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CHAPTER 16

“DID YOU SEE Luke’s face?” I asked Nick as we rode back in the car. My fingers picked at the folds of my dress, and I couldn’t stop them. A hole opened up near the seam. Oh, shiznits, Bradley was going to kill me.

“He looked slightly unhappy, I’ll admit.”

“Don’t try to trivialise this. He gave me the look he normally reserves for something he’s scraped off his shoe.” I smacked the back of my head on the seat in frustration.

“Why didn’t you try talking to him?”

“There was a rather large audience, in case you didn’t notice.”

“Fair enough, but you need to sort this out. Why don’t you call him?”

“I’m not having that kind of discussion over the phone. I need to speak to him in person. But I’m not doing that until he’s had a chance to calm down.”

“So you’ll go and see him tomorrow, then?”

Tomorrow? Tomorrow was less than an hour away. I broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of talking to Luke so soon.

“I think he needs a bit longer than that.”

Like a few weeks, maybe. I didn’t plan to be on the same continent as Luke tomorrow night.

“You’re doing it again, aren’t you?”

“Doing what?”

“Running away.”

I let out a long breath. A thin stream of pain. “I can’t help it. I hate confrontation.”

“Liar. You thrive on confrontation. I remember last October when you stood up to that senator on the White House committee and told him just how wrong his assumptions on Iraq were. You didn’t pull any punches.”

“That was different.”

“How was it different?”

“That senator was an idiot. I didn’t give a toss if he ended up hating me. With Luke, I do care.” I faced Nick head on, snapping because I couldn’t help myself. “There, I said it. I care. Are you happy now?”

He chuckled as I crossed my arms and stared out the window.

“So she does have a heart, after all.”

“Shut up.”

Two hours later as I paced the lounge with a gin and tonic in hand, my mind was still racing. I felt like I was playing a game of chess, trying to second guess Luke as well as plan my own moves. But at the moment, I longed to flip the board over.

Because I’d screwed up yet again.

I hated being on bad terms with people I liked. Hated it. I mean, I was still friends with every single one of my other exes. Okay, so Alaric had been AWOL for a few years, but he still sent birthday cards.

How could I fix this?

“You’re going to wear out the carpet,” Nick said from his vantage point on the sofa.

“Then I’ll buy a new one.”

I took another drink, ignoring the line of fire that burned down the back of my throat. Perhaps I should have added more than a splash of tonic.

“Look, if you can’t sleep, why don’t you come out to a club with me? Take your mind off things?”

“Not in the mood, Nick.” To my own ears I sounded petulant. None of this was his fault. I paused next to him and attempted a smile. “You go out if you want to. I’d only spoil your fun.”

He reached up and took my hand. “I don’t mind staying here with you.”

“No, you go. Take the team.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Once they’d gone, I knew I wouldn’t see any sign of them until tomorrow morning. That left me alone in the house. At least if I had a nightmare, which was happening with alarming regularity, nobody would hear me scream.

I switched to Scotch and swallowed a couple of fingers before heading to bed in the hope it would send me off. It didn’t help. Instead, I lay there wide awake on my thousand thread count sheets, wondering how much worse things would get before they got better.

I’d had bad times before, and as I stared at the darkened ceiling, I thought back over what had happened in my life so far to land me in my present position.

Diamonds and darkness, blood and sweat, fear, friendship, and one fatal attraction.

I thought of how I met my husband…