“You’re not going to believe this,” I say, swirling my drink. “Not sure I believe it myself, except her perfume is still lingering in my car.”
“Fucking hell.” He sits up straighter. “It’s true? Astrid is back?”
Gotta love small-town gossip. News spreads way faster than the internet.
His eyes pop wide. “She’s the interior designer, isn’t she?”
“Ding, ding, ding.” I clink my glass against his. “Proving yet again that you’re not just a pretty face.”
I knock back a mouthful of bourbon before continuing. “It gets worse.” I run my hand across my mouth. “She’s engaged to Seán Devlin.”
His brows climb to his hairline. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“Would I joke about something like that?”
“Fuck, dude.” He shakes his head and stares into space. His gaze swings to mine after a few seconds. “Are you okay?”
“Not even a bit.” I swallow another mouthful, relishing the burn as it glides down my throat, sloshing in my empty stomach.I should really eat some casserole, but I don’t think I could keep it down.
I fill him in on how the day went, concluding with the things I said to her after I dropped her home. “I probably shouldn’t have said it,” I admit, lifting my glass and letting Travis pour me another measure. Guess I’m crashing here tonight. “It’s selfish to want her to know the truth when she’s made it painfully clear she’s moved on, she doesn’t want to know, and I mean nothing to her. But it kills me that she thinks I cheated on her.”
“I know it does.” Travis clamps a hand on my shoulder. After getting rid of the conniving cunt, I came clean to him about everything. He was the one who held me together those first few years when I didn’t know if I’d make it. It was also Travis who encouraged me to go after Astrid when I’d finally got my life back on track. He knows what her showing up again means. “And it’s not fucking selfish. She should know you sacrificed everything to keep her safe. She deserves to know the truth.”
“I promised her parents I would leave her alone.”
“You know I never agreed.” He swivels to face me. “This is fate, Hunt. I don’t give a fuck what anyone says. You did the right thing, the honorable thing. You walked away even though you missed her every single day. You’re still suffering. I hate that you can’t move on, but maybe that’s the point. You were never meant to. She’s back, and it’s a sign.”
“She’s engaged, Trav. She’s got a massive fucking rock on her finger and a billionaire fiancé who already looks like he wants to wipe me from existence. I can’t compete with someone like him.”
“Bullshit. Astrid never gave a shit about material things, and she loved you like crazy.”
“Loved. As in past tense. She hates me now.”
“She won’t when she knows what really happened.”
“That is not a foregone conclusion, and how can I tell her? This isn’t just about me. That prick wouldn’t think twice aboutkicking us off the project. I wouldn’t be surprised if he left to meet with his legal team to do just that.”
“I’d like to see him try,” Travis scoffs. “We have a watertight contract, and we haven’t done anything to breach it. He can’t terminate the agreement without massive legal penalties.”
“Come on, mate. He wouldn’t give a fuck about that. He’ll orchestrate a scenario where we were in breach of something to get out of the contract, or he’ll just pay us what we’re owed. He’s rich as fuck. He can afford to throw money at it to make me go away.”
“He’s got a tight schedule, and there’s no way he’d find another competent contractor to slot in at such short notice. I don’t doubt he wants you gone from what you’ve said, but it’s not that easy.”
“We have to protect the business and our livelihoods. Our reputation is on the line, which is why we need to assign Riley to work in my place.”
I don’t have huge savings, having used the last of the money I got from my football contract to pay for my house and start the business. We’re plowing a lot of the profits back into the company to grow it, and the next few years are critically important for us. We can’t have Seán Devlin fucking up everything because he’s a jealous bastard. I need to provide for my daughter, and it’s better for my sanity if I’m not around Astrid Nevan all day, every day. Being so close to her when she’s no longer mine would be the worst form of torture.
So this is the only play.
“He doesn’t have the right experience. Hell, Riley barely even knows how to use our system yet.”
“He’ll learn. He has Dave, and I can work with him behind the scenes as long as I stay out of sight.”
“I suppose it helps that he knows Astrid, and he took her side.”
“We can sell this to Devlin and salvage the project and our reputation.”
“What about you and her? What are you planning to do?”
