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Iris fisted her hands on her waist. The heat of her glare threatened to turn him to ashes. “You should have believed in me.”
Tyler tamped down on his panic. “I did believe you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked for the key-card access report.”
“You should have asked for that report before you accused me.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “You accused me of the most vile and disgusting charges. If you knew me, you’d have known I’d never betray your trust.”
The pain he’d caused her was in her voice. So were her tears. The realization hurt so much, it stripped him of breath.
“You’re right.” Tyler struggled to speak. “Honey, you’re right. I should have known. I was thoughtless and rash.”
“And stupid.”
“And stupid.” He knew she was right. “But, honey, if you give me another chance, I promise I won’t be stupid again.”
“Another chance?” Iris cocked her head. “This isn’t the first time you’ve believed someone else’s lies over my word. The first time, you chose to believe Pete Kimball instead of me. And stop calling me honey.”
“I didn’t know you then.”
“Apparently, you don’t know me now, either. You were my client. I could never betray you.” She lowered her voice. “You were my lover. You said you trusted me.”
The heartache in her eyes reflected the pain in his chest. His gaze lifted to her glossy raven tresses. His hand trembled with the memory of their softness against his palm. “What can I do to convince you that I’m sorry?”
“Nothing. There’s nothing you can do.”
Iris’s words nearly dropped him to his knees. They left him without hope. This time when she stepped around him to leave, Tyler didn’t get in her way.
* * *
“It was Lauren all along.” Iris sipped the cup of chai tea Lily had offered her after their Wednesday family dinner. “I should have known.”
It was a warm evening in early June. Night was beginning to fall. Lily had a CD of Patti LaBelle’s greatest hits playing softly in the background.
“How were you supposed to know?” Rose was the only one eating the key-lime pie Lily had made for dessert.
“She was waiting for me outside my office one day, right before lunch. She told me she thought Xavier would make a better CEO for Anderson Adventures because she thought Ty was incompetent.” Iris shook her head with a heavy sigh. “I bet she’d just sent the email minutes before I arrived.”
The dining area still carried the savory aroma of the pasta Lily had made for their dinner—oregano, garlic, peppers and onions drifted around the room. As usual, the dinner had been wonderful. Lily was a talented cook. But Iris had been too upset to enjoy the meal.
Rose looked up from her key-lime pie. “Iris, I owe you an apology.”
Iris gave Rose a wide-eyed look. “For what?”
“For not believing that you knew what you were doing when you started your firm. And for not believing that you could handle the Anderson Adventures account.”
Iris gave her sister a reluctant smile. “There were days I didn’t believe I could handle this account.”
Rose shook her head. “But you shoved aside those doubts and persisted despite Kimball’s attempt to undermine you, the conflict between Ty and his father, and then this leak. I’m proud of you.”
This was one of those moments that Iris had often fantasized about. She blinked back the sting of tears. “Thanks, Rosie. That means a lot.”
Lily reached over and squeezed Iris’s forearm. “The mystery is solved. The Andersons have dealt with Lauren—poor Xavier. And Tyler apologized to you. Have you forgiven him?”
It was a little harder for Iris to swallow the tea past the lump building in her throat. “I’ve forgiven him but his lack of faith in me is not something I can forget.”
“So what does that mean?” Rose waved her forkful of key-lime pie. “You’re breaking up with him before your relationship has even started?”
“What relationship?” Iris snorted. “You can’t have a relationship without trust.”
“But he does trust you.” Lily sounded as though she was buying whatever Tyler was selling.
