Page 118 of Love Unspoken

Hugh and Mama had always wanted the families to unite, which was why when Shelby and Flynn started dating, it was a relief, especially since Kath and I had ended badly. Hugh had been worried then what Kath's defection would mean for business, but I'd been transparent and open with him that Kath and I would keep it professional, which we had.

In the beginning, it had been awkward and difficult when Mercer and Kath were newly dating. She'd been cagey about when exactly they began dating but assured me that she'd never cheated on me. I believed her because I wanted to, and did it matter? She'd left me for my friend. She'd broken my heart, and when exactly she began fucking him would only add to my pain; at least, that was what twenty-five-year-old Lucas, who had never lost anything in his life, had thought.

But after a while, it got better. I started seeing women and all but removed Kath and Mercer from my social life. When Amara and I dated, it was even easier because she was reticent to join the Charleston Society hoopla unless and until I had no choice, and then she accompanied me.

Kath was the social butterfly. I was more of an introvert; I preferred smaller groups of friends than a large, raucous crowd.

I wished I hadn't gone to that damned Magnolia Ball. Seeing Amara there with Jax, whom my grandma had conveniently invited to keep my ex company had been difficult.

Grandma was imbued in Charleston society. She was, after all, the matriarch of the Covington family; she held her status over anyone and everyone she could. She was intelligent in how she worked society to benefit the family business and I'd learned from her. Parties were only relevant if they helped you network and moved your agenda; otherwise, you were better off staying away and not screwing it up, saying the wrong thing to the wrong person, or worse, the wrong thing to the right person.

I'd been taught to behave myself in public, to never tarnish the Covington name.

"But I don't understand why anyone would care if I wore real or fake jewelry, Lucas," Amara protested when I insisted she wear a diamond bracelet I had bought her for a family event.

"They'd notice, and they'd care. Please, Amara. This is important."

She'd worn the bracelet but had promptly returned it to me, refusing to keep it in her house. I had hoped that she'd see the jewelry as hers once we lived together, but since she left it all behind when she left me, it was obvious she never had.

Mama was right; Amara was not from our world. Right now, I wasn't sure if that was a bad thing, especially when Hugh was insisting that I seal the deal with his daughter. The man had always been insistent, but now he was leaning on me harder than ever to solidify my relationship with Kath. We'd had this conversation before, but this time, it felt different. It was as if he were issuing an ultimatum, thinly veiled beneath that Southern charm he wielded like a weapon.

"Lucas, it's time." Hugh's demeanor was clear, he wasn't offering advice—he was giving me a directive. "You and Kath belong together. It's what's best for both families. You've had your time to think, but now it's time to act. You're not getting any younger, and neither is she."

Kath was twenty-nine, a year younger than my thirty. I didn't think I was old and so she definitely wasn't. But knowing Hugh and how our world worked, he was talking about Kath having a child soon.

"We're not dating," I told him emphatically, "We're still⁠—"

"What the hell are you waitin' for, son?" He raised his voice, which he usually didn't do, and that struck me as more than insulting. Did he think I was a child and he could pressure me into getting married?

"I'm waitin' to know if I want Kath to be my wife," I fired off bluntly. "She left me for my friend, Hugh, so it's not like⁠—"

"That was years ago, and she made a mistake."

I clenched my jaw as Hugh all but turned red with rage. He still had a full head of hair, albeit now platinum silver. He wore a tailored suit, and his signature walking stick with an eagle head leaned against my desk. He'd been in a skiing accident many years ago and had first used the stick for practical purposes and now for both support and the aesthetics of it. Hugh could be vain.

"I don't want to make a mistake."

"Is this about that broad you were seeing? Patsy tells me you got rid of her."

I didn't like how he talked about Amara. Not even a little bit.

"Amara was my girlfriend, Hugh and we were living together when she ended the relationship," I reminded.

He guffawed. "Patsy told me what happened. Hell, Lucas, you love Kath, and you were usin' that girl to get your rocks off. We've all been there."

My rocks off? I tamped down my anger, now pissed with his insinuation that Amara was some sort of slut who I'd used to fuck.

"We were living together, Hugh. It might have been for a short few months, but Amara is the only woman I've ever lived with." I wanted to impress upon him how important Amara had been to me and still was.

"You love Kath. You've always loved her, and she you." Hugh went from irritation to cajoling in seconds. This was why he was such a good negotiator; he read the room like a motherfucker. But this wasn't a business deal. This was my life.

"I've known Kath my whole life, Hugh, and I'll always love her, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to jump into a relationship with her."

His pushing me was making me even more reluctant to go there with Kath. I knew she was pissed with me for not going beyond a few perfunctory and almost-platonic kisses, not letting her suck me off as she'd tried the night we'd run into Amara and Jax.

Kath was frustrated that I wasn't ready to jump right into who we used to be. She said she couldn't understand my restraint. Truth be told, I wasn't sure what was up with me either. I had thought that once Kath was mine, I'd be on her and in her twenty-four-seven. But every time I thought about having sex, I could only think about Amara. I could only think about the affection and love we shared in bed, the passion. There had never been hate sex the way Kath and I used to go at it. There had been no makeup sex because Amara and I didn't fight nasty like that.

Had what I thought was an all-consuming passion for Kath actually been a toxic relationship? That thought had been running through my mind far more than I ever expected.