and then he passed out. What the hell is going on?”
“It’s true. We’re no longer together.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “It’s not something I can talk about right now or over the phone. I need to be there before the band goes on for round two. Will you be home tonight?”
“Kat, I’ll come home right now if you need me.” I know it’s true. Em would drop everything for me.
“No, tonight is fine. I’ll be home around eleven.”
How I’ll get through tonight is a mystery, but staying busy will keep my mind off Damon. It’s not that I hate him. I could never hate someone I love, but loving him isn’t enough.
The club is bustling, the band is happy, and the VIP lounge is taken care of. There are so many staff members seeing to the needs of our guests, it’s wasteful. The payroll must be astronomical.
When I get home, I find Em waiting inside with several bottles of wine.
“Is this a light crying night that requires a chardonnay, or do we need to go for the heavy stuff like a merlot or a cabernet?” she asks.
“Let’s go straight for the merlot. How many bottles did you bring?”
“After seeing Damon, I bought three bottles of everything.”
“That should get us started,” I try to joke, but break into sobs.
For the first time in over a decade, I trade places with Em. She cradles me against her bosom while I cry my eyes out. I sob until there are no tears left. We sit in silence until she asks me to explain.
“Mara happened.” I tell her the story.
“Are you sure he kissed her? I just don’t think Damon would do that.”
“Are you siding with him?”
“No, but that just doesn’t seem like Damon.”
I sagged against the sofa back. “You’re right, she kissed him. He didn’t initiate it, and if I’m honest with myself, I don’t even think he enjoyed it. He actually backed away.” I finish my glass and pour another. “But it wasn’t even the kiss that had me so upset; it was the look that sealed the deal. Do you remember when you told me if a man cautions you about himself, then you should listen to his warnings? Damon warned me again and again, and I didn’t listen. He told me he didn’t have a heart to give, and I didn’t believe him. I was so convinced that I had a heart big enough for both of us. What was I thinking?”
Em holds me in her arms, where my tears had soaked her T-shirt.
“I’m so mad at him,” she says. “It’s taking everything in me to stay here and not go knee him in the balls.”
I shake my head. “It’s not his fault. It’s mine. He was honest from the beginning. He told me he didn’t date. He told me he couldn’t offer me what I wanted or needed. He told me she’d gutted him, and she was the one, but I was so sure my love would be enough to overcome all of that. The only thing he said that wasn’t true was that he wasn’t a heartbreaker, always the heartbroken, but dammit, he broke mine.”
The tears start up again and continue throughout the night until I wake up on the couch with a pillow under my head and a blanket over my body.
I stretch to get the kinks that have settled into my back ironed out.
“Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” I climb off the couch and change into shorts, a T-shirt, and running shoes. “If it doesn’t kill me, it will strengthen me.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Mustang is missing when I arrive at work, and its absence comes as a relief.
Reaching into the back seat, I pick up the box of Damon’s things and take them to the top floor.
Greta greets me like always.
“Hello, Katarina. How are you today?” She smiles. “I hear the opening was a smash. You must be so proud.”
“It was a great opening, but a long weekend. Ahz was so well received by the press and the public that I’m sure it will continue to thrive.”
“Mr. Noble looked handsome at the press conference. Did you see it?”
“No, I was busy with planning, but I love that suit on him.” I think about Damon in his blue pinstripe suit, and my heart twists like a wet rag being rung dry. “Can you give these things to Mr. Noble when he gets in?”
She bends her head in question. She