Chapter Twenty-Six

Harry

Yesterday had been a bit of a whirlwind. I had gone out of town for a quick trip and ended up staying overnight. Grayson had tickets to a baseball game that I couldn’t pass up. As usual, we hit the bars afterward, and before I knew it, it was four in the morning, I was shitfaced, and I had lost my phone somewhere between the stadium and one of the many bars we had visited.

I rolled into town and managed to get a new phone. My mother called almost immediately after the thing was turned on and asked me to meet her for lunch. The hangover was kicking my ass, but I could do lunch with Mom. Then I planned on stopping by to see my lovely fiancée. I felt like a dick for going off the radar and wanted to explain in person why I hadn’t called or texted all night.

I was escorted into the den where my mother was on the phone, standing and staring out one of the massive picture windows that overlooked the estate garden. That was where she stood when she was stressed. I could recall many childhood memories of my mother staring out at the garden and pacing in front of the row of windows.

I sat down and waited for her to get off the phone.

“I’m so sorry. Truly, I am,” I heard her say. “Yes, I understand. It is very inconvenient. Again, I am very sorry, and I hope we can work together in the future.”

She hung up the phone and turned to look at me. Stressed was one word to describe the way she looked. It looked as if she had brushed through her hair with her fingers. The lines around her mouth were more defined, and her eyes had dark circles under them.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “You look like you’ve been through the wringer.”

She shook her head. “Your brother has created a scandal that will take years to recover from.”

“A scandal? What did he do?”

She sat down in one of her wingback chairs and looked at me. “Have you spoken with him at all? Do you know what he is thinking?”

“Mom, I went to New York yesterday. I lost my phone last night. No, I haven’t talked to him. What’s going on?”

Her jaw clenched. She stood and walked back to stare out the window. “He’s ruined the family; that’s what he’s done. He’s never acted so irresponsibly!”

I rolled my eyes, stood, and walked to where she stood. Obviously, she was in high-drama mode and wanted to wallow in misery for a while.

“Mom, what did he do? Did he get caught cheating? Did he get drunk and make an ass of himself? I’m sure whatever it is, you and your people will find a way to spin it. You’re getting worked up over nothing,” I assured her.

“He called off his wedding!” She turned to look at me, throwing her arms wide. “Can you believe it? He dumped Tiffany!”

I blinked, stared at her, and let the words sink into my somewhat dehydrated brain. “He did what? Why?”

She shook her head. “No one knows why. Tiffany doesn’t even know why!”

“I don’t understand. That doesn’t sound like William at all. Did she do something?”

My mom shrugged a shoulder. “I have no idea. Tiffany says she is innocent. We all know that isn’t entirely true.”

I smiled. “Definitely not innocent. He told me he was stressed about all the wedding planning and Tiffany had been very difficult. He never said anything about canceling the damn thing.”

She guffawed. “Well, he did, and now I am apologizing to everyone who had dropped everything to squeeze in the wedding. He has cost us a lot more than the money we are losing on the deposits. He is costing us our reputation!”

No one messed with my mother’s reputation. She took her image very seriously. William knew that. For him to disregard the years of training during his upbringing, something big had to have happened. I hoped that something wasn’t Amber. I was very worried William had decided he wanted Amber and called off his wedding in an attempt to win her back. I needed to talk to her.

“Mom, I have to go,” I mumbled.

“What? You didn’t even have lunch!”

I shook my head. “I need to take care of some things. I’ll try to talk to William and let you know if there’s any chance of salvaging his marriage to Tiffany.”

She smiled. “That’s nice, hon, but I don’t think your brother is going to talk to you. He hasn’t spoken with your father or me or Tiffany.”

I shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

I walked out of the den, anxious to talk with Amber. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I had a feeling Amber was at the center of William and Tiffany’s breakup. My mind whirred as I thought about the many possibilities. I had been out of touch last night. What if William and Amber had stayed the night together? I was an idiot! I should have stayed in town. I should have borrowed a phone.

I called Amber several times, but she never picked up. She was probably busy at work. I hoped that was the reason. I didn’t want to consider the other reason why she wasn’t answering my calls. If she and William had decided to hook up again, she was finished with me. I was out like yesterday’s trash. I didn’t want to be tossed to the side. If that was truly what her plan was, I was going to make her tell me to my face that she was ending our engagement and going back to my brother.

I practically ran for the elevator leading up to the floor where she worked. I made a beeline for her desk and discovered it was empty. I checked my watch. There was a chance she was out to lunch. If so, then there was no reason for her not to answer her phone—unless she was with William.

I spun around, ready to stomp into my brother’s office when he practically materialized in front of me.

“What are you doing here?” he growled.

“I came by to see Amber.”

“She isn’t here.”

I nodded. “I can see that. Is she at lunch?”

I was relieved to see he was still in the office. That meant they weren’t together. Small victory, but I would take it.

“She didn’t come in today,” he said.

“Why?” I asked, suddenly worried all over again.

“Why don’t we go into my office.”

Now I was really worried. Had they decided to get married and she was leaving the company to avoid any conflicts? I wanted to throttle William. I left for one night and everything changed. That didn’t seem quite fair.

“What’s going on, William?” I asked, anxious to track down Amber.

“Have you heard?”

“About you breaking it off with Tiffany? Yes. I was just at the house. Mom told me. What the hell were you thinking?” I asked.

“I couldn’t go through with it.”

“Because Tiffany was making you crazy?” I prodded.

“That and because she’s not the woman for me. I don’t love her.”

I smirked. “Well, we all knew that. You weren’t marrying her for love. You were marrying her because of who she is. What made you change your mind?”

“Amber.”

The one word slammed into me with such force, I stumbled back a couple steps.

“Amber?”

He nodded. “I’m in love with Amber. I should have told you before. She’s the woman I want.”

My mouth went dry. “Did you tell her? Amber, I mean. Have you told her how you feel?” I croaked out.

He nodded. “Yes. I told her yesterday.”

I slowly nodded my head. “And?”

William smiled. “She was surprised. In a good way I think. She said she needed some time.”

The more the words sank in, the more emotions I started to feel. I looked at William and could see the smug look on his face. He had wanted the girl, and he had won. He knew she and I were engaged, and he had told her he loved her anyway. That was fucked up. Even if it was a fake engagement, that was not cool.

“You know she and I are engaged, right?” I said, my voice dangerously low.

He waved a hand. “As if that were real. You two knew each other for a week before you decided to be engaged.”

I nodded. “But we are engaged. You told my fiancée you love her. What else happened?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

He smiled and shrugged a shoulder. “Nothing really.”

“Nothing really?” I repeated. “What the hell does that mean?”

He was still smiling. “We kissed a couple times. She left.”

“Why did she leave?”

He eyed me carefully. “You haven’t talked to her since yesterday? Isn’t that odd for a so-called engaged couple?”

“I was out of town and lost my phone. I just got back.”

He chuckled. “Oh, and she isn’t taking your calls. I wonder why that is,” he said with a satisfied look on his face.

I shook my head. “You’re a dick. If you had feelings for her, you should have talked to me instead of going behind my back and telling her you loved her.”

“Oh please. She was mine first. Besides, I told you the other night she was mine. I warned you to back off.”

“You’re an ass. You are so used to getting what you want, you never think about anyone else.”

I stomped out of his office. He tried to call me back, but I kept walking. I was seeing red. I couldn’t believe my brother had kissed my fiancée, my Amber. She had kissed him. She had let it happen. I knew she had feelings for him. I was a fool to think I ever had a chance with her. I stopped walking. What the fuck? I didn’t want a chance with her. It wasn’t real. We’d had sex a few times. No big deal. She wasn’t actually my fiancée or girlfriend or anything else.

If she wanted to talk to me, she knew my number. I wasn’t going to chase her down. I hopped in my car and drove home. I really wanted to head to the bar and get wasted, but it was early, and I was still hungover from last night. I could get drunk later. For now, I needed to chill and think about the repercussions of William’s announcement.

I wondered if he was only doing this to get back at me. There was a chance this was his way of fucking me over just to be a dick. He would only end up hurting Amber. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but if she went along for the ride with him, that was her choice. She knew what she was getting into. Amber was a big girl and could make her own decisions. Let her learn the hard way. William was not the man she insisted he was.

“Let it go, Harry,” I told myself, looking into the rearview mirror. “Let it go.”

I walked into my apartment and couldn’t help the sense of loss I felt. Amber wouldn’t be sitting on my couch or sleeping in my bed again. We’d had a good time together, but it was over. The best way to move past all the feelings that were trying to come to the surface was to move on. That was my plan. We would need to officially end our engagement, and then I was free to return to my old life, unencumbered.