AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nia.”
“I said, ‘no!’”
“I don’t recall giving you an option. This isn’t a request, Nia.”
“You may be his boss but not mine!”
“Nia!”
“I have nothing to say to you, Kincaid.”
“Good. Get your ass in this car and listen. I don’t want you to say anything. You need to hear me.”
I start shaking my head, and he glances down at my ankle.
“Get your ass in this car, or I’ll haul you in here.”
I turn to hobble away, and he says, “Alta.”
That one word reminds me of when he lifted me so easily from the ground and carried me, and I know he’ll do it. I glance at the driver and then back at Kincaid. His jaw is clenched firmly in resolve, and I know it is only a matter of time before he’ll be out of that car. I’ll probably be over his shoulder in true caveman fashion.
“Fine! You have five minutes!”
I climb into the car, and Kincaid looks at his driver and says, “Nigel, circle the block.”
I pull my handbag close and cross my arms over it as I glare at him before looking out the window. It’s hard to ignore the citrus, sandalwood, and cedar notes that emanate from him. He’s handsome, polished, and oh-so-sexy from his head to his toes.
My family is wealthy, but money oozes off this man in waves.
“I know that I fucked up. Not with you but in that situation with my best friend, which doesn’t speak well of my character to you.”
I bristle inside that he feels he didn’t screw me over too. How the hell was I supposed to feel knowing he was screwing me with an old lover under the same roof? Despite his denial, he may play the same games his brother plays.
“Lauren and I have been friends for a long time. We fooled around a few times in college before realizing it wasn’t working for us. Denise, Lauren, Tyler, and I went to the same college, but Andrew went to a different one. It was our sophomore year, and we didn’t want to tell anyone if it didn’t work out. Clearly, it didn’t.”
I look at him and notice that his jaw starts working, and the fingers lying firmly in his lap are now clasped together.
“I got her pregnant, and we both knew it wasn’t in our best interest then.”
My stomach drops, and I turn my head away again for fear that he might see how this news impacts me. I don’t want him to know that I care.
I hadn’t heard this part before leaving Alta, and can’t believe what I’m hearing. From all the arguments I heard between Andrew and Lauren when I was there, it seemed they were not on the same page about having kids.
He wanted them, and she didn’t. Now I understand why he was so furious on that last day. Other than learning that his wife had an affair with his best friend, he also learned that she had been pregnant at one point and now didn’t want to have his baby.
“She decided she wanted an abortion and did not want the rest of our group to know. I was initially okay with her decision until I learned she and Drew were dating. I insisted she tell him the truth; she felt it had nothing to do with him.
“In time, I got over it and accepted her decision, and although it took a while, I stopped feeling as if I were betraying him until Alta. When I learned what they were going through, I tried to convince her to tell him the truth, but she wouldn’t. I don’t know what changed her mind, but she changed it without discussing it with me first.”
“That’s her marriage. She didn’t owe you that.”
“No. She did. It impacted my life and hers, and while I was all for her telling him, I just think it wasn’t fair how she did it.”
“Unfair? She was unfair?”
“It ruined everyone else’s vacation.”
“Or it ruined your perfect image, Mr. Maxwell?” I say, daring to look over at him again.
