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“Oh. Okay. Right. I get it now, you’re a fucking coward.”
He said nothing. There was no indication my words had even registered because Terry was done. With me, anyway.
“I love you, Terry, I meant those words when I said them, and I mean them now. I was hoping this was, finally, the start of something good and real for us. I guess I was wrong. Again.”
“You were.”
Ouch. “Yeah, well, fuck you and have a miserable life!”
I walked away with my head held high, my steps slow and deliberate because I refused to run away like a heartbroken little girl. I took my time walking back to the car, and since I didn’t have any place to be, I headed to Mayhem and booked a suite for the next week.
That was where I’d drown my sorrows in expensive alcohol and room service, and then I would put all thoughts of Terry Manning away and get on with the rest of my life.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Terry
“I’m an asshole.”
That was my mantra over the past three days, ever since my idiotic blow up with Kat. “Such a fucking asshole.” And according to her, a coward as well.
Kat was right. We both knew it, me in particular, which is why I’d spent the last three days drinking away my sorrows with the curtains drawn and rock music blocking out all thoughts of anything.
Or anyone.
No visitors, no phone calls. No people whatsoever.
The only person I couldn’t seem to shake was Kat and the look of hurt and betrayal in her eyes, watery with tears she was too damn strong to let fall in front of me. It only made me love her more.
“Not that it fucking matters. God, I really am an asshole.”
“You are but we love you anyway.”
The deep voice scared the shit out of me, and I grabbed my piece and aimed it in the direction of the intruder.
“Goddammit, Emmett, I could have shot you.”
Emmett laughed and shook his head. “You’d have to figure which one of me is the right one first. And I’ve been here for five fucking minutes so if I wanted to kill ya, you’d be dead already.”
I lowered the gun with a sigh. “Five minutes, really?”
“Yep. You’re too drunk to be aware of your surroundings, a dangerous habit in your line of work. Wanna tell me why you’re drunk in the middle of the week?”
“No reason. Just taking a sabbatical to figure out…some shit.”
Emmett took in my surroundings. The discarded delivery bags and boxes, the empty bottles and half unpacked grocery bags. He shrugged and took a seat in the chair beside the window, far enough away that I couldn’t just slug him and make him leave.
“Doesn’t look like nothing. Looks like something, a really big something if I had to guess. Plus, you stink.”
He fanned a hand in front of his face just in case I didn’t get the picture.
“Feel free to leave at any time, Em.”
“And miss out on some world class moping from my older brother? Not a fucking chance.” He sighed and looked out the window, trying to wait me out.
“It’s not gonna happen.”
“What?”
I groaned. “You sitting there in silence isn’t gonna get me to talk. Don’t you have fighters to train or something?”
“I do, and I will, but now I’m here. For you.”
That was all he said for a long time, his silence doing fuck all but making me think. About Kat. “I was surprised when I called Jasper to find out why you weren’t answering my calls, and he said you didn’t work for the Ashbys anymore.”
“I don’t.” And I hadn’t heard one fucking word from my alleged best friend since I left.
“Why?”
“You don’t have to do this, Em.”
“Duh. You’re my brother, and I love your dumb ass, so let’s just skip to the part where you tell me what happened?”
It wasn’t like I had anyone else to confide in. I lost everything I thought I wanted, everything I thought was un-fucking-touchable. No Kat. No Jasper. No Ashby family. No Ashby Organization. Nothing.
“Fine,” I moaned and told him the whole sordid story about kissing Kat and then fucking her, and all about falling for her.
“He found out and he wasn’t happy about it. Said he couldn’t trust me.”
“And you walked away?”
I nodded and Emmett whistled. “I’m surprised, even a little bit impressed.”
“Yeah well, don’t be,” I snorted. “When Kat found out she came to me and told me, again, that she loved me. Me, Em. She said she was in love with me, a gutter rat from the wrong side of the tracks.”
“Hey, that’s my brother you’re talking about.” He flashed a sympathetic grin and motioned for me to continue.
“I threw it back in her face. Told her to go back to her life because there was no us, no future for us.” Shook my head as those images played in my mind again. “She refused to cry, but I saw the tears. I made her fucking cry, man.”
