way.”
“Oh God. I hate this. I wish we’d not done any of those things.”
She isn’t the only one who wishes we could take it back. But we can’t, so we must make the best of a bad situation. “Do you still love Leith?”
She places her hand in the center of her chest. “With all of my heart and soul.”
I can work with that. “Will you let me fix this?”
“I’d love nothing more but I’m not holding my breath.”
“If it doesn’t work out, then you’re no worse off.”
“Except you will have given me hope and then yanked it out from beneath me.”
I’ll only do this if it’s what she wants. “It’s your decision.”
“What would you say to him?”
“I’m going to tell him about Noah asking to meet to discuss a match with you but that I think he would be a better fit.”
Lorna leans back and moves her hand to her stomach. “Oh God. I feel like I may throw up.”
It’s a sure sign she’s in love with him. “Is he in the office?”
“Aye. He’s closing out the books for the month.”
I get up to leave the table. Lorna looks as though she may pass out. “You might want to consider having a whisky. You look pale.”
“You would be too if you were in my shoes. My entire life is riding on what you say to Leith.”
“Trust me when I say I understand the feelings you’re having. I’m on your side. I promise I’ll do all I can to make Leith see that you belong together.”
I knock on the office door because it’s closed. And locked. “Leith.”
He calls out from the other side. “Go away.”
Leith is my best mate, but even on his best day he doesn’t get to tell me to leave him alone. I knock again much louder. “Come on, Leith. We have business to discuss and I’m running short on time.”
“Hold the fuck on.” I can hear him muttering on the other side. “Mother. Fucker.”
He yanks the door open. “What!”
I step out of the way so Greer can exit. It doesn’t escape my attention that she’s straightening her blouse as she passes through the door. “Hi, Sinclair.”
“Greer.”
Leith plops down in his office chair. “Whatever business you’re here to tend better be important. You just cost me a shag.”
“Are you in some kind of relationship with Greer?”
“No. We fuck when we feel like it. That’s all.”
He reaches for a bottle of Ballantine’s and pours a glass. “Want one?”
“Sure.”
“You said we had business to tend?”
“Aye. Noah Wallace asked me to meet with him about a potential match he has in mind.”
“Let me guess. He’s after Declan Stuart’s sister.”
He’s going to wish it were her when I tell him who it really is. “No. He’s interested in Lorna.”
He’s bringing his glass of whisky to his mouth but stops before taking a drink. “He wants to claim L
orna?”
He wouldn’t ask to meet with me if he were only interested in claiming her. He doesn’t need my permission for that. “I think he means to make her his wife. We’re meeting at nine to discuss the details so I’ll know more then.”
“You’re her leader. You have the right to refuse him on her behalf.”
“I could, but why would I if they’re both agreeable?”
He perks up. That caught his attention. “Have you asked Lorna how she feels about a match with Wallace?”
“I don’t have to because she’s in love with someone else. Has been for years.”
He tosses back his whisky and reaches to pour another. “We work together almost every day and I’ve seen nothing that suggests she’s in love with anyone. Yet you seem very clear about it.” He sounds pissed off, like he suspects I’m talking about myself.
“That’s because you’ve been blind to it.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I’m not sure he sees what he does to her. “You keep Lorna close, yet you’re careful to maintain distance. But every once in a while when you’ve had a little too much whisky, you let down that wall that separates the two of you.”
“You’re confusing the hell out of me.”
“Lorna is in love with you. She has been for years.”
“I think you’re wrong about that.”
“I’m not.”
“Then explain this. If she was in love with me, how could she keep fucking you?”
This is so much harder than I thought it would be. “I think she realized it that night you walked in on us because it never happened again after that. I swear. And she’s been suffering in silence since.”
“Did you know Lorna and I were having one-on-ones without you?”
That’s news to me. “No.”
“I thought I had won Lorna––until I found you with her in the storage room. I was completely wrecked, so please excuse me if I’m a little insensitive to the degree of suffering she has experienced.”
“She never had one-on-ones with me until that night. It was the first and last time.”
“I don’t really want to hear this right now.”
He has to. It’s time to get it all out in the open. “Lorna hasn’t been with a man since then because she’s in love with you.”
