Chapter 24
Nick
“Sorry I couldn’t make Charleigh’s party the other night,” I said to Christian as we went up to the rooftop for a coffee.
“It’s okay. Its the life of a doctor. We understand.” He smiled. “It sure was an eventful night.”
“Why?” My brows furrowed. “What happened?”
“This guy wouldn’t leave Claire alone, and Sam and Simon stepped in. When we were leaving the brewhouse, he and some of his thug friends were in the parking lot. The guy was looking for a fight, and Simon had to pull his gun on him.”
“Jesus. Is Claire okay?”
“Yeah. She’s fine. At least, I think she is. Maybe you should give her a call and ask her yourself.” He smirked.
“Nah, I’ll take your word for it.”
“She misses you,” Christian said.
“Then she should have been honest with me from the beginning.” My pager went off. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
When I returned to the ER, I saw Claire standing at the nurses’ station.
“Someone paged me?” I asked one of the nurses.
“I had them page you,” Claire said. “Can we talk?”
“There’s nothing to talk about, but whatever.” I walked away and into an empty office down the hall. I turned around and stared at her. “What is it, Claire?”
“I’m sorry, Nick.”
“You already told me you were sorry that night.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to explain. I’m sorry I hurt you. I honestly didn’t mean to.”
“See, here’s the thing, Claire. If you didn’t mean to hurt me, you would have told me about your family from the beginning. God, what is it with you women not meaning to hurt someone long after the fact?” I shook my head. “That’s the same thing Katrina said to me on our wedding day. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you, Nick.’ You’re only sorry after you get caught.”
“That’s not fair,” she said. “And I’m not your ex.”
“Just admit that you used me to get to them,” I voiced loudly. “That night, when I told you about Christian, you invited me to your apartment.”
“Even if you hadn’t told me, I would have invited you in,” she said. “I felt a connection to you, Nick.”
“Right.” I breathed out a laugh. “And that’s why you wouldn’t let me stay, or you wouldn’t stay at my place after sex. It was like you couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”
“I told you I had my reasons.” She looked down.
“And that reason was you weren’t interested. You only wanted to get close to me because of your family.”
“That’s not true. And I let you stay, and I stayed, eventually.”
“Yeah, but you still wouldn’t tell me why you were so hesitant in the first place. Just another secret,” I said. “I don’t even know you, Claire Monet, or should I say Kind. All we did was have sex, and that was good enough for you. For me, it was more, and it shouldn’t have been. I have major trust issues when it comes to women, and you reinforced that for me when I found out who you really were. You can say you’re sorry a thousand times, and it wouldn’t make a difference. What we had is over.”
“Wow, okay.” She nodded. “I fucked up. I’m sorry. People fuck up, you know. I came here hoping you’d forgive me, and we could start over. I miss you, Nick. And believe me, I don’t say that to anyone. I haven’t since—you know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry to have wasted your time.” She stormed out of the office.
Claire
I ran to my car, climbed in, and laid my forehead against the steering wheel. Coming here to talk to him was a bad idea. I didn’t intend to, but I was at a shop across the street and kept staring at the building, wondering if he was working. Fuck this, I needed a drink, so I drove to the brewhouse.
Taking a seat at the bar, John, the bartender, smiled.
“What can I get you, Claire?”
“Double scotch. Just leave the bottle on the bar.”
“Tough day?” he asked, pouring my drink.
“You could say that.” I picked up the glass and threw it down the back of my throat.
“Claire.” Sebastian smiled. “Drinking already?”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
“I have to get over to Emilia’s.” He kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
“See ya, Sebastian. John?” I pointed to my empty glass.
After he poured me another scotch, I picked up the glass and thought about Nick. I wasn’t one to pour my heart out to anyone, but with him, it came easily. I was hoping we could start over. I was wrong. He wanted nothing to do with me, and it hurt like a bitch. My heart hadn’t ached like this since I stood on the porch of my home, and Steve told me it was over.
I drank too much. I could barely keep my head up.
“Claire, I texted Sebastian and told him you’re in no condition to drive. He’s sending one of your brothers to come get you.”
“Thanks, John.” I laid my forehead on the bar.
“Hey, you,” I heard Simon’s voice.
“Come on, let’s get you home,” I lifted my head as Shaun gripped my arm.
Simon gripped my other one, and they helped me off the stool.
“You took the day off to go look at fixtures and furniture, not to get drunk off your ass,” Shaun said.
“Couldn’t be helped,” I slurred as they helped me to the car. “I talked to Nick.”
“Ah, that explains it,” Simon said.
“Hand me your keys, and I’ll drive your car back to Simon’s,” Shaun said.
“Here, just take my purse.” I handed it to him.
I lay my head against the passenger-side window and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, Simon pulled into his driveway with Shaun behind him. The door opened, and Shaun helped me out.
“Come on, little sister.” He hooked his arm around me.
Simon and Shaun helped me into the house, and I saw my other brothers standing there.
“Are you okay?” Stefan asked, walking over to where I stood.
“Yeah. I just needed to drown my sorrows in a few glasses of scotch.” I smiled as I slurred.
“She talked to Nick,” Simon said.
“I assume it didn’t go well,” Sam said as Simon and Shaun helped me up the stairs.
“Nope. He hates me.” They sat me down on the bed.
“He doesn’t hate you, Claire,” Stefan said. “He’s just hurt.”
“Yeah, well, so am I.” I laid back. “He told me I could apologize a thousand times, and it wouldn’t make a difference. I’m done. I’m going back to using men for sex and sex only. Fuck them all.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Shaun said. “It’s no way to live. Trust us.”
“Maybe it isn’t for you, but for me it is. This heart of mine is closed for eternity.” I closed my eyes.
“Let her sleep it off. We’ll talk to her tomorrow.” I heard Sam say.
Simon
“Man, whoever would have thought we’d have sister drama.” I smirked as I handed my brothers a beer.
“I know. It’s weird,” Sam said. “But regardless, she’s our sister, and we have to make things right. Simon, speech?”
“I don’t want to talk to her the way I talk to you guys. She’s a woman.”
“She’s a Kind, and she deserves the Kind speech,” Stefan spoke. “It doesn’t matter if she’s a woman or not.”
“Yeah, but we’re dealing with a reversed situation here. She went to make things right with Nick, and he flat out refuses to forgive her,” I said.
“Then maybe we need to give Nick the Kind speech,” Shaun said.
“Yeah, maybe.” Simon sighed.