CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Nate’s expression was grim when he opened the front door to his home and saw his best friend Max. “I ought to punch you right in the face, mate. You broke our Carrie’s heart. We warned you.”
Still not completely sober, Max grabbed onto the door frame for support as the ground swelled underneath him. He had to convince Nate to let him in. He needed to talk to Carrie. Desperately. He wasn’t leaving until he did.
“It’s not like you think,” Max defended himself. Nate didn’t have all of the facts. “But I need to speak with Carrie. Please let me in.”
His friend’s brows flew up in surprise. “She’s not here. She has her own flat now. You didn’t know?”
Max wasn’t sure about anything anymore. All he knew is that he’d seen Carrie tonight having dinner with Tyler and it had been like taking a bullet to the heart. He was still bleeding from seeing her smile at a man that wasn’t him. Frankly he didn’t give a fuck what she’d done. She could shoot a man in the street and he wouldn’t care. He needed her back in his life.
“I haven’t seen or talked to her in awhile.”
Stepping back, Nate ushered Max into the house. “You’d better come in and tell me what’s going on. You look like hell. Are you…drunk?”
It was good to be out of the chilly rain. Max hung his wet jacket on one of the pegs next to the door and rubbed at his arms. Alcohol hadn’t kept him warm. Or perhaps it had but it was beginning to wear off. “I’m sobering up now. I don’t suppose I could trouble you for some coffee?”
“Sure, I’ll make a pot. Have a seat and relax.”
Nate disappeared into the kitchen leaving Max in the living room. He didn’t sit down though, instead studying the framed wedding photo above the fireplace. Nate and Paige looked so happy and in love. They were truly the lucky ones.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to show your face here.”
Paige. It was time to face her wrath and he’d known it was coming. Might as well get it over with.
“I can explain.”
For a petite woman she packed a punch. She was right in his personal space, her finger poking at his chest and her expression fiery. “Explain? You want to explain why you broke Carrie’s heart? Because I don’t think you can justify that, you sniveling rat-faced git. I told her you were a good guy. I defended your pompous ass and then you go and do this. I can’t believe you, Max.”
She was the second person that said that he’d broken Carrie’s heart. In his eyes, she was the one that had broken his but clearly that message hadn’t been conveyed to his friends.
“Sniveling rat-faced git? I can tell you’ve been spending time with Nate.”
“Fuck you.”
Sighing, he lowered himself into a chair, exhausted and wrung out with all the emotions he’d been dealing with since seeing Carrie. “You don’t want to hear my side of the story then? Because I’m not the villain here.”
Nate returned to the living room, a coffee cup in hand. “If you’re saying Carrie is the villain then you can just get the fuck out, mate. She didn’t turn into the world’s biggest horse’s arse.”
“I am not saying anyone is at fault. Can I please have that coffee and explain? I could use a few paracetamols too if you have them. I have a splitting headache.”
“Suffer,” Paige replied with relish, sitting on the couch to his left and leaning against the arm. “Now start talking before I change my mind and throw your ass back on the London streets.”
With fits and starts and a second cup of coffee, Max told his story. How he and Carrie had a rough start but things had become good – very good – between them. He’d been happy and in love. When he’d mentioned the “L” word, Paige had rolled her eyes but he’d insisted that he was genuinely in love with Carrie. He’d been thinking about a future with her.
“If you love her so much then why did you act like a cold bastard when she returned from LA?” Paige asked in an exasperated tone. “Because I can tell you right now she didn’t sleep with Tyler.”
Maybe she hadn’t then, but now? They’d looked happy at dinner tonight and Tyler had held her hand across the table. Max had wanted to rip his friend’s arm from its socket.
“Because I was angry.” Max hopped up from his seat and paced the space in front of the fireplace. “Because she used me to get a role in Tyler’s movie. I’m tired of being used by women to get ahead in their careers, but I do love her.”
Paige and Nate glanced at each other and shook their heads. Nate’s brow was furrowed and he briefly dropped his head in his hands before replying.
“This is the first I’m hearing about Carrie taking a role in Tyler’s movie. Why on earth do you think she’s done that?”
“Because she was in LA when she was supposed to be in Florida. She told me she was going to her brother’s party but then she was seen at a movie studio with Tyler.”
Groaning, Paige’s expression turned anguished. “Max, she was in Florida. I’m the one that called her in the middle of her brother’s party and asked her to come to LA for a meeting with the studio. Me. Not Tyler. He just happened to be there—why I do not know. You’ll have to ask him. I think they had coffee or something. That’s it.”
Pausing, Max regarded Paige closely for any signs of deception. She looked like she was telling the truth but he wouldn’t put it past her to cover for Carrie. “Why did you want her in LA?”
Nate stood and clapped a hand on Max’s shoulder. “We haven’t made a big, huge announcement yet but Carrie is going to be a producer for the Flynn movie. That’s why she needed to be at the studio. She’d been working on the production schedule and the budget and she was needed to make the presentation to the executives. Frankly, we thought you were already aware of this development.”
Producer? It would explain all the questions about moviemaking that she’d asked him.
“Wait…no.”
Max’s sluggish brain couldn’t seem to comprehend Nate’s words.
Paige nodded. “Carrie is a producer. As for a role in Tyler’s movie, I’ve talked to her every single day and she’s never mentioned it so I doubt that’s a real thing. I know he asked her but she was pretty adamant that she didn’t want it.” Throwing her arms wide in frustration, Paige gave him a pitying look. “Why did you think she’d taken a role? Did Tyler tell you?”
“Better yet,” Nate interjected. “Why would you be all upset thinking she was using you to get a part in a movie? If anything, she would be using me or Paige, not that we’d care. We’re the ones that introduced her to Tyler and everyone else. This didn’t have a goddamn thing to do with you.”
Fuck. Just…fuck.
It was beginning to dawn on Max exactly what he’d done. The consequences of his actions were horrific. He’d ruined his relationship with Carrie based on lies and innuendo. He’d been taken in. Again. But if Nate and Paige were telling the truth, not by her.
And he had no reason to think that his good friends were lying to him.
“Alana.”
Nate shook his head, his eyes wide with shock. “No, tell me no. You didn’t.”
“She said…” Max couldn’t speak through the lump in his throat. His stomach churned and he had an overwhelming urge to purge his very expensive dinner. This could not be happening. This could simply not be happening. “There were pictures of them together. Before. In London.”
Tears were sliding down Paige’s cheeks. “Max, you idiot. Yes, there were pictures but so what? You of all people know how the tabloids twist things to make them look like something completely different than the reality. You trusted that bitch? Over Carrie? How could you? Do you have any idea how much you’ve hurt Carrie? Do you?”
Somehow this couldn’t all be his fault. “Why didn’t Carrie tell me about the producing job?”
If she’d just said something, none of this would have happened. None of it.
“She said she tried when she got back to London but you said you already knew,” Paige replied thickly, dashing at her wet face with the back of her hand. “But you’re saying now that you didn’t already know.”
Replaying the conversation in his head, Max could see where it had all gone wrong. Carrie had tried to tell him her good news but he’d been so intent on the thought that she’d betrayed him he’d assumed he already knew what she was going to tell him. He hadn’t wanted her to say anything so he’d interrupted her at every turn.
Because he was stupid and clearly didn’t deserve her.
A fresh spate of tears ran down Paige’s face. “She couldn’t do one thing right in your eyes. You were just waiting for her to screw up so you could end things. Then you could tell everyone that you were right. You knew all along that women only want you for one thing. That you have lousy taste in females. Well, this time you got it right, you fucker, but you screwed it up. So now you’re not only wrong but you’re alone. I hope you’re happy because you deserve this. You deserve to rot in hell for what you did to her.”
With that, Paige turned and fled up the stairs leaving Max and Nate alone. Swallowing hard, Max tried to formulate the words that would somehow make this less awful but he couldn’t think of one single solitary thing. It was devastating. He’d lost the love of his life through his own massive stupidity.
“You fucked up, mate.” Nate’s accent was heavier than usual. “You’re lucky Paige is letting you walk out of here with your manhood. I, on the other hand, don’t have that kind of self-control.”
“Listen, I know I–”
Max didn’t get any further. Nate’s fist connected with Max’s cheekbone, sending him flying backward and into the wall with a thud and a curse. Stumbling to remain standing, he groaned and had to grab onto an end table to keep steady on his now wobbly legs. His face throbbed with every pump of his heart and it reminded him of the night he’d goaded Carrie to slap him. A little hurt to ease the big one of losing her. This pain might not be enough though. He might need to ask Nate to punch him again.
“That was for Carrie,” Nate said through clenched teeth. “Paige might let you walk out of here unhurt but I can’t. You need to open your fucking eyes or you’re going to miss the best parts of life.”
Rubbing the abused side of his face, Max grimaced. “I’ll give you that one. I know I fucked up but I don’t know how to fix this. What do I do? You messed up and got Paige back. What do I do now? I came here tonight to offer Carrie whatever she wanted as long as she came back to me. But my eyes are well and truly open. Now I realize I am the bad guy in this relationship but I can’t think of anything that could make this right. But I love her, Nate. I really do love her.”
“Balls,” Nate muttered under his breath. “I can’t believe I’m going to help you. You don’t deserve it. Sit down and let’s talk about this. There has to be something you can do. Groveling is probably your best option, but I doubt even that will work. You’ve fucked up well and proper this time.”
Max feared his friend was right. He’d lost Carrie forever. He hated himself more than she ever could. He’d done this with his own arrogance and stupidity.
His fear of not being enough.
He’d pushed her away and he doubted she’d ever give him a second chance. But if there was even an ounce of hope he’d take it. He’d beg, plead, and grovel.
It was time to do some housecleaning in his life.