Chapter 61
61
William
The last place I wanted to confess that to Opal was on a busy sidewalk. Life continues moving around us even though it feels as though time is standing still. I know I am. Opal, on the other hand, is fidgeting in place.
I fully expect her to bolt, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I never hear from her again. I deserve everything that is about to happen.
I’ve always been proud of what I do. I’ve viewed myself as someone who helps men better themselves. The end goal is virtually always the same. My efforts are instrumental in helping those men win the hearts of the women they love.
In many cases, it’s worked out. In some cases, the man can’t get his act together enough to impress anyone, let alone a woman.
In Percy’s case, I knew I was dealing with an arrogant jerk from the start. My gut told me he was a poor excuse for a man, but I viewed that as a challenge instead of a red flag. That’s on me.
“You what?”
Repeating what I just said is painful, but I do it, but not before I step closer to her. “Percy was a client of mine for a short time. He hired me to help him have a fighting chance with you. He wanted to marry you, Opal.”
Taking a step back, she shakes her head. “No. That can’t be right. You can’t know Percy.”
Jesus, how I want it not to be the truth, but it is, so I confirm it with a nod. “It’s true.”
Her brows pinch together. “Is that what you do for a living? You trick unsuspecting women into marrying awful men?”
“No.”
“You told me you advised men.” She points a finger at me. “You never said anything about advising them on how to stalk women. He was stalking me, William. He was trying to steal what’s mine. He admitted it all to me and Hildy earlier.”
“What?” My voice is loud enough to draw curious glances from the people passing us.
She rubs both hands over her face. “His grandfather and my Aunt Hildy were in love a long time ago. Percy believed his granddad was entitled to some of the money Turquoise Crown has made, so he decided that marrying me was the way to get his hands on it.”
“Fuck.” The word falls from my lips. “That asshole.”
“You were helping him do that,” she accuses, tears welling in her eyes. “You were helping him steal what belongs to my family. That game is my great aunt’s legacy, William. How could you do that?”
I’m so fucking ashamed to admit that I had no clue, but I need to. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know?” She laughs, but it’s laced with bitterness and contempt. “So, you’re saying you just agreed to help a man get me to fall in love with him? You didn’t know why he wanted that? Did you even ask him why me?”
I drop my gaze to the sidewalk to collect my thoughts.
“It doesn’t matter,” she spits the words out. “You’re no better than he is. You’re both just as bad as TJ.”
As I look up, I see pain etched in her expression. Her tears are flowing now, falling down her cheeks as she turns and runs away. I watch her through the haze of my own tears, knowing I’ve lost everything that ever mattered to me.
* * *
I don’t know how I got here, but I stumble into my office, pain pulling me down. My feet moved slowly when I finally left the spot I was standing in when Opal took off.
I’ve never cried in public before. I rarely shed a tear in private, but I sobbed as I felt my future slip from my grasp.
Several people stopped to ask if they could help me. I finally took a guy in a sweatshirt and a ball cap up on his offer when he said he’d flag down a taxi for me. I slid onto the backseat, barked out the address to my office, and tossed a bunch of bills in the driver’s direction when he finally pulled over to the curb in front of this building.
“William?” Sheila calls my name from somewhere to my left. “My God. Are you all right?”
“No,” I whisper.
She’s beside me with her arm wrapped around my waist before I realize what’s happening. “You need to sit down.”
I don’t argue that point because it’s a miracle my legs have kept me upright this long. She tugs on the back of a rolling office chair, so I drop my ass onto it. My hands cover my face as I try to make sense of what just happened.
I sense when she crouches in front of me. “Did something happen to someone? Is it Scout? Is Bauer okay? Where are your parents?”
“Fine,” I say in a voice that doesn’t sound like mine. “They’re all fine.”
“Is it a friend?” she presses, trying desperately to understand how to help me.
That’s who she is. Sheila is the fixer. She’s a nurturer. She’ll go out of her way to help anyone in need.
I know there’s no turning back from what I did. I fell in love with a woman a client wanted. I raise my chin and look her in the eye. “It’s Opal. I love her. I just broke her heart.”
Her gaze scans my face. “Opal who?”
“Waverly.”
Her mouth falls open. “Opal Waverly? Is that why you broke the contract with Percy?”
The sound of his name feels like a dagger being pushed through my heart. He’s the reason I found her but he’s not the sole reason I lost her. I played a hell of a big part in that.
“He’s an asshole,” I tell her. “He wasn’t right for her.”
“You are,” she says, and it’s not a question.
I look down at the floor before I glance at her again. “I am. I fell in love with her. I had to tell her the truth about Percy.”
“That must have been hell,” she whispers, patting my left knee.
“She said I was no better than him.” I toss my head back to look at the ceiling. “I can’t argue with her.”
“I can.” Her voice is firm. “You’re one of the best men I know, William.”
I level my gaze back on her face. “He didn’t want her because he was in love with her from afar. He wanted her because of some fucked up vendetta.”
“What?”
I shake my head. “Apparently, he felt his grandfather was entitled to a piece of the Turquoise Crown pie. Opal owns the rights to that, so he thought marriage was a direct route to cash in on that.”
“You didn’t know that,” she points out. “I distinctly remember reading in his file that he noticed her at a restaurant and got her name from one of the employees. I was going to double check that, but he couldn’t remember the restaurant’s name, and Dash Milligan was the one who directed him to you.”
Dash was a former client with a stellar reputation. I had no reason to doubt anything he said when he called me to ask if I’d take Percy on. I dropped the ball on vetting him thoroughly, and that’s on me.
Sheila straightens to standing. “Tell me what I can do. We can fix this.”
I don’t see how. I’ll replay the final words Opal said to me over and over again until the day I die.
“ You’re both just as bad as TJ ,” I repeat quietly.
“What was that?”
I shake my head. “Opal told me that Percy and I are just as bad as TJ. I have no fucking idea who that is, but if it’s a man and he hurt her, I just piled more pain on top of that.”
“TJ is Thaddeus Lincoln Junior.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
A small smile slides over her lips. “You pay me to dig deep into our clients’ backgrounds and even deeper into the lives of the women they’re destined to be with. TJ was engaged to Opal until he fucked that up by screwing her best friend.”
I push the chair back and bolt to my feet, frustrated that I’m just hearing about this now. I know all about the Lincolns and their social hold on this city. I’ve ignored the gossip chatter about them because they are the epitome of wealthy people who do nothing for anyone but their family members.
“The best friend got pregnant.” She goes on, “Apparently, TJ claimed it wasn’t his until she announced his impending fatherhood to everyone at his and Opal’s rehearsal dinner. That’s when he finally admitted the affair.”
“Jesus,” I whisper, a stab of pain shooting through me at everything she’s been through. It’s no wonder she insisted on a casual relationship after being put through an emotional wringer like that.
“It was all over social media,” Sheila explains. “I didn’t put two and two together until I stumbled on some old posts that Opal was tagged in.”
“You didn’t tell me any of this.”
“I found it out the day you ripped up the contract with Percy,” she says. “The file on them closed then, so I didn’t mention it. I thought it was moot.”
“She sees me as just another lying bastard.”
Her hand lands on my shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze. “So prove her wrong. Make her understand that you’re nothing like Percy or TJ. You’re William Knight. You’re one of the good ones.”