I see Pierre approaching, and I duck around the two men. “Take care, Everett.”
“Emery, please.” Zayn races past me and turns around, blocking my view. “I’m desperate here. Just let me explain.”
“We’ve been over this already.”
To my horror, he drops to his knees and wraps his arms around my legs.
“What are you doing?” Heat swarms my cheeks, and I just know everyone is looking. “Get up!” I glare at him, hoping he feels the full extent of my rage. “If you get me fired, I will never forgive you. Never.”
He climbs to his feet as I shake my head at Pierre and beseech him with my eyes to hold back and let me handle this. “I’m begging you, Emery. I know what I did was despicable, but you’ve got to let me explain.”
“I don’t have to do anything, Zayn. I don’t owe you a goddamned thing.”
“Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” He looks utterly miserable, and I almost feel sorry for him.
Almost.
“I want you to leave me the hell alone. Stop crowding me. Stop stalking me, and stop buying me gifts. As soon as Art returns to Rydeville, I’m sending the piano back.”
“Don’t do that, please.” He loses the cocky confidence, letting me see behind the veil. “You lost yours because of me. The least I could do was buy you another one.”
“I don’t want anything from you.” I lean in closer, pressing my mouth to his ear, purely so no one else hears. “I wish I had a crystal ball so I could go back to that night and do everything differently. So I don’t have the memory of your betrayal imprinted in my brain for the rest of my life every time I think about the night I lost my virginity. I have never regretted anything as much as I regret that,” I say in a strangled voice.
He reels back as if I slapped him. I should feel victorious, but instead, all I feel is vindictive. It’s not even the whole truth. Only a part of me regrets it. The other part of me will always cherish the lie because, in the moment, it was perfect and beautiful.
“That night was the best night of my life,” he says, removing something from his pocket and placing it in my hand. “I’m sorry my actions sullied it for both of us.” He holds my gaze hostage, and my heart inwardly cries at the sight of the familiar amber flecks flickering in his brown eyes. “I’m sorry for all of it, Em. And I’m sorry I came here tonight and upset you. It wasn’t my intention. I was just so desperate to speak to you.” He curls my hand around something cold and slim. “That is the only video of that night, and for the record, I would never have released it online or anywhere. I only said that to bait your father.”
I gulp over the messy ball of emotion clogging the back of my throat.
“I hope one day you might find it in your heart to forgive me, and if you never do, then I want you to know this.” His eyes glisten with emotion as he lifts one hand, trailing a finger down my face. “I love you. I love you with all my heart. There will never be another for me.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Emery
“Holy fuck, Joaquin lives here?” My nose is smushed against the window, and I’m staring in awe at the massive house in the near distance as Uma drives toward it.
“Jude said his family is wealthy, but I had no idea he meant this kind of wealthy,” Uma agrees, her eyes also bugging out of her head.
Cars cover most all the gravel-lined space in front of the enormous traditional-style mansion, and thumping music tickles my eardrums through the glass. “Just as well he has no close neighbors.”
“He lives alone with his younger brother Harley and Harley’s girlfriend,” Uma says, parking the car beside an expensive red sports car. “No parentals, so apparently, it’s party central most weekends.”
“I’m not sure coming here was a good idea.” I rub my sweaty palms down the front of my ripped skinny black jeans. I got changed at the restaurant after my shift before Uma picked me up in my SUV. She offered herself as designated driver tonight, and I didn’t object. I need a drink or ten after the dramaearlier. “If this is the kind of scene J is into, I’m not sure we’re compatible at all.”
Uma swivels in her seat to face me. “You’re here now. Might as well come inside, and there are no expectations. We’ll leave whenever you want to go.”
We climb out of the car, and I attempt to leash my nerves as I walk carefully across the gravel in my heels toward the open front door. Music bounces off the walls as we make our way through the large high-ceiling lobby, wandering past people hanging around in the long hallway. Most are smoking, drinking, and laughing while a few couples are getting down and dirty against the wood-paneled walls.
Spotting a bathroom, I duck inside to check my makeup is on point and settle my nerves. I don’t know why I’m freaking out, but anxiety has a vise grip on my sanity, stretching it to the max. Placing a hand on my bare stomach, I cast a final glance over my face and my hair, trailing my gaze over my lacy black crop top, which doesn’t leave much to the imagination, wondering if I should just hightail it out of here before J notices me. But that would be unfair to Uma. She’s right. I can stay for one drink, and then we can bail if I’m still jittery.
Uma is chatting to some older dude with long hair and a beard when I emerge, and she shoots me a grateful look when I grab her hand and pull her away.
“This is crazy,” I say as we enter the party room, which I’m guessing is the main living area. Or one of them in a house this size. It’s a massive space with an overhead mezzanine level bordered by a wrought iron railing. Floor-to-ceiling shelving lines the upper area, packed full of books, and there are a few cozy reading nooks that spark envy. On this level, the furniture has been moved to either side of the room, leaving plenty of space for people to dance in the open middle section. A DJ spins tunes at the top of the room, and a makeshift bar is set up ona long table propped against one wall. The air is thick with the scent of smoke, sweat, liquor, and perfume.
“This is insane,” Uma shouts in my ear to be heard. “There’s got to be at least one hundred people here.”
I nod as we make our way through the dance floor, looking everywhere for Jude and J, fighting off several grabby hands as we move around.
