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“I couldn’t. I have to work; I have responsibilities.”
Just like he always did, Tristan refused to acknowledge how very different our situations were, because he returned, “And I told you I’d take care of you.”
He had told me that. But it wasn’t what I wanted. And the truth was, it wouldn’t have ever felt like he was the one taking care of me. He’d merely be living off of the money his family earned. Tristan didn’t have the slightest clue what it was like to have to work hard. He didn’t know about struggle, and he didn’t even attempt to understand it.
I let out a groan of frustration. “You know what? I need you to go.”
He shook his head. “Rhea, we need to sit down and talk this out. I know we can work it out.”
“No, we can’t, because you don’t get it. You didn’t then, and you don’t now. I like the work that I do. I value hard work, which is something you can’t seem to grasp.”
In another move that was a mix of condescending and overtly cocky, he smirked and asked, “Are you serious? Does it really matter if I’m working a nine-to-five to you to earn my money? Honestly, what are you going to do? I’m the best option you’ve got. You’ll never find someone who can give you what I can. Why would you ever turn it down?”
I inhaled deeply in an attempt to prepare myself for the tirade I was going to launch into when I was stopped.
“She already has.”
Those three words came from behind me, and they came from Wyatt.
My body tensed, and Tristan was startled. His eyes went over my head and must have settled on Wyatt. “Pardon?”
I could hear Wyatt’s footsteps approaching slowly. “I said that she already has.”
“She already has what?”
Wyatt didn’t hesitate. “Found someone who can not only give her what you can, which from what I’m hearing isn’t much, but can also give her everything she wants and deserves to have.”
Simply knowing he was standing there beside me had allowed me to relax, to feel reassured about having to face Tristan. What he was saying to Tristan was simply icing on the cake.
“What the fuck? Who the hell are you?”
Wyatt wrapped his arm around my back, his hand landing on my opposite shoulder. My belly flipped at the possessive nature of his hold on me, and only then did Wyatt answer Tristan’s question. “The man who is falling in love with your ex-girlfriend.”
My eyes widened, and my lips parted as my head snapped to the side to look at Wyatt. He looked down at me with such adoration in his eyes. It was a wonder I didn’t burst into tears on the spot.
He was falling in love with me.
Or, well, he’d just told Tristan that. I didn’t think he would have said it if he didn’t mean it.
Never one to take a hint or get a clue, Tristan ignored Wyatt and tried to speak to me again. “Rhea, please just give me the chance to?—”
“Man, if you don’t already know that no matter how much you beg, Rhea isn’t going to change her mind, it’s clear to me that you don’t deserve the chance you’re asking for,” Wyatt told him, cutting him off.
“Listen, man, I don’t know who you think you are, but you have no idea who you’re talking to,” Tristan clipped.
Wyatt’s fingers gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. “My name’s Wyatt. Wyatt Westwood. And I don’t give a fuck who you are, but Rhea has asked you several times to leave now, so you’re going to do that.”
Tristan stared at him, completely stunned. “Westwood?”
Wyatt nodded. “Yep.”
Money was never important to me. Sure, it made the world go round, but when it came to a relationship and the things that really mattered to me, money was not at the top of the list. I’d much rather fall in love with a good man who worked hard to earn an honest living than to wind up with a pompous asshole who had millions. That said, I couldn’t have been happier that Wyatt’s financial position was what it was, because there wasn’t a chance anyone who lived in Pennsylvania, let alone in or around Landing, didn’t know what Westwood’s was.
And though we hadn’t made anything official between us by any means and there was far more to it than just money, Wyatt said what he did to Tristan about me already finding someone who could give me what Tristan could, because Wyatt was capable of doing just that.
Now that Wyatt had confirmed exactly who he was, Tristan was starting to look a little wounded. His eyes came to mine. “You’re going to regret this.”
“Did you just threaten her?”
