“Colt?” she questions softly. “What are you guys talking about?”
If I wasn’t gripping the back of the chair, I think my legs would give out with the tenderness in her voice. I adjust my position, willing myself to turn and look her in the eyes, but I can’t. The bile surges in my throat, and I swallow back the burn, closing my eyes as I let the pain wash through my chest.
“Actually,” Richard says, speaking for me. “Colt and I were just finalizing some plans, a few work items. But I believe he’s done here, isn’t that right, Colt?”
The sign for the crossroads appears again and I shut my eyes for a moment, willing my mind to show me what means the most to me in this world, to tell me what path I need to follow. And it only takes a second for that vision to become clear.
I release my grip on his chair and reach down to grab my laptop bag. With the strap slung over my shoulder, I look back at Richard. “Right. Heading out for the night.”
“Ah, finding yourself a hot date I imagine?”
“Something like that.” I force the words past my lips, the burning in my chest intensifying as they float over to where Annaliese is standing.
I tell myself not to look at her as I leave. I can’t bear to see the heartbreak written all over her beautiful face. To know that she was let down, again, by someone who she thought she could trust. Richard was right about one thing, and it’s that I don’t know what it’s like to have a family. It’s allowed me to spend the last fifteen years being selfish, choosing myself over and over again simply because I had no one else to put first. But that was all before I met Annaliese, and I get now why all these great love stories boast of pain and sacrifice, because sometimes it's all you can do for the person you love.
So with a cowardly tilt of my head, I excuse myself from the conversation, making sure to avoid brushing past Annaliese as I exit the office.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Colter
“Fuck,”Imutteraloudand slam my fist down atop my desk.
I reach for the rocks glass that’s been my only companion for the last twenty-four hours, and bring it to my lips. The bourbon no longer burns my throat as I drink, and I pull the glass away, holding it in the air to make sure it’s still liquor and not water.
Once it’s effectively drained, I reach for the decanter, but my hand pauses mid-way. Richard got me this as a house-warming gift when I put the deposit down on my condo. He paired it with a limited edition of his favorite bourbon, and we said cheers to my future.
I grasp the crystal decanter in my palm and bring it in for a closer look. It’s gorgeous, expensive, likely something Richard would buy for himself. A year ago, that idea would have flattered me, but now…
I balance the weight of the bottle in my hand as I lean back in the chair. I pull my arm back only to swing it forward and fling it across the room. I barely flinch as the crystal shatters against the wall of my home office.
Brown liquor drips in steady streaks down my wall to likely stain my carpet, and I numbly stare at the shards of glass peppering my floor.
“You did the right thing,” I mutter aloud to no one.
You did the right thing,I say again inside my mind, begging the words to be true. With a heavy exhale, I release another strained breath and pick up my phone to dial.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Annaliese
“Annaliese.”
My dad’s voice breaks me out of the foggy haze enough for me to turn my head. I catch his piercing gaze, and I’m brought back to reality. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
“The waiter, Princess. He asked you what you’re choosing for dinner this evening.”
Dinner. Right.
I glance down at the table in front of me and the fancy script scrawling across the face of the menu. The menu I have yet to pick up since we arrived at the restaurant.
I open it up and flip a page, doing my best to read the details of each entree, but the words are a blur that I can’t bring myself to focus on. Hell, I haven’t been able to bring myself to do much over the last three days but cry.
Crying is an understatement. Sobbing is more like it. Wailing until I’m breathless and nearly blue in the face. Screaming Colt’s name and cursing it just as much, wishing I had never come back to the city. And wishing like hell I was leaving tonight instead of a week from now.
“I’ll just have a salad, thanks.” I close the menu and hand it to the waiter with the best smile I can muster.
“Which kind of salad, madame? We have Caesar, caprese, wedge, an—”
