Chapter 3 #2
Cooper nodded again. "Cynthia decided she wants to come home while she preps for her next role.
Her ex has been a problem. Rehab didn't take, and he won’t leave her alone.
He claims he wants her back. Cynthia wants to be near family, and she doesn't want the friction of handling daily life.
She had Summer rent the Rycroft estate. Cynthia, her entourage, and Summer are moving in. "
"Guess who's doing the security?" Axel asked with another sly grin. Fuck me. He went on, "Cynthia requested you, personally."
"I don't do protection details anymore."
"You're making an exception for this one," Cooper said flatly, his tone brooking no argument.
This morning had started badly and was only getting worse.
Fucking hell.
Cynthia Stevens was the granddaughter of Rupert Stevens, a close friend of my grandfather when he'd still been alive. She was old Atlanta, raised for cotillions and charity luncheons. When she'd run off to Hollywood at eighteen, everyone figured she'd be home within six months.
Instead, she'd busted her ass, waiting tables and taking bit parts until she got her first break. She was beautiful, high maintenance, and talented as hell.
Cynthia Stevens was a diva. She was also my ex.
Slowly, desperately hoping this was a bad dream, I said, "You want me to put together a detail, headed by me, to live in the Rycroft place with Cynthia Stevens and Summer? You realize this is going to be a disaster, right?"
Cooper shrugged a shoulder, his icy blue eyes, so like our father's, locked on mine. "It doesn't have to be a disaster. You've been moping around here ever since Summer kicked you out. This is your chance to fix it. While you're at it, figure out where her father is and what he has to do with Dad."
"Cooper—"
"No, Evers. I don't want to hear it. Knox is right, you fucked up with her because you were scared.
You want to bury your head in the sand and pretend that's not what happened, go ahead.
Lie to yourself. If she didn't matter, you wouldn't have cared when she kicked you out.
You would have moved on to the next woman and not given Summer a second thought. That's not what happened, is it?"
"When's the last time you got laid, Evers?" Axel asked with a smirk.
Fucking brothers. "None of your business, asshole."
"There's your answer," Knox filled in.
I'd let them set me on fire before I'd admit that I hadn't so much as kissed another woman since I'd walked out of Summer's apartment.
I’d thought about it, wanted to in a vague I should get laid kind of way. Since Summer, no other woman had grabbed my interest. I didn't want anyone else.
"And what about while you were with her?" Axel pushed.
"I wasn't with her. We had a thing," I protested.
"Jesus, you're like the stereotypical commitment-phobe. How many other women did you sleep with while you had your thing?" Axel asked, his words dripping with sarcasm.
"Not everyone is looking for domestic bliss, Axel. Ever since you got married you've been a know-it-all pain in the ass."
"He was a pain in the ass long before he got married," Cooper said. "If anything, Emma's made him more tolerable."
True, but I wasn't going to admit it.
"Answer the question," Knox said evenly.
I didn't want to answer the question. Answering the question would tell them everything they wanted to know about exactly how wrecked I was over Summer.
"None, okay?" Maybe now that I'd admitted it, they'd stop needling me and move on.
No such luck.
"So, she was just a hookup," Axel said, "but in the year you were keeping an eye on her—and sleeping with the target—you didn't so much as touch another woman. Do I have that right?"
I didn't dignify his question with an answer.
"But she didn't mean anything. You're over her."
I made a sound in the back of my throat that was supposed to be a yes. I couldn't make my mouth form the word. I wasn't even remotely over her. I'd been working my way around to figuring out how to win her back. How to explain.
It had started innocently enough.
My brothers and I had grown up side-by-side with the Winters family. While the Sinclairs were well-known and had a nice chunk of change in the bank, our lives didn't come close to that of the Winters.
Notorious for scandal and billionaires a few times over, to us, the Winters were family.
So, when Emma's best friend turned out to be an estranged cousin, we decided to keep an eye on her.
She'd seemed legit, but when long-lost relatives come out of the woodwork, nine times out of ten they're aiming straight for the bank account.
No one was taking advantage of the Winters family on our watch. Defying expectations, Summer hadn't made any attempt to reach out to the rest of the Winters family.
She’d established her business in Atlanta, made friends, went out for drinks or to the movies. Dated here and there. Though the Winters' high profile would have helped her attract clients, Summer stayed far away.
I could have watched her from a distance. I didn't need to make contact. But I hadn't been able to stop myself. In every area of my life, my self-control was absolute. Until it came to Summer.
Cooper flipped open his laptop and started tapping keys.
Without looking at me, he said, "I'm sending you the Stevens file.
They move in on Friday. You need to take a team out to the house, make sure it's secured, and be there when she arrives.
Details are in the file." He tapped the final key and looked up.
"This is your chance, Evers. Don't fuck it up again. "
I stood, eager to get out of the office. Out of the building. I needed to clear my head and think. I'd been looking for a way back in, but babysitting an ex-lover while trying to win back another was a disaster waiting to happen.
A disaster, and my only shot.
One way or another, I'd figure out how to make it work. I wasn't going to fail.
Not with Summer.
Not this time.