Chasing Heartbreak (Dark Love #6) - Kat T. Masen Page 0,60
to correct her with a friendly smile.
“Are you calling my child a liar?” Morgan smolders with resentment.
“Of course not,” I say, trying to remain calm. “She’s just exaggerated the whole married and kids’ thing.”
“Jessa, please go say happy birthday to Amelia. We need to go.”
“But, Mommy, I want to stay with Daddy’s best friend,” she pouts, crossing her arms.
“Now, Jessa.”
Jessa runs off while firing off some childish names to her mother.
“Listen, it wasn’t—”
“So, you’re fucking my ex-husband? Oh, wait a minute, we’re still married, so you’re fucking my husband.”
“Morgan, it’s not—”
“You’ve had your eye on him since the moment I walked into his life. How does it feel to be second best?”
My confidence is shattered, the pain rippling through me as the woman who will forever be tied to the man I crave tells me I’m nothing. I can’t let her see me broken, and so with every fiber in my being, I muster up the courage to defend myself.
“I’ve stayed out of Noah’s life for the last three years. If your marriage fell apart, it has nothing to do with me. As for now, yes, I’m friends with Noah again. I’m not going to apologize for that.”
I walk away with my head held high, escaping to the house to calm down. My nerves begin to control my movements, my trembling hands to a fast-beating heart. My emotions jump from feeling insecure to angry, and I hate that she made me feel that way.
Inside the kitchen, I scour the top cupboard for any liquor I can get my hands on. Something to take the edge of if I’m going to last another two hours surrounded by screaming children and the memory of Noah’s wife telling me I’m second best.
With the bottle in my hand, a noise behind me stops me in my tracks. I turn around as Eric is standing across the room.
“We need to talk.”
‘Not know, Eric, please,” I beg with glassed eyes. “I need a drink.”
“Are you screwing my brother?”
My head lifts to meet his stern gaze, the shock drying my mouth. “Eric…”
“How long has this being going on?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“You’ve been lying to me!” he yells, hurt riddling his face. “I had to find out over dinner when my brother said he’s leaving Allegra for you.”
“Why… why would he say that?”
“I don’t know, Kate, you tell me?”
“Eric.” I clutch my stomach, unable to ignore the sharp pains. “Dominic and I are over. You don’t understand. We were fooling around. It’s complicated and so over.”
“Over? According to him, he wants to move to Paris to be with you. That sounds far from over, don’t you think?”
“Eric, I haven’t spoken to Dominic since—”
“I don’t understand you. You’re fucking my brother, but you’re trying to chase Noah? Do you even know how that looks?”
The hurt manifests throughout me from someone who’s supposed to be my friend. My words are caught in my throat, my tough exterior crumbling into a piled heap around me.
“Don’t you dare judge me!” I sputter with frustration. “You’re just like Noah. Quick to believe everyone else but never me, right?”
“You haven’t denied it?”
“You know what, Eric? Yes, I was fucking your brother. We had an agreement, and it selfishly suited my lifestyle. Was it a mistake? I don’t know. But I never asked him to leave his wife. As for Noah, I never chase a man. I learned a long time ago that it only leads to heartbreak.”
I walk away from Eric, wanting to head back home. If that’s what I should call it, home, or a place where I can escape. But instead, I disappear into Lex’s office, a place he told me was mine to use and fall into a heap of tears.
***
I moved my flight to Monday night, desperate to leave and get back home. Without going into too much detail with Lex, he understands and doesn’t press me to stay. As for Charlie, she was furious at Morgan and also Eric. I hate that she was dragged into this mess, but it’s impossible to hide it from her since I’m staying at her place.
Early Monday morning, I drive with Lex to the office, willing my head to be buried in work. I turned off my phone last night, something I hadn’t done in forever, and distracted myself with the girls for my last night here.
It was almost lunchtime, and I isolated myself in one of the smaller boardrooms with my laptop. Lex has several meetings leaving me to work alone,