Page 77 of The Billionaire Invitation

“He never wanted to.” Honesty had loved her brother more than anyone on earth. But she’d convinced herself that she was an adult in an adult relationship and didn’t need her big brother’s approval or input. She suspected Christian would not have approved of Boyd.

She sighed. Was she doing that with Dante? Keeping him from the people in her life who might not approve of him?

“Dante makes time for you,” Gabby said as if intuiting her train of thought. “Think about it. He has spent a ton of time with you. And who can blame him? You are one hot momma. Boyd was only interested in himself. A genuine asshole.”

Gabby wasn’t wrong.

“When Christian died, I needed Boyd. But he wasn’t around.” He’d made a million excuses about why he couldn’t see her during those long, hard weeks. She’d gone to the funeral without him. Only then had she understood how little she’d meant to him. “He sent flowers.”

“To the office,” Gabby said flatly. “The card that read thinking of you was in his assistant’s handwriting.”

Honesty cringed. “I can pick ’em, can’t I?”

“Me too, girl. My last boyfriend was in love with his ex. Found that out the hard way.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” That had been a rough patch for both of them. They’d eaten a lot of tacos together during that dark time.

“Not the point,” Gabby said, steering them back onto the topic at hand. “We’re talking about you.”

“It wasn’t that Boyd didn’t care. He did.” Honesty wasn’t defending him, but she wouldn’t lie and say he was a total narcissist. “His way of caring was in that distant, but well-meaning way. Which was the way he cared about everything.”

“Including you.”

“Including me,” she admitted. “He didn’t take the time to be entrenched in anything. I’m not sure he was capable of it.”

And now that she’d said that out loud, she saw the parallels between Boyd’s and Dante’s behavior. While not as disconnected as Boyd, Dante had his own way of caring about surface-level things when it came to her. The charity. The magazine. The upcoming launch dinner. He had kept his distance, not getting too personal, despite the many, many personal moments they’d spent together over these past weeks. And after seeing him show up for his family and tuck away his personal pride to be there for Reagan and Brody, it was apparent he was capable of caring deeply.

Just not about her.

“I can’t do this again.” Honesty watched a pigeon land and peck at the welcome mat.

“This is not a repeat of the past,” Gabby said. “Dante shows up. Whether or not he leaves again is a separate issue.”

But was it? It was almost worse that Dante showed up—with his plans and timelines and a grant proposal—instead of with a ring or a promise or a glimpse of their shared future.

“I have no right to expect him to flip his world upside down because I’m sleeping with him.”

Gabby was quiet for a beat. “Do you want him to flip his world upside down for you?”

Honesty shook her head but her answer betrayed her. “Yes.”

“Then tell him. Go tell him exactly what you want and what you deserve—beyond a comrade in charity. You are allowed to speak your mind, Honesty. And frankly, you usually do. But with Dante…”

Honesty turned toward her friend. “With Dante… Go on.”

“It’s not my place.”

“Gabby.”

“If we were having wine together, I could, but here at the office⁠—”

“Gabby.”

“Fine! With Dante you’re more cautious than usual. You’re accepting less than you deserve from him, which is like mistreating yourself.” She winced like she regretted saying that, but then said more. “There’s still time to say something before it’s too late.”

“Say what?” She lifted and dropped her arms helplessly, which was most of the problem. She’d never been helpless and she wasn’t going to start now.

“Tell him what you want. Give him an ultimatum if you have to.”