CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ANDI
He wants time to talk…now?
Not when his father tried to blackmail me into handing over the one property that he couldn’t get without me. Not when he left me at his parents’ house, broke his promise, and walked out like my heart was disposable. Not when my psychiatric patient photos were splattered all over the news and internet.
Now.
Now that his father’s business is secure again. Now that Sam and Hugh have come to an agreement on the property that was so vitally important just a few short weeksago. Now that Luke doesn’t have to carry the weight of Megan’s betrayal anymore.
A thought takes root so quietly it almost feels like it belongs there. Maybe hewasin on it from the start. That would explain his reaction that night. His father gave him his plan…a tidy exit from our relationship and away from me while getting the business salvation and personal redemption he needed.
A reason he could justify to himself.
A story he could tell himself so he wouldn’t have to look me in the eye and admit he didn’t trust me.
Why else would he not ask me a single question?
Why else would he drive off and leave me stranded with the very people who were blackmailing me?
He’s the one who needs to be in the psych ward, damn it.
My anger hits a boiling point, and before I can talk myself out of it, I hit the button for the next floor and step off the elevator. My feet are moving again, two seconds later, carrying me back up to the sixteenth floor. I’m going to give Luke exactly one minute of my time, and it won’t be a conversation. It will be a statement. Closure. The kind you take, not the kind you wait to be handed.
But when the elevator doors open, Luke isn’t there.
Instead, I run smack into his parents.
They stop short, looking startled to see me again so soon. Linda’s eyes widen like she’s about to say something…something soft, maybe even apologetic. Sam’s mouth tightens, his expression turning cautious in the way men look when they know they’ve crossed a line but still want the benefit of the doubt.
I don’t give it to them.
I brush past without a word and barely a glance, walking toward Bill’s office while my eyes scan the hall for Luke. I’m intent on finishing this. Now. Completely. But he’s nowhere. No shadow behind a corner. No footsteps coming fast. No voice calling my name.
When I turn back toward the elevator, I’m relieved to see his parents are already gone.
I ride down to the sixth floor to take the bridge to the parking lot, and my phone beeps inside my purse. A text.
Andi…please
My stomach clenches, but the feeling doesn’t soften me. It hardens me.
I type before my heart can interfere.
You and your dad got what you wanted. Stop pretending now and leave me alone.
A second later, another text arrives.
No, Andi, that’s not?—
He doesn’t even finish it. My phone rings, and I know exactly what he’s trying to do: finish the sentence out loud so my mind is forced to absorb his voice. So my body has time to remember him. So I’m pushed to feel something other than rage.
Too bad for him.
I decline the call. Then the next. And the next. Every ring feels like pressure being applied to a bruise. I turn my phone off and slide it deep into my purse like I can bury him there.
I'm considering stopping by the cell phone store to change my number, but I’m too drained. I can’t deal with fluorescent lights and small talk right now. I make a mental note to do it later.
