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“You’re the best girlfriend Felix has ever had,” Collette says as she gives me a hug. “We need to stay in touch.”
“Yes, for sure,” Joelle adds. Aw. That is so nice as I give them both my phone number, probably a good idea anyway if they need me for anything.
“Jo, I’ll forward you the video in case Kitty wants to do something stupid. Do not share this with anyone, otherwise, it could come back and bite us in the ass,” I warn her.
“I won’t. I’ll only use it as a last resort,” she promises.
Operation Runaway Groom is activated.
33
FELIX
“How are you feeling?” I ask my brother as we take off from Florence Airport inbound to New York.
“Relief, if I’m being honest,” he says.
“Why didn’t you tell me how unhappy you were?” I ask him.
“You were going through your own shit. I couldn’t unload my shit onto you, too.” He takes a sip of his scotch.
“What happened? You guys seemed happy.”
“Fucking ego. I thought bagging a baddie supermodel like Kitty meant that I had made it. Then, when people started celebrating us, and the endorsements started to roll in, and the money, the next thing I knew, I was turning into someone else. It wasn’t until I went back to New York and attended Alberto’s funeral, and I saw Issy again that I realized how far I had deviated from who I was. Got swept up in the accolades, the fame, the money.”
“I’m sorry, I had no idea,” I tell him.
He shakes his head. “Everything went south when I got home from New York, everything about Kitty irked me. She was oblivious to it because she is that self-absorbed. I didn’t have time to think about my personal life because we madethe playoffs and we were determined to win The Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, we didn’t, and before I knew it the wedding was around the corner. I thought it was too close to cancel anything, but in hindsight, I wish I had.”
“You can’t keep bottling things up,” I tell him.
“I know.”
“How are you feeling about what you saw? I can’t imagine that was good. I just heard my ex-kissing, I think seeing her fucking would have pushed me over the edge.”
“I felt numb. At least it explained the weird tension between us, why she was always on the phone whispering. She would tell me it was wedding stuff, and I didn’t have the mental capacity to care. I never suspected she would be screwing the owner who is like thirty years older than her.”
“Not sure what’s worse, a young teammate or an old billionaire owner,” I try to tease him, hoping to lighten the mood.
“Neither is good.” He smirks. “It was nice of Harper to pull through for me, especially as she hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you.”
“Oh no, she hates me, with good reason. Wish I could turn back time and change the stupid choices I made.” My brother sighs.
“Like not cheating on Issy?”
His head whips around. “You know about that?”
“Just found out recently. Harper accidentally spilled the beans. Issy doesn’t know, I know,” I warn him. “Why would you mess around on Issy?”
“Because I was fucking stupid. I got engrossed in all that frat boy shit, the whole big man on campus, succumbed to peer pressure, stupid shit. Issy loved me and I fucked it up, for what?”
“Why did you never go after her all these years later?” I ask him.
“She seemed happy. Plus, she made it obvious she wanted nothing to do with me. It was a mistake, and I guess I needed to live with the consequences.” He sighs as he takes another sip. I don’t know what to say to my brother to make him feel better. “You seem happy with Harper.”
“I am. Are you surprised?”