Page 3 of Last Resort

“He’s the youngest,” Ford offers up and smirks as Callahan rolls his eyes. “We try not to hold that against him.”

All three smile and I swear even Roz sighs beside me from the sheer beauty of the sight in front of us.

“Let’s get started, shall we?”

CHAPTER TWO

Sutton

Twenty-four Hours Earlier

“Ten o’clock tonight. Club Coquette.”

“Stepping up in the world, are we?” I tease. Club Coquette is the place to be right now, but velvet ropes are only lifted if you know someone or are someone. “How’d you score those tickets or access or whatever it is you need to get in?”

“I may or may not be dating one of the managers there.”

I lift my eyebrows at something that is so Classic Lizzy. She always happens to be with the right people at the right times. She attracts good luck and good times like a magnet.

“So . . . Come with us? It’ll be the first girls’ night out that you can make in forever.”

“I can’t,” I whisper into my phone as I pop my head above my cubicle to make sure no one can hear me from my corner in the back of the office. Or see my grimace in response to my best friend’s question.

I never should have answered the call. Especially not when things have been so strained between us these past few months.

“As expected,” Lizzy murmurs and emits a resigned sigh. It sounds much like how I feel these days.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means when is the last time Clingy Clint let you out of his sight? It’s a girls’ night out for Christ’s sake. Does he own your every waking moment?”

“Lizzy . . . That’s not it.”

“That is it, Sutton. The prick can go out and have all the fun he wants but, not shockingly, you’re not allowed because he might suddenly need you. He can take promotions and climb the corporate ladder, and yet the minute you think about doing the same, he makes you doubt your own abilities so you turn down similar opportunities. Hell, he even helps you pick out the dresses to wear to his corporate functions, and then when you’re there, he humiliates you by publicly stating how you made the wrong choice.” She makes a sound that can only be akin to frustration as tears burn in my eyes.

I knew I was going to regret spilling my guts out to her last month. My call to her was a moment of frustrated weakness that is now, of course, going to be used against me.

The part of me that wants to cling to her for support gives way to my need to protect Clint and my pride.

“I’m at work. I can’t have this conversation right now.”

“There’s always a reason you can’t have the conversation. Always an excuse for him.” There is a pleading in her voice that I pretend not to hear. “I mean, look at you. In your work life you kick ass on the daily, and the only thing I can gather is that it’s the one part of your life he can’t touch or influence.”

“Lizz—”

“I don’t mean to hurt you, but you simply can’t see it.” Her sigh is heavy when I don’t respond. “I know you love him, but this isn’t love. This is control with the obsession to tear you down just to build himself up.”

“That’s not true,” I whisper without an ounce of conviction.

“He has sapped every bit of that spark and personality from my best friend, and I’m not having it anymore. I’ve sat idly by for the last two years and watched you slip away as he’s pulled the strings that control you tighter and tighter, and I can’t do it anymore. I’d rather ruin our friendship by telling you the truth than by letting you become a shadow of the person I know you to be.”

“I said I can’t do this right now.”

And yet I don’t hang up.

I don’t even attempt to.

Because I know she’s right. Nothing that she’s said is news to me. In fact, they’re things I’ve told myself over and over. Things I’ve thought about late at night when he’s out, and I’m home alone. I’ve even gone so far as admitting to myself that our relationship is unhealthy. That our talks of marriage and a future are just that—talks. I know I can’t do this forever and yet . . . I’m not strong enough to walk away just yet.