Nailed - Opal Carew Page 0,72
with Kane, dragging her deeper into depression.
“Wait,” she said as Will stepped forward. “Is that offer to talk still good?”
He turned to her, his keen eyes scanning her face. “Of course.”
When the doors started to close, he pressed the button to open them.
“You want to come to my place?”
“No, I think we should go to the penthouse. In case Kane calls.”
Not that she’d answer the call, but … she wanted to be there if he did.
“Okay.” Will released the button, allowing the doors to close, and the elevator continued upward.
When they arrived in the apartment, he made some decaf coffee while she changed into flannel PJs. They sat on the couch together.
“I don’t know what happened between you and Kane after he followed you upstairs,” Will said, breaking the awkward silence. But since you’re here and he’s there, I take it things didn’t go so well.”
“Are you really surprised after I caught him kissing Francoise?”
His eyes narrowed. “That still doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know. Because as you’ve already told me, he would never cheat on me. But how sure of that are you, really? I know you want to believe it. Especially since…” She hesitated.
“Especially since what?”
“Well, you were involved with him and when he decided to start seeing me, he ended it with you. It’s only natural that you want to believe that it’s because he’d never cheat rather than…” She bit her lip. “Well, the alternative.”
“That he’s rejecting me?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to hurt you.”
Will took her hand, and the warmth and comfort of his big hand enveloping hers was unsettling.
“I know how Kane feels about me. We have a close and lasting friendship. It had an intimate aspect for a while, but I always knew that eventually”—he squeezed her hand—“he’d come to his senses and do something about you.”
“About me?”
“He never got over you. He let you slip away, convincing himself it was for the best … for both of you … but I saw him agonize over his feelings. Then over the years he used to tell me about the powerful chemistry between the two of you, but I knew there was more to his feelings than just lust.”
“How?” she asked, wanting to believe.
He shook his head. “I could see it in his eyes. The man loves you. That’s why I kept tabs on you, hoping that an opportunity would present itself where I could get the two of you together again.”
“You told him about my Kickstarter campaign? But if you were involved with him, why would you do that?”
“Because I care about him and I want him to be happy.”
She took his hand. “That’s very selfless. You’re an exceptional friend.”
He laughed without humor. “You probably won’t think so after I tell you…” He drew his hand away and sighed. “I was the reason everything fell apart between you two.”
“No, that happened because of the bet.”
He shook his head. “I think it was the recording that really did it.” He frowned, looking so somber her stomach tightened. “I’m really sorry, River, but I’m the one who helped them get that recording.”
She shook her head as all the pain of that day came tumbling back. Her chest compressed, making it hard to breathe.
“How? Why?” she demanded.
“I was short of money—I didn’t come from a rich family like Kane and most of his friends. I had to work a couple of jobs to put myself through college, but it was still tough to make ends meet. A couple of Kane’s friends told me they wanted to play a trick on someone and they’d pay me to develop an app to hack a cell phone to constantly transmit sound to…” He sighed. “Well, the details don’t matter. I had no idea they’d use it on Kane’s phone or that it would hurt either you or him. But that’s no excuse. I should have realized that whomever they used it on would probably be hurt.” He met her gaze. “I’m really sorry.”
She drew in a deep breath.
“Can you ever forgive me?” he asked.
He shouldn’t have done it. And it had certainly caused her a lot of pain. But the agony in his eyes, hinting at the deep burden of guilt he’d been shouldering for years, tore at her heart.
And who was she to judge? She understood needing money to follow a dream, and sometimes going down a path that might be better left untraveled.
She knew Will was a good man.
“Of course I forgive you. It was just an unfortunate