Chapter 48
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Griffin
“If we weren’t partners, I would have fired you days ago.” Dylan stalks into my office. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Everything. Every fucking thing.
It’s been more than two weeks since I found Piper and Sebastian in my home office. I lost it in that moment. My rage over the intrusion was enough for me to send them both out of my life. I haven’t spoken to either of them since.
I know I’ll mend my friendship with Sebastian in time because we’ve weathered storms worse than this.
It’s Piper that keeps me awake at night.
I miss her. I need her. I wish to fuck she wouldn’t have seen those paintings.
It made me feel bare in a way I’ve never felt before.
I hated it. I crave it now. I want more of it but my fear of her rejection is stronger than anything else so I pushed her away before she could do it to me.
“I broke it off with Piper.”
“You what?” He stops short of my desk. “Why?”
I rest my head in my hands. “It was that or I had to tell her about Rory.”
“So you were a fucking coward?”
My head shoots up, rage coursing through my veins. “Coward? I’m the coward? That’s rich coming from you, Dylan.”
“Don’t bring up my past, Griffin.” He slams his hand on my desk. “I was a high school kid who didn’t give a shit about the consequences of my actions. Eden was collateral damage. She’s moved on. I have too. It’s over.”
I want to push back and ask him why he only fucks women who bear a striking resemblance to Eden. He’s as stuck in his twisted past as I am in mine.
“You have a chance at something here, Griffin.” He moves back in the chair. “Rory would want you to be happy. You know that. I know it.”
Rory will forever be stuck in the same moment in time in my mind because of me.
It is all because of me.
“I made my choice.” I fist my hands together on my desk. “Piper will move on. I will too. It’s how it needs to be.”
“You’re telling me you’re good with her meeting someone else? You have no problem with her fucking another man? Falling in love with him? That’s all good for you?”
Every single word grates on my last nerve.
The thought of Piper with another man is more than I can bear.
I want her. Fuck I want a future with her but I can’t. I don’t get that. It’s my price to pay.
“I made my choice,” I repeat.
“What about her choice?” He stands and slams his hands on the top of my desk. “Why don’t you let her make the choice for herself? Give her some credit, Griffin. The woman might love you as much as you love her.”
“I didn’t say I loved her, Dylan.”
He huffs out a laugh. “You didn’t have to.”
“Did you set Marco up?” Morgan Tresoni waltzes into my office, unannounced.
I should fucking fire Joyce.
“No. I can’t take any credit for that. Your soon to be ex-husband dug his own grave. He’s the one who couldn’t keep his hands off other people’s stuff.”
“He told me you almost killed him.” She stands in front of my desk. “Is that true?”
“Almost is the operative word, Morgan. He’s still a living, breathing piece of shit.”
She laughs. “You’ve got that right.”
“Did you come all the way down here to talk about Marco?” I stand. “You’re almost free of him. The divorce will be finalized within the month.”
“Good.” She waves her left hand in the air. “I have a little something I need your help with.”
I can’t keep track of her engagement rings. “That’s not the ring Marco gave you, is it?”
“No.” She rolls her eyes. “This one is from Marty. You’re going to love him, Griffin. He owns a hedge fund and a yacht.”
I reach down to pick up a pad of paper and a pen. “One pre-nup coming up.”
“You’re the best, Griffin. You totally get how this marriage thing works.”
I look at her. “Do you love Marty?”
“Sure.” She shrugs. “I do.”
“You’re going to stick with this one through thick or thin, good or bad?” I cock a brow. “Better or for worse?”
“Look, I get that I haven’t had the best luck when it comes to marriage.” She eyes up her new engagement ring. “Just between you and me, I think I might have let Mr. Right slip through my fingers in college.”
“How do you know he was Mr. Right?”
“He still owns this.” Her hand leaps to the middle of her chest. “My heart.”
I set the paper and pen back down. “Have you considered looking for Mr. Right, Morgan? Maybe you still own his heart too.”
“I don’t.” Her voice softens. “I pushed him away. I didn’t realize what I had until it was too late.”
“Why did you push him away?”
She heaves a sigh. “I got scared. It felt like he was too good for me, and one day he’d wake up and realize it. I didn’t want to be so far in that my heart wouldn’t recover so I ended it first.”
I search her face. “You regret that now, don’t you?”
“More than you know, Griffin. More than you know.”