The Scotch Series: The Complete Series (Scotch #1-3) - Penelope Sky Page 0,114

and answered. I pressed the phone to my ear but didn’t say anything, too annoyed to actually form words with my mouth. I’d made it abundantly clear she didn’t have any chance with me, but apparently, that didn’t mean shit to her. “If you’re interested in ordering Highland Scotch for a party, you can always call Ariel. If you’re inviting me to a social event, invitations by mail are welcome. Any other inquiries are inappropriate, and frankly, annoying.” I was never this cold to her when we were together, not even when she pissed me off, but when she decided to be with someone else, I shut the door on her forever. It wasn’t about getting my heart broken. It was about the disloyalty.

I hated disloyalty.

She made a promise to me—and she fucking broke it.

Josephine breathed into the phone, obviously offended by my introduction. She didn’t have a backbone the way Ariel did. She was fragile. A few insults were enough to cripple her into sobs.

“Crewe, I just want to talk to you.”

“About what?” I asked coldly. “We aren’t friends, so I don’t see what there is to talk about.”

“I’m sorry to bother you…I really am.”

“No, you aren’t,” I snapped. “If so, you wouldn’t have dropped by yesterday. And you wouldn’t be calling me now.”

“It’s just…my father is in the hospital.”

I hadn’t heard the news. Maybe they were keeping it quiet. For just an instant, I felt sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that, Josephine. Will he be alright?”

“He had a heart attack…” She cried into the phone. “The doctors say they think he’ll be okay, but he’s being observed overnight for a few more days. There’s a blockage in one of his carotid arteries. They need to operate.”

I didn’t remember my father very much. All I had were pictures of him. The only memories I had were ones I made up. When I saw a picture of us playing catch outside on the lawn, I pretended we were both baseball fans even though we never followed the international sport. “I’m sure he’ll be okay.” I had no idea if her father would be okay, but I wanted to say what she wanted to hear.

“I don’t know…I just came home to get some sleep. I’d been there for a few days.”

Except when she came to my home.

“I was hoping you could stop by…or I could go over there.”

The question made me angry, but I swallowed my rage out of respect for her situation. “Where’s Andrew?”

“He’s in Africa with UNICEF. He’ll be gone for another week. He said he couldn’t leave right now…”

Nothing would have stopped me from being by her side if we were still together. But that ship had sailed. “I can’t join you, Josephine. You know that.”

“Please…I don’t know what to do. I’m so scared, and I don’t want to be alone right now.”

No way in hell was I going over there. If someone saw me, it would look really bad. Not that I wanted to go over there anyway. “Josephine, I’m not your fiancé anymore. And I’m not your friend either. Let’s not forget how we got here. You left me for Andrew. You have to stand by your choice now.”

“I said I made a mistake. How many times do I have to repeat it?”

“You couldn’t repeat it enough times,” I said coldly. “But it wouldn’t change anything anyway.”

She cried quietly into the phone, trying to cover up the sound of her tears. “I know you still love me…”

“I really don’t.” Any love I had for her disappeared the day she betrayed me. I stopped respecting her. I stopped caring about her. It made me realize that everything meaningful we had never meant anything at all. Within the snap of a finger, I was over it.

And I never looked back.

“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.

“I don’t care,” I said coldly. “I’m sorry about your father. I truly am. I hope he has a speedy recovery and he’s back on his feet soon.”

“Crewe—”

“Please don’t call me again, Josephine.” I hung up before she could get another word in. Her problems weren’t my problems anymore. I wasn’t being stubborn, just authoritative. You couldn’t humiliate me in front of the whole world and come back to me when you needed something. I respected myself too much for that.

It took me a few seconds to remember what was waiting for me upstairs. I eyed the scotch and felt my restraint slip away. I snatched the bottle and poured another glass, forgetting what