Chapter 13 All For One #2
“Yes it does,” Katie cut in sharply. “She wanted you to see it.”
Carry looked away immediately, which told Cassie everything she needed to know. “Maybe we can just watch a real romance, like P.S. I Love You.”
Cassie watched Carry carefully over the rim of her glass.
That look away had not been anger. It had been hurt.
There was a difference, and Cassie knew it instantly.
Wendy slowly settled deeper into the loveseat cushions, deciding very wisely not to poke the bear any further for the moment.
Katie, unfortunately, had never developed that survival instinct.
“Oh c’mon,” Katie pressed. “You know I’m right. ”
Carry squeezed the pillow tighter against herself. “I said drop it!”
“No!” Katie replied stubbornly. “Because somebody needs to say this out loud. Veronica’s acting like Greg already belongs to her.”
“And Greg is letting her,” Carry shot back immediately. That changed the room. Cassie noticed it first. It wasn’t Veronica kissed him, rather Greg let her. That was the wound that nearly destroyed her at the dinner.
Wendy noticed it too, then thought about Aarie. Her expression softened slightly as she took another drink. “Okay,” she admitted carefully. “That part’s fair.”
Carry stared down into her margarita glass. “He could’ve stopped it.”
Katie pointed toward her immediately with the remote. “THANK YOU.”
“But he didn’t,” Carry continued quietly. “And then he stood there looking at her like…” She stopped herself abruptly.
“Like what?” Wendy asked softly now.
Carry laughed bitterly under her breath. “Like he forgot anyone else in the room existed.” Silence settled over the apartment again. Cassie hated how accurate that sounded because she had seen it too. It wasn’t lust or flirting. A real Connection.
Katie tossed the remote onto the couch beside Carry. “Look, I’m just saying what everybody’s thinking.”
“Not everybody,” Cassie replied calmly. Three sets of eyes shifted toward her.
Cassie remained composed outwardly, though internally her thoughts were anything but settled.
“Greg’s still emotionally unstable right now,” she said carefully.
“Houston proved that.” She glanced toward Carry.
“He’s reacting emotionally to whoever makes him feel grounded in the moment. ”
“That sounds like therapist language for ‘he’s a mess,’” Wendy muttered.
“It means,” Cassie clarified, “that I don’t think he actually knows what he wants right now. After what we talked about that first day at Veronique?”
“Hmm,” Carry responded as her expression tightened again at that because that possibility hurt almost worse.
If Greg consciously chose Veronica, that was one thing.
But if he was simply drifting emotionally wherever he found comfort?
That was harder to fight. ‘Does that mean Erica could walk back into his life also?’ she thought, and Cassie read it immediately.
Katie leaned back against the couch dramatically. “Fantastic. So now we’re dealing with emotionally confused billionaire Batman.”
“Greg is NOT Batman,” Wendy objected immediately.
“He absolutely broods like Batman,” Katie argued.
“He broods like a wounded golden retriever,” Wendy corrected. Cassie snorted unexpectedly into her drink while even Carry failed to completely suppress a smile. “There,” Wendy announced proudly while pointing toward Carry. “That’s the first smile we’ve gotten out of her in hours.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Carry muttered. But some of the tension had cracked now. Just enough they could all start to relax.
Katie stretched out across the carpet floor. “Okay then. Serious question.”
“Oh Lord,” Wendy groaned. “What could possibly be that serious that you have to bring it up now?”
“Seriously, Katie. It’s the first time she’s relaxed since getting home,” Cassie said.
“No seriously,” Katie continued. “What do YOU actually want now, Carry?” Carry blinked at her. Katie sat up slightly now, suddenly more sincere beneath the sarcasm. “Forget Veronica. Forget the tour. Forget the Family. What do you want?”
Carry opened her mouth immediately—but nothing came out, so she tried again—and stopped.
Cassie watched that happen with growing concern.
Because Carry clearly didn’t have an answer, at least not a real one.
Finally Carry looked down at the drink in her hands.
“I want things to go back to the way they were.”
Katie’s expression softened for the first time all night. “Carry,” she said quietly. “You know they can’t.”
Carry gave a faint humorless laugh and leaned her head back against the couch cushions.
“I know,” she admitted quietly “It’s partially my fault.
” She blew out an exasperated breath. “That’s the problem.
” She stared up toward the ceiling fan turning slowly overhead.
“Everything keeps changing faster than I can keep up with it.”
Wendy tucked one leg beneath herself in the loveseat. “Honestly? I don’t think any of us expected Houston to hit that hard.”
“No,” Cassie agreed carefully. “We expected tension. Competition maybe. Not…” She searched for the word.
“Territorial warfare?” Katie supplied.
“That’s dramatic even for you,” Wendy replied.
“Was it inaccurate?” Katie countered immediately. Nobody answered and that answered the question.
Carry let out another slow breath. “The worst part is that Veronica knows exactly what she’s doing.” Cassie’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly at that wording. She didn’t say I think Veronica knows, but rather Veronica knows. Certainty, and that matters.
Wendy tilted her head slightly. “You really think she’s intentionally pushing you out?”
Carry looked over at her almost incredulously. “Wendy. She practically marked him in front of the entire room. Even Billy agrees about that.”
“Fair point,” Wendy admitted. “Billy is an astute observer.”
Katie sat upright again now, frustration building. “I still don’t understand Greg though. After everything between you two, why would he even let Veronica get that close?”
“Because Veronica makes him feel needed,” Cassie answered quietly before Carry could speak. The room shifted toward her again. Cassie regretted saying it almost immediately. But it was true.
Carry frowned slightly. “Needed?”
Cassie nodded slowly, choosing her words carefully now. “Greg’s entire identity revolves around protecting people. Fixing things. Carrying burdens.” She took another sip of her margarita. “Veronica feeds that instinct in him constantly.”
Wendy blinked. “Okay, that’s… actually disturbingly accurate.”
“She admires him openly,” Cassie continued.
“Depends on him emotionally. Makes him feel important.” Her voice lowered slightly.
“After everything he’s gone through the last year?
That kind of validation becomes addictive.
” Carry’s expression darkened thoughtfully.
Because she understood exactly what Cassie meant.
Katie crossed her arms. “So what? Carry’s supposed to compete with that?”
“No,” Cassie answered immediately. The firmness in her voice surprised all three of them. Cassie leaned forward slightly in the recliner now, elbows resting on her knees. “Nobody should have to compete for someone who actually loves them.”
Silence. Even Wendy looked surprised by how serious that sounded. Carry stared at Cassie carefully now. “So what are you saying then?”
Cassie hesitated. Because this was where things became dangerous emotionally. “Honestly?” she answered slowly. “I think Greg’s standing at a crossroads right now and he doesn’t even realize it yet.”
Katie frowned. “Meaning?”
“Meaning whoever stabilizes him emotionally first probably becomes the direction he moves.”
Wendy muttered softly into her drink. “Well that’s not terrifying at all.”
Carry lowered her eyes again toward the untouched margarita in her hands. “And right now that’s Veronica.” Cassie didn’t answer immediately. Because she wasn’t completely certain that was true anymore. That uncertainty bothered her more than she wanted to admit.
Finally she exhaled quietly. “Right now,” she admitted carefully, “I think Greg’s trying to figure out who actually sees HIM versus who needs something from him.” That hit Carry harder than the others. Cassie saw it instantly because Carry suddenly looked guilty.
Katie noticed too. “Wait a minute.” She pointed immediately. “What was THAT face?”
“Nothing,” Carry answered too quickly. ‘Am I needing from him without seeing him?’ she asked herself mentally.
“That was absolutely not a nothing face,” Wendy replied.
Carry groaned softly and buried part of her face against the pillow.
“I don’t know anymore, okay?” Cassie softened immediately hearing the exhaustion in her voice.
“I don’t know if I love him,” Carry admitted quietly.
“Or if I just…” She struggled for the words.
“Need him to still choose me.” Nobody interrupted her now.
“That’s not the same thing,” Carry whispered.
And for the first time that night, the room became genuinely quiet.
For several long seconds, nobody spoke. The only sounds in the apartment were the ceiling fan turning overhead and the muted noise of traffic somewhere outside beyond the apartment windows.
Even Katie looked unsure how to respond now.
Cassie studied Carry carefully from the recliner.
That admission had cost her something. She could see it plainly.
Carry wasn’t trying to manipulate anyone in this moment.
She was finally confronting something painful inside herself.
Wendy slowly set her drink down on the coffee table. “You know,” she said softly, “those two things can overlap.”
Carry looked over at her weakly. “What?”
“Wanting someone to choose you and loving them.” Wendy shrugged lightly. “People pretend emotions are clean and simple. They’re not.”
Katie nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. Human beings are kind of emotional dumpster fires.”