I hadn’t known how to live life without him. Even when Luca Benetti had come into the picture, nothing had changed between me and Phoenix. Sure, Ciro was my brother, and Luca had become my best friend, but Phoenix had become something more.
He had become part of my soul.
He had taken pieces of me I couldn’t get back and those missing pieces have made it hard for me to date anyone else these past six years. And because I loved him so deeply, it also felt as if I were still dating Phoenix and being with another man would be like cheating on him. I knew it was stupid and untrue, but that’s how I felt. Whenever another man flirted with me, that’s how I felt.
Most people would label me stupid or crazy to be faithful to a man I left-a man who betrayed me, but I felt what I felt. It didn’t matter that I was sure Phoenix has moved on after all these years, I could only handle what I felt. And I wasn’t going to jump into bed with a man I wasn’t attracted to just to prove a point.
The door swung open just as I was ready to head back outside and my best friend, Roberta Regal, came flouncing in. “Jesus, it’s slow as shit out there,” she complained. Robbie was in the same boat I was. While she wasn’t starving, she counted on her tips the same way I did. The only difference was I didn’t have a boyfriend who didn’t work sponging off my paycheck.
“I know,” I agreed. “But that didn’t stop some dude in a suit from leaving me a golden treasure of twenty-seven cents.”
She winced. “What a shit,” she grumbled.
I shook off my dark mood. “That’s what the weekends are for,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. “We’ll make it all back then.”
Her pretty brown eyes shifted, and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Yeah, I uh…”
“What’s wrong, Robbie?”
“Nothing,” she mumbled. “Well, I don’t think it’s anything to worry about yet.”
My brows shot up. “What isn’t?”
She started to bite on her lip, and I wondered if she was going to answer. She finally said, “I overheard Randy on the phone last night and it sounded like he was arguing with someone over money. And, well…I’m just hoping he doesn’t expect me to bail him out again.”
It took everything I had to bite my tongue. I could go on a rant of what a loser her boyfriend was, but I didn’t want to be that friend. I wanted to be the kind of friend that could give Robbie advice based on her life and her personality, and not on what I would do in her situation. Besides, what the hell did I know about relationships? The first and only one I’ve ever been in crashed and burned.
“Well, you know what you can do and what you can’t do,” I said cautiously. “Don’t overextend yourself if you can’t afford it.”
She shook her head and plastered on a smile. “You’re right,” she agreed. “Besides, he hasn’t even asked, so I probably shouldn’t be borrowing trouble.” I smiled back at her for a lack of something better to do. “I’ll see you back out there.” She winked and flounced back out the same way she came in.
I took a deep breath and prayed she’d listen. I’ve only met Randy a couple of times when we’ve gone out for drinks together and, plain and simple, I didn’t like the man. He was a mooch and had that troublesome vibe about him. But, as long as he made Robbie happy, I planned to watch what I said about the guy and word my advice carefully. However, I still didn’t like him.
Growing up, I was used to men who took care of their women. From where I came from, men were men and women were women and there was no confusion. If a man didn’t outright support his woman, then he had a partnership with her, and they took care of each other. From what I could see, Robbie took care of herself and Randy.
Shaking off my thoughts, I went back outside into the restaurant and tried to mind my own business. Robbie wasn’t a stupid woman. She might be putting up with more than most because she cared about her boyfriend, but she wasn’t stupid. All I could do was be there for her when enough became enough.