“You were the one who started it all?” I all but growl.
She falters.
“I didn’t make her reply to him. I didn’t invite him back to your old apartment and have sex with him in your bed the very first day I saw him again.”
I fly to my feet. “You need to leave.”
She looks at me, her mouth dropping open.
“You don’t mean that. I did you a favor. I was going to tell you myself when I came back if she hadn’t. But then the accident happened and… I did it for you, Sterling. You deserve better.”
She stands and faces me, her eyes burning into mine.
“You’re a gentleman, like my Jared. You and I could have been together after what she did to you. I would never have treated you like that. I would have loved you the way you needed.”
“You’ve been lying to me for years!”
She flinches as my voice rises.
“You put my wife back in touch with a man she wasn’t strong enough to say no to. A man who walked all over her years ago and left her alone. What kind of a friend does that?”
“She was fucking him for months before she died. She had to get tested when he gave her something. Did you see that in those letters? How he gave her some disgusting infection? Maybe you need to talk to Halliday.”
“Leave,” I growl.
She swipes up her purse from the floor, her façade cracking as she looks into my eyes.
“Sterling, I?—”
“Now!”
She swallows, her lower lip trembling like she’s about to cry.
“I’m sorry. I never meant to cause you pain. I just wanted her to either realize what she had, or move out of the way so I could...” She sucks in a shaky breath and then turns and walks to the door.
I glare at her back, saying nothing as she pauses and looks back at me.
“I’m sorry, Sterling. I did it because I love you. One day I hope you’ll see that.”
“Thisfriendshipis over, Lavinia,” I say calmly.
She straightens her shoulders and gives me a pitying look.
“I guess it’s true what they say about middle-aged men losing their mind over sex with a younger woman.”
“Get. The. Hell. Out,” I hiss.
Her lips part before she clamps them together tightly and attempts to disguise the sob from her throat. She spins and marches through the door, and I fight the overwhelming urge to put my fist through the wall. Instead, I pick up my crystal tumbler and refill it. I lift it to my nose and inhale the warm hit of alcohol curling up my nostrils.
I tip my head back and drain it in one, slamming the glass back down.
“Jesus Christ.”
34
HALLIDAY
“You’re back early?”I call absentmindedly from the couch as I twirl the manila envelope between my fingertips.
