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I nod again, then hang my head.
He stands abruptly and paces, pushing his hand through his hair. “I can’t fucking believe this. You’ve been running around with my little sister and lying to me about it.”
I don’t even bother to defend myself. What would be the point? He’s right.
“So why are you here telling me this now? Why isn’t Mac here with you?”
This is the hard part. Even harder than telling him that I’ve been fucking his sister is telling him that I hurt his sister.
So I launch into my story about the past and the proposal to Audrey, something Finn knows nothing about. Then I explain what happened last night and this morning, watching as his jaw tics when I describe how I hurt his sister.
“Oh, and so now I’m worth telling… now that you need my help, is that it?”
Jesus, I feel like a piece of shit. “It’s not like that. We planned to tell you before Christmas anyway. Kenz just wanted to get through this week and all the events she had going for work.”
“Kenz?” He arches an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry I lied to you, Finn. You’re my best mate, and if it’s any consolation, I didn’t like doing it. But I love your sister, and I’m positive she loves me, and whether I have your help or not, I’m going to do everything in my power to get her back.” My words are like steel—hard and impenetrable.
“You love her?”
I nod. “Very much. I just haven’t had an opportunity to tell her yet.”
Slowly, a huge grin forms on his face. He walks over to me and tugs me up off the couch, pulling me into an embrace and smacking me on the back. “Talk about burying the lede. Why the hell didn’t you start with that?”
A relieved chuckle leaves my lips.
He pulls back and clamps me on the shoulder. “Of course I’ll help you. I know what I’d feel like if Zahra left me. If you love Mac, I’ll do whatever I can to help you win her back. But know that she’s a stubborn one when she wants to be.”
I think of her refusal to accept that I didn’t like Christmas and how determined she was to change my mind. “Oh, trust me, I know.”
Let the plotting begin.
When I return to work on Monday, I go into Mr. Simons’s office to provide some sort of explanation about what happened at the holiday party. To my surprise, he doesn’t seem concerned about it.
“Love makes you do crazy things, I get it.” He waves me off as though it’s no big deal.
“Still, it was wholly unprofessional of me, so please accept my apology.”
“Consider it done. Can I tell you something though?”
I nod for him to continue.
“Don’t worry about what everyone else thinks. If you love this girl, do whatever it takes to make it happen. Look at me. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life. And believe me, I know what everyone says behind my back—that I divorced my wife because I met someone younger and I wanted a trophy wife. But that’s not it. I was in an unhappy marriage for a very long time, and I’d accepted that the rest of my days would be spent here, giving my all to the firm because I didn’t want to give anything to my partner. But then I met Bethaney.”
He chuckles and shakes his head, clearly picturing something about their first meeting. “I met her, and she knocked me off my feet. She wasn’t trying to, and I wasn’t looking for her. It just happened. So before I pursued anything with Bethaney, I went home and told my wife I wanted a divorce. Do you know she didn’t fight me on it? I think she was almost relieved that one of us had said what we both knew for a long time—that our marriage was over. And now, from what my kids tell me, she’s happily dating around and seems more content than they’ve ever known her.”
“That’s wonderful, sir.”
“Don’t let what other people think stop you from taking a risk at being happy. That’s what I’m saying to you.”
I nod, understanding now that he’s right. It just took me too long to get my head out of my ass.
The other two partners aren’t as understanding as Mr. Simons, but they accept my apology for making a scene after I assure them it will never happen again.
Making partner doesn’t seem so important right now, because what I care about the most is getting Kenzie back. If she agrees to be with me after my grand gesture on Friday, then I’ll be a happy man—partner or not.
There’s so much to do to get ready for Friday, so rather than get to work as soon as I get back to my office, I make a few phone calls to put everything in place.
