At least two solid minutes later, I huffed out a breath. “I’m fine. It’s not nothing, but I’m okay.”
“Hey, you finally admitted it’snotnothing,” he said happily. “That’s better. Do you want to tell me whatnot nothingactually is?”
I looked past him for a moment, debating my options, but the fact was that he was like a dog with a bone some days and it looked like this was one of those days. “I just ran into someone, okay?”
“You ran into someone,” he repeated slowly, then squinted. “Who?”
I hesitated, and apparently, that was answer enough. He blinked a few times rapidly, then his eyes widened and he nearly dropped his glass but caught it just as it started sliding between his fingers. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“It happened twice, actually,” I said. “Once at lunch with Roark and Senator Morris. Once at the park when Theo and I took Bear for a walk.”
Jesse let out a low whistle. “That’s really fucked up, man. Twice in one week. It was one week, right?”
I nodded. “Yep. Lucky me.”
“So what happened? Did you talk to her?”
I shrugged. “Her uncle was there at lunch and she had her girls with her at the park.”
Jesse didn’t say anything for a second. Then he stood up from the desk and crossed back to the bar cart, reaching for another glass. “You’re going to want this.”
He picked up the bottle and started pouring another drink.
“I said I didn’t want one, Jesse.”
“Just take it,” he said, handing it over before setting the bottle back down.
Against my better judgment, I took it, already knowing that alcohol was going to make what I was feeling so much worse, but maybe that would be a good thing. Maybe I just had to let myself feel it again and get it out of my system.
The gossip surrounding the Morris/Weatherby divorce had died down months ago. Just like it always did. That was the thing about stories like that. They were loud at first, plastered everywhere for everyone to dissect like it affected them directly, but then eventually, people lost interest.
Because it did not, in fact, affect anyone except the people being gossiped about. The news sites and the tabloids had gone quiet, and even though I’d been tempted, I hadn’t looked into it. Even if it had kept me up at night.
“I heard…” Jesse started, then stopped and winced slightly. “Never mind.” He took a deep breath, cocked his head like he was reconsidering, then looked at me again. “Actually, I think you should know.”
I stared into my glass instead of at him. “I don’t know if I want to.”
“You don’t, but you should.” He shifted on his feet and set his drink down. “You’re mad at her, aren’t you?”
Instead of answering, I knocked back the entire drink.
Jesse sighed, leveling me with a look. “I’m not saying this changes anything. I’m just saying you should know what actually happened.”
I shook my head. “I already know what happened. She chose her family. End of story.”
“Not exactly,” he said. “The way I heard it, she didn’t have much of a choice. Adeline was roped into the same kind of deal Dad and Uncle Harlan have been pushing on all of us our entire lives. That match was all business, Zach.”
And yet, I should’ve been an option.
Thatwas what hurt. We’d been young, sure, but I’d had a ring. I’d been ready. She’d just pulled the rug out from underneath me before I could stop it from happening. Before I could save her from all this heartache and embarrassment.
I strode over to the bar cart and pouredmyselfa drink this time. “It doesn’t make any difference now, Jesse. It’s done.”
“I also heard that her husband is a real piece of shit,” he said, passing me his glass for a refill after he’d knocked it back just like I’d done with mine. “East coast money. He owns an estate in the Hamptons and his office is in New York. That whole situation.”
