Chapter 22
Dane
I watched from the beach as Leo handed Sydney the bouquet of flowers he had brought with him. Then they hugged and she invited him into the house. I couldn’t stop my hands from fisting up into balls. I was clenching my jaw. I wanted to break something or hit someone. I could feel the rage coursing through my veins as I continued to just stand there.
When she had shut the door, I turned away from the house. I couldn’t believe it. It had been no more than half an hour that we had sex. Since I’d been inside her. How could she invite Leo into her house immediately after? What did she see in him? I had never been jealous like this before and I didn’t know to react to the things I was feeling.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, startling me out of my thoughts. When I pulled it out, I saw that it was Tina calling.
“Sir, I have Mr Bradbury on the other line, waiting to talk with you,” Tina sounded flustered and excited. She hadn’t even said hello.
“What? Matthew Bradbury? What does he want?” I barked into the phone, taking out all my pent up frustration with the world on her.
“I’m not sure, Sir. But he wants to speak with you urgently,” she replied and I crossed my brows. Matthew wasn’t the kind of man to call up and apologize. He wanted something, and I was toying with the idea of whether to entertain his call or not.
“All right, put him through, Tina,” I said and within moments, I heard my old mentor’s booming voice.
“Ah, Dane! Where have you disappeared? Tina said that you’re not in New York at the moment,” he said with a casual laugh in his voice. I clenched my jaw and pushed my hand into the pocket of my pants.
“That’s right. I’m not. How can I help you, Matthew? Not that I’m inclined to help you at all right now,” I said and I heard him laugh. Of course he had every reason to laugh. He was sitting up there in his ivory tower with his life intact.
“I don’t blame you, my boy, but I do indeed need your help,” he said and I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me.
“I can’t believe that you had the balls to call me for help after what you did to me,” I said and Matthew was laughing again. He didn’t mind profanity, not coming from me at least.
“Dane, lets just say that we can agree I have big balls. Now, how soon can you get to New York?” he said in the same breath.
“Depends on what my motivation is. To help you, Matthew, I have no motivation,” I said.
“I need you on the team again. To work on the Logan account. They will work with nobody else, and I agree with them. You’re the only one who can crunch those numbers,” Matthew said and I shook my head again.
“What makes you think I’d be interested in helping you? Logan or no Logan,” I said through gritted teeth, because now I was losing my temper with everything. Especially because of how attractive Matthew’s offer sounded.
“Because you live for this work, my son. I know you, Dane. You won’t be able to stay away for too long,” he said and I let out a snort.
“I didn’t want to stay away, you made me. You pretty much fired me for something that was your fault,” I snapped and I heard Matthew draw in a deep breath.
“All right, fine, do you want me to admit it was my fault? Is that what it’ll take? It was my fault and I’m sorry for throwing you under the bus. I shouldn’t have done that to you and I would greatly appreciate it if you came back now,” he said and I eyed Sydney’s house from the corner of my eye.
Sydney and Leo weren’t in the kitchen, I had no idea what they were doing in the house but I could feel rage and envy coursing through my veins. She was bad for me. She was terrible for me. She made me feel angry and desperate and weak for her, and Matthew was right, Wall Street was where I belonged.
“I’ll be in my office tomorrow morning. I expect you to set up a meeting with Tina first thing and come by and see me so we can discuss all this,” I said to Matthew, while still keeping my eye on the B&B.
“Thank you Dane. Yes, of course I will. I knew you’d do the right thing. Everyone else said that you had too big of an ego to come back,” Matthew continued and I didn’t want to listen anymore. I’d made my decision and I cut the call.
After I’d slipped my phone into my pocket again, I continued staring at the B&B. I couldn’t help but imagine everything that could possibly be going on in there. Leo cooing up to Sydney, she falling for his rugged charm. Forgetting that a few hours ago, he had manipulated her into agreeing to call in a favor for him. Would he kiss her? Would she go weak in the knees for him? She had only used me as a distraction.
I shook my head violently. I was glad now that I’d agreed to Matthew’s offer. No matter how badly my ego was bruised, immersing myself in my work would be the best way to forget about Sydney. This was just a vacation and nothing more. Very soon I’d be back in New York, back in my own apartment and Sydney, and her laughter and her body would all just be a distant memory.
I stayed out on the beach for a while longer, prolonging the inevitable. I didn’t want to go back into the house, even though I needed to pack. Tina had booked me a late night flight and I needed to be on my way. I just didn’t want to walk in on Sydney and Leo having sex.