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And even my backup failed. How the hell did Simon Blake manage to be fooled too?
I scream to the wall, then wipe my desk clean with one sweep of my arms.
“Fuck!” I yell louder than the stationery and electronics battering the floor.
My assistant rushes in. “Mr. Hartley?”
“Stay out of this, Wanda. I mean it.”
“Mr. Hartley, please.”
“Wanda, turn around, and close that door!”
Pale-faced, Wanda backpedals, exiting quietly.
But soon the door bursts back open.
“I said—”
“Clay!”
I slump back into my chair, saying nothing more. I respect my big brother that much.
“Clay, talk to me.”
My shoulders heave up and down like I was fending off an ogre coming out of me. I put my face in my hands. Now I can’t even look at Rob.
“Take it easy, brother.” Rob stands next to me, holding me. “Take it easy.”
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with Amber.”
“She’s fine.”
I pant. I’m happy for him, for his family. He deserves that happiness after all he went through.
But, that perfect picture in my head—what Isabelle, Raffi, Matty, and I, and the children I dreamed of, could’ve looked like—has been torn to pieces.
I simmer down, helped by the thought of the youngest Hartley. “Baby Mia?”
“She’s doing great,” Rob assures me. “But you’re not, so I’m here.”
I get off my chair and hug him. He never stops being my rock. Blood is thicker than water. Rob is proof.
“What the hell am I doing wrong, Rob?”
He pulls me to the couch. “Sit down.” He then fixes me a glass of scotch, which I gulp in one go.
“I’m sorry, Clay. At least she confessed before Fletcher brought us all down. I know you’re hurt—I’ve never seen you like this. But we have to move on. I need you.”
I will fight for him, for us, but I won’t let it slide with Isabelle.
My assistant’s voice interrupts my chain of thought. She’s trying to stop someone from coming in. “It’s not a good time!”
The door clicks open, but whoever is behind it seems to heed Wanda’s warning because he stops short of opening the door all the way. In a small pause, I hear Simon Blake announce, “Clay, it’s me.”
I refuse to look at the man. It’s Rob who motions for him to come in.
“Hey, you okay, man?” Blake surveys the mess on the floor.
