The Man I Thought I Trusted - E. L. Todd Page 0,61
anyone in the back on purpose. I know you would never be anything less than loyal if you had the choice. It was a complicated situation.”
The smart and pragmatic woman I knew was finally coming back. “We all really miss you. It’d be nice if we all got together, maybe have a game night.”
“Yeah, that does sound good. I’ve been really lonely.”
Even when I was at my happiest, I was still sad, the loss of my friend leaving a void in my heart that Dax could never fill. “I haven’t been lonely, but I’ve been sad. Life is just not the same without you.”
A half smile entered her lips.
“How about this weekend? You can come to our place and see it.”
She dropped her gaze and stared at the table for a while, suddenly turning morose. “I miss all of you guys, but I still don’t know how I’m gonna be able to sit there and watch the two of them be happy. Not sure if I’m ever going to be okay with it, if I’m gonna be honest.”
“Charlie and Denise would never put that in your face. They’ll act like friends and nothing more. We can all still hang out the way we used to, and maybe in time, when you’re feeling better, things can change.” I knew Charlie and Denise wouldn’t mind keeping their affection nonexistent if it would make Kat more comfortable.
She gave a slight nod. “Okay. I’ll try.”
The second the elevator doors opened, I sprinted into the penthouse and found Dax sitting on the couch in his sweatpants. “Oh my god, you won’t believe what happened today!” I jumped onto the couch and landed on top of him, my thighs straddling his hips and my arms wrapping around his neck.
After he flinched in surprise, he released a chuckle and brought me closer. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Kat called me! We went out for a drink and made up!”
His eyes softened like that truly made him happy. His hand squeezed me a little tighter, and a gentle smile came onto his lips. “That’s really great news. I’m happy to hear that.”
“I guess Charlie talked to her and told her we were getting married. She said it would make her sad if she weren’t a part of my special day.”
He grabbed my hands and held them together between his. “To be honest, I was getting really frustrated with her. But hearing this tells me that she’s a real friend, that she loves you.”
I nodded. “She does.”
“How about we have her over so she can see your new place? Maybe play a game or something?”
I pulled my hands away and gave him a playful smack on the chest. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. We’ll all be together again—like old times.”
22
Dax
I knocked on Renee’s office door before I let myself inside. “You got a minute?”
Her head was bent down, and she was signing some paperwork. “What is it?” She continued to give me the cold shoulder, still palpably pissed at me.
I shut the door and approached her desk, my hands in my pockets. “Carson is going to sign a prenup. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
She steadied her pen before she lifted her chin and looked at me. “You asked her?”
I nodded. “She agreed.”
The relief was unmistakable in her eyes, like my upcoming nuptials made her lose sleep at night. “I’m glad you finally came to your senses and remembered that this company is more than just yours.”
“I’m doing this prenup because it’s important to you. But for the record, if it were just me, I would never ask her.”
She dropped her pen and leaned back in her chair as she regarded me.
“I have no doubt that we’ll always be together. I have no doubt that even if it didn’t work out, she wouldn’t try to touch our company or our family’s legacy. I fucked up with Rose, but I didn’t fuck up with Carson. I’m only doing this for you, not because I don’t have faith in us. I just want that to be clear.”
She stared me for a while before she said, “I never doubted your love for that woman. And if she’s respectable, she won’t doubt it either even though you asked her to sign it.”
“She doesn’t.”
“Then she and I will get along just fine.” She grabbed her pen again. “I’ll draft up all the paperwork with our legal team, and then she’ll come in and sign everything. Is that okay?”