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“Emma, please,” he says, sounding hurt. “Let me explain!”
“Stop saying that! There’s nothing to explain! It’s actually very simple, from my perspective. You and I had a … fling, or whatever. And then you decided to get back together with Raven. That’s it.”
“You make it sound so cut-and-dry,” Finn argues. “It’s not like that, Emma, I swear.”
“Do me a favor, Finn,” I say, my tone icy. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”
His face drops, and he’s finally quiet. I turn around and stalk out of the kitchen.
20
FINN
Iclose my office door and drop my head into my hands. How could I have been so stupid? How did I fuck things up so badly between me and Emma?
More importantly, how did I not see that Raven has outmaneuvered me – again? I like to think of myself as sharp and perceptive, with killer instincts and a finely-honed bullshit detector. That’s how I am in court, and that’s how I’ve always been in my personal life, too.
Except that now I have plainly lost all of those qualities. It’s humbling to admit that, even to myself, but seeing the hurt and venom on Emma’s face has made it impossible for me to hide from the truth any longer.
I could really lose Emma. And it would be my own fault; it would be because of my own fears and foolishness. She’s the best person I’ve ever met. She makes me want to be better. And I might have hurt her too deeply for her to ever forgive me.
Shit. This isn’t a matter ofI could lose Emma. This is a matter ofI might have already lost her.
I quickly dash off an email to Luc and Damien, and then I wait.
Five minutes later, my brothers enter my office. “What’s this urgent matter you need to talk to us about?” Luc asks, sitting on my couch. “Is it about business?”
“Yeah, what’s so important?” Damien asks. “I just finished presenting to a potential new client. I have a ton of work waiting for me. And what the hell was up with Emma bursting into my meeting?”
“Why’d she do that?” Luc asks.
“It was my fault,” I admit. Damien walks over to the bar cart I keep in the corner and glances at me. At my nod, he pours whiskey into three glasses. He hands me one and then sits down on the couch next to Luc, who grabs the other glass.
I take a fortifying swallow and sigh. “I wanted to talk to Emma. No, actually, I needed to talk to her. And she didn’t want to hear from me. She was trying to avoid me and I wasn’t letting her. That’s why she ended up in the conference room you were in, Damien. I hope it didn’t screw up your presentation too badly.”
“It actually helped,” he says with a grin. “I spun it as how we were so busy, even our staff couldn’t keep all our meetings straight. They came on board after that.”
“Way to go,” Luc says, high-fiving Damien.
I smile weakly. “I’m glad to hear that. But guys, I need your help.”
“Who do I have to pay off?” Luc asks immediately.
“No one – why do you always assume the worst?” I say, bristling.
“Um, experience?”
“Hey, who has five figures worth of unpaid parking tickets?” I shoot back.
“Can we focus?” Damien interrupts. “Finn, what the fuck is going on?”
“I’m back with Raven,” I tell them.
Luc downs his drink like it’s a shot and gets up. “This calls for a lot more alcohol,” he announces. “What sparked this reunion?”
“It was her idea,” I say glumly. Luc approaches me with the bottle and I nod. “She wanted to get back together and I agreed.”
“Why?” Damien asks. “You were miserable when you were together. And honestly, she’s a royal pain in the ass.”
