Disappear again.
Then, finally, a message comes through.
Emma:I miss talking to you too.
Four words. That's all. But they hit me with the force of a physical blow. I immediately heart her text.
She misses me.
Not just the sex—though God knows I haven't stopped thinking about that either. But talking. The conversation. The connection.
She felt it too.
I fight every urge to continue the conversation, ask if I can see her.
I set the phone down instead and force myself to return to work. I have contracts to review, emails to answer, a dinner with a councilman where I'll need to charm and negotiate and pretend that trading political favors is a meaningful use of my evening.
But my mind is elsewhere.
With a twenty-four-year-old woman who tastes like heaven and has dreams I have no business being part of.
A woman I can't stop thinking about, no matter how hard I try.
My phone buzzes again. Another text.
I grab it too quickly, my chest tight with hope.
It's Samantha.
Samantha:Mom says you had dinner with some woman in Florence.
The words land like a punch.
Victoria knows about Emma.
How the hell does Victoria know about Emma?
I think back to Florence, trying to remember if I saw anyone we both know. I’m almost positive I didn’t, but someone must have seen me. And Emma.
Jesus Christ.
If Victoria knows, she'll use it. That's what she does. She collects information and deploys it strategically, always at the moment it will cause maximum damage.
And if she tells David?—
My stomach drops.
David Sullivan has been my best friend for over twenty years. We met in college, built our early careers together, stood up at each other's weddings. He's one of the few people I actuallytrust, and that trust is built on two decades of loyalty and honesty.
I slept with his daughter.
His twenty-four-year-old daughter, who he already worries about, who he's already controlling and protective of in ways that drive her crazy.
If he finds out, our friendship is over. This would be the ultimate betrayal.
I close my eyes and lean back in my chair.
What the hell have I done?
