the door opened.
When I saw Miranda, the smile faded.
The look in her eyes…
She knew everything.
“That’s why you didn’t call me?”
“Miranda, stop,” I said. “I’m not in the mood.”
“For what? For fucking my fiancé?”
“He wasn’t your fiancé,” I said. “You were broken up.”
“After all I’ve done for you. You backstabbing whore.”
That step I was worried about taking?
I took it.
The wires were cut.
All hell broke loose in my head.
I was ready to burst into tears but didn’t.
“So you’re going to be silent?” Miranda asked. “Was this your plan? To sneak your way in? You fucked with my wedding…”
“You had no wedding,” I said. “You had nothing. You didn’t want to marry him. You did it for your own look. To give the appearance of being a professional. To help yourself. You wanted someone to come home to and nothing else. You dumped it all on him. And you forced me into helping.”
“Forced?”
“That’s right. Forced. And that ends right now. I’m drawing the line, Miranda.”
“You couldn’t have drawn that line before sleeping with him?”
“It’s not like that,” I said. “When we were younger-”
“Oh, of course. The old high school love. You’re pathetic. You can’t do anything on your own, can you? Can’t open a business, so you suck off your grandmother’s and ruin it. Can’t find a man…”
“You’re a bitch,” I said. “You deserve everything you feel right now, Miranda. You’re not going to break me any more than I already am. Get the fuck out of my apartment or else I’ll make you.”
“How are you going to do that?”
Without hesitation, I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a knife.
Was it extreme?
Yup.
But it felt good.
“Do I need to say it again?” I asked.
“You’re crazy, Emily. You’re going to regret this.”
“Goodbye, Miranda,” I said.
“He spent the night with me last night,” she said. “Remember that. You were all alone. He took me home. He put me into our bed. That’s right. Our bed. Not the place where you act like a whore.”
I took one step with the knife in my hand and Miranda bolted from the apartment.
I then shut the door and locked it.
I dropped the knife to the floor.
As I sank to the floor, I knew what had to happen next.
I picked myself up and went to find my phone.
I made a phone call.
“Hey. I can’t believe you’re calling me…”
“Just please listen to me… okay, Jeff?”
Chapter Forty-One
Liam
“Honey, I’m home,” Cole said in his tough voice as he shut his apartment door.
I pointed at him. “That’s not cool, man.”
“I’m waiting for the day you’re not here.”
“Soon. Believe me, soon.”
“What happened today?”
I shook my head. “I’m caught in my own bullshit. Nothing you need to worry about. I was going to hit the weights for a bit. Think of a game plan. I can’t let this shit go, Cole.”
“You’re in love with her, of course you can’t,” he said. “Me? What the hell would I know about that. I think you and Jackson are out of your damn minds.”
“Says the guy who wants to sleep with his secretary,” I said.
Cole waved his hands. “Correction. I want to sleep with everyone. There’s just too many beautiful women in this city to settle down. And… the secretary thing is a joke. A big joke. You’ve seen her. I chose her for a reason.”
Cole winked.
“You know, when you show your real side like this, you’re an asshole.”
“I consider myself honest when it counts,” he said. “Jackson advertises that he’s an asshole. I don’t need to do that. I don’t need the attention.”
“Says the guy who is filthy rich, begging to be interviewed by anyone who will listen to him talk.”
“You done shitting on me?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll see you later, Cole.”
I walked to the door and Cole whistled. “What else happened, Liam?”
“Someone told Miranda about Emily and I. Emily won’t talk to me right now. She’s almost a ghost. I get why. She was put in an impossible position. And then-”
Cole whistled again. “Why the fuck are you telling me this and not Emily?”
“You asked. She didn’t.”
“Are you too much of a pussy to talk to her?”
“No,” I said.
“So an ignored text message or phone call and you shut down?”
“Fuck off, Cole,” I said.
I walked out of the apartment as he laughed.
The real Cole was worse than Jackson.
But they were both right.
The only word I had in mind…
Soon.
“Someone ratted you and Emily out,” Lincoln said.
“That’s simple to figure out,” Gage said.
I leaned against a wall and looked at the group around me.
Lincoln brought the other version of our