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“What the fuck could I do?” he yelled.
“You should have told her the truth!”
His insides tightened. “I can’t. I couldn’t. It’s no use now, because part of the deal is that I don’t contact her, but before . . . I refuse to be the one to tell her what’s really going on.”
“Why? If honesty is such an important trait to her, don’t you think whoever explains things will ultimately be on her good side?”
He met his friend’s gaze. “Imagine how it will go when she finds out. First she’ll be irate. If I told her, she wouldn’t listen beyond the first confession. She’d be out the door and I’d be right where I am now. I know what he has planned. He’s her friend, sweet Parker who’d never harm a fly and thinks of everyone before himself.” He scowled. “She has him pegged as some sensitive, selfless, poetic sort of guy. I assure you he’s anything but. He’s as shrewd and selfish as his father. Only my intuition that he hated Crispin leads me to believe he’d loathe coming off as anything less than noble to Evelyn. I think it would kill him to be seen as anything remotely similar to the man who raised him, and right now I wouldn’t mind him dead.
“All I was worried about that day was finding Evelyn and making sure she was safe—by any means. Parker had conditions. He could’ve helped her. He knew that’s what I was there to do, but he found a way to press his advantage. I was at the mercy of anyone who knew where she might be, and he used my disadvantage for his own purposes. Evelyn’s the furthest thing from a pushover. Her life’s been too hard for her to be naive. Once she has all the facts, and believe me, she will, she’ll realize what he did.”
Jamie was quiet for several minutes. His hands were folded as his elbows rested on his knees. This was his pose for deep contemplation. Finally, he said, “So, she finds out he put the deal on the table. That’s one black mark. She then finds out that, had you not agreed to his conditions, she would’ve frozen and her mother would’ve likely died.”
“Correct.”
“Okay, but Luche, that doesn’t guarantee she’ll come back to you. It doesn’t guarantee that before she finds all that out he may have already gotten what he’s after.”
His throat went dry and he swallowed. “I know,” he rasped, baring every bit of worry in his expression for his friend to see.
Jamie sat back with a jerk. “Fuck, this is a goddamn mess.”
“You’re telling me?”
“No. I can see you don’t need anyone telling you what a cluster fuck this all is.” He scrubbed his face with his palms then stilled. “What did you do to Slade?”
“I’m buying him out. Fuck if I’ll do business with that prick ever again. I reminded him the only reason I’m in this predicament is because I’m a man of my word. I then gave him my word that if this ends badly for me, I would make it my life’s ambition to destroy everything he loves.”
Jamie shook his head. “He’s an idiot. Why the fuck would he get involved?”
“Because he wants to fuck me,” Lucian said snidely, still not understanding Slade’s reasoning. He wasn’t even sure he had a good reason. All he knew was that Slade used to be a good guy until he turned so cynical and bitter.
Jamie threw up his hands in exasperation. “We’re supposed to be friends. Do you think this is because of Monique? Good God, he needs to let it go!”
“I know.”
“You had no more to do with her death than he did. It was a fucking accident. Jesus. Do you want me to talk to him?”
“Don’t bother. The selfish prick’s gonna do what he wants. Besides, it’s too late to change things. I’ve got twenty-six days to sit here with my thumb up my ass and hope I don’t kill anyone in the process. He better pray that doesn’t happen, because the minute murder is on my radar, I’m coming for him.”
“Why don’t you get out of town for a while?”
“And do what, write poetry about the one who got away? No. I need to work.”
“Well, your staff’s terrified of you at the moment. If you’re going to work, work. Don’t make them pay for your mistakes.”
Lucian got quiet. “I really fucked up,” he confessed in a whisper. “What if I can’t get her back, Shamus? What if this kid really is better for her and she sees that?”
“Knock it off. You’re Lucian Bloody Patras. You’ve gotten everything you’ve ever set your sights on. What makes her different?”
He thought for a moment, then met his friend’s gaze. “She may be poor, but she’s the only person I’ve ever met with as much determination as me. She’s my match, and for the first time in my life, I finally understand what others fear when they face me in a board meeting. If she’s determined never to be with me again, take my word, she won’t.”
