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“Hey, Vi? Did you order a sad pathetic billionaire because there seems to be one on our porch?”
My head snaps up and I immediately take in the sight of two women standing in front of me, hands on hips, and giving me matching death stares. The one that just spoke is tall with darker features and long brown hair. I immediately peg her as Dante Moreno’s daughter. There is a definite resemblance. The other woman is standing at her side, eyeing me warily with her black hair pulled back into a ponytail. They both appear to be about the same age as Hollie.
“No, I didn’t. I think we better return it back to where it came from.”
I slowly rise to my feet and make a futile effort at straightening my suit in an attempt at being semi-presentable. Stretching my hand out to the young Miss. Moreno, “Hi. Archer Clarke. Nice to meet you.”
She eyes my hand like it’s covered in spiders. Instead of shaking it, she merely says, “Bianca Moreno. And this is Violet Daniels.” She indicates the woman next to her, who is eyeing me up and down curiously. I get the impression that Violet might be an old soul and the more reasonable of the two to deal with.
She doesn’t bother to shake my hand either, just gives me a jerky nod and keeps a close eye on me like she expects me to do something crazy at any moment. So much for my theory on her being the easier of the two. Since neither is interested, I drop my hand back to my side and take a step back, giving them space.
They are obviously Hollie’s two roommates and just as obviously not a fan of mine. Not that I can blame them.
“I’m looking for Hollie,” I stupidly let them know, as if there is any other reason I would be sitting here on their front stoop in the middle of the day.
“I figured,” Bianca says, not bothering to hide her dislike of me. At least Hollie has some solid friends to stand up for her. “She’s not here, and I don’t think she would appreciate coming home and finding you here. I think you should go.”
“Look, I realize she hates me right now, and she has every right to. I deserve it.” My best course of action here is honesty. I can tell they won’t put up with anything less when it comes to their friend. “I fucked up. I know that and I want—need—to fix it. If she’ll just hear me out.”
“Like you heard her out?” Violet asks me coolly. Her eyes are a striking shade of blue and are locked on me, cataloging every move I make.
“Believe me, no one is more angry at me than I am. I can promise you that. She was set up. I should have believed her.”
“Set up?” Bianca asks.
“By both my uncle and her father. They were trying to sabotage my deal and framed Hollie for it to draw the attention away from themselves. The only reason I even figured it out was because I walked in on my uncle on the phone with Patrick Shaw an hour ago. I need to talk to her. Please.” I can’t remember the last time I said please to someone. It was probably Hollie.
Some of the fight seems to go out of the both of them and I’m a little surprised that they seem to believe me.
“That motherfucker,” Bianca mumbles under her breath while Violet stands there shaking her head. “I knew that man was a piece of shit, but I didn’t think he would bother framing her for something. I mean, honestly, I didn’t even think she was on his radar enough for him to do it.”
That confirms what Hollie was saying about him not being a part of her life. Not that I needed the confirmation. I believed her about everything the moment I heard my uncle on the phone.
“Why don’t we go inside?” Violet asks, moving past me. I follow behind her into the entryway and watch as they set down their bags. Bianca points me towards the couch in the living room where I take a seat, my ass grateful to be sitting on something other than the concrete I’ve been on for the past few hours.
Instead of sitting, they both take up positions of power by standing directly in front of me. Smart girls. I’m glad Hollie’s friends are just as clever and sensible as she is.
I sit patiently, waiting for them to begin. I’m very obviously not the one running the show here.
“How about you tell us about this?” Bianca reaches across the coffee table and hands me her phone. It’s open on a picture of me and Julia Kellogg. I can tell it’s from last night because I have on the same suit that I’m wearing right now. However, it looks exponentially crisper in the photo. Julia’s arm is wrapped around my waist and she’s giving the camera a lascivious smile. My body language is stiff with my arms at my sides and my gaze is somewhere off in the distance. Unsurprisingly, I have zero recollection of this moment. Everything after my confrontation with Hollie is a blur.
“What is this?” I ask, handing the phone back to her.
“I asked you first,” she replies saucily, but then continues without letting me get a word in. “Hollie comes home telling us how horrible she feels about what she did and that her boss andloverwon’t even give her the time of day to let her explain. Then we find a picture with you and your ex splashed all around the internet that was taken maybe two hours after you broke her heart.”
“I broke her heart?” I’m both hopeful that she might care enough about me to have a broken heart and horrified that I’m the man that caused it.
She rolls her eyes, not bothering to respond to that.
“I’ll be honest with you, I was only at the dinner another twenty minutes after Hollie left. I don’t even remember taking that picture. She must have come up to me and posed for the cameras. I don’t care about Julia. At all. I never have. I promise you that Hollie is the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
“You love her?” Violet jumps into the conversation. I didn’t mean to tell these girls before I even told Hollie, but I don’t have much of a choice. I need to get through these two if I want to see her anytime soon.
“Yes, I do. Please don’t say anything to her. I haven’t even told her yet. I hoped it might help when I’m pleading for forgiveness.”
Violet relaxes a little, but Bianca still looks like a snake coiled to strike.
“I know it’s a cliche, but if you hurt her, more than you already have, I’ll kill you. Remember that my father owns a construction company. We could dump your body into a pit and put a building right on top of it. No one would ever find you. Just remember that.”
