Heath had forgiven him repeatedly over the years. Every time Christian reneged, or flat out didn’t show up, he’d waved it off and sulked in private. Or more honestly, he’d wailed to his friends about it over cocktails he couldn’t even enjoy. This time, he didn’t feel the need to forgive, because it was time for him to move on.
“Heath, I’m so sorry.”
Heath stopped him from continuing with a shake of his head. “I can appreciate things were difficult for you growing up.” Evan made a noise and Heath gave him a narrow-eyed look. “I believed you when you’d tell me the pressure of work was immense and wearing on you. Now that I know a bit more about your family, that belief is even stronger.”
“Thank you.” Christian reached for his hands, dropping his arms awkwardly to his sides when Heath backed away.
“I believe you, but I don’t forgive you. I can’t do this anymore. The broken promises and plans. Convincing myself each time that it would be different, only to be disappointed yet again. Spending time with a friend shouldn’t be emotional roulette.”
“Heath…”
Evan edged forward, drawing Christian’s attention. “You heard him. He’s done.”
Heath gave Evan a look. “I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you. We have our own business.”
Christian’s forehead wrinkled as he looked between them. “You two know each other?”
“You mean Rich hasn’t already told you the story ten million times?”
“Rich and I don’t speak much. On purpose.”
Heath held up a hand. “I still have questions. The biggest being, why would you cancel the resort reservation and not the flights? That goes beyond normal thoughtlessness to actual cruelty.”
“That was my idea, actually.”
Every eye in the room turned to the doorway, where a stunning brunette with bright blue eyes stood watching. Heath blinked, wondering how she fit into the picture, until she sauntered over and slipped her arm around Christian’s waist.
Evan watched her move with widening eyes and an expression that warred between furious and dismayed. “Him? You left me forhim?”
Christian covered his face with his hands when she shrugged. “It’s a long story.”
“Party just started, so I’ve got nothin’ but time, sweetheart,” Evan snarked, crossing his arms and widening his stance.
So this was Lucy. She frowned at Evan’s tone, and Heath realized she reminded him a whole lot of Isabella. Isabella clearly agreed, if her blatant amusement was any sign.
“Your boy’s got a type,” she whispered, then mimed zipping her lips when the boy in question shot hera look.
“How long, Lucy?”
“Evan…”
“How. Fucking. Long?”
“It wasn’t intentional.”
“Not intentional? Did you trip and accidentally fall on his dick?”
She rolled her eyes and drew closer to… to her husband. Christian was her husband. The woman he’d run off with hadn’t been some stranger, it had been his brother’s fiancée. What in theDays of Our Liveswas happening?
Christian stepped into Evan’s space, nudging Lucy behind him. “We met at a conference in Miami. It was years ago, and you two weren’t even together.”
Evan shot Lucy a look over his brother’s shoulder. “Do not even say ‘we were on a break’ to me, I swear to God.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever you want to call it, you and I weren’t together, and Chris and I weren’t either. That only happened recently.”
“Define recently.”
Her frown was scathing. “If you’re worrying whether I was double dipping, you can relax. We’ve been friends for a very long time, but prior torecently,that’s all we were. We talked occasionally, mostly about business, but more personal things began to sneak in.”
