Page 12 of The Elusive Billionaire

But I chose Happiness for him. I’m here. I tried.

And I failed.

Or more accurately, Savvy fucking Monroe failed me.

Fool me once, shame on me, but you won’t get a second chance because you’re instantly dead to me.

And that’s where I stand with my new sister-in-law’s best friend. She’s dead to me.

It’s my own fault. I never should have gotten close to her. I never should have confided in a stranger I met online, and I sure as hell never should have announced to half the town that I was getting a baby of my own.

Not because I’m embarrassed by that, but because they’ve put up roadblocks at every turn. They want me to be happy, but they don’t want me to be happy on my terms.

Braxton and Sage have moved on with their lives, and I’m happy for them. Truly.

After my sister died, Braxton and I took on the burden and the privilege of raising Sage. Ace was there for moral support, but every decision we made from the time we were twelve on was done with Sage in mind.

Braxton’s married now. Sage is attending the local college here and is treated like a superstar on the football team.

They moved on without me, but the one thing I’ve done right in my life is Sage. I want that again. I want to be responsible for someone. I want to give a child everything I never had growing up.

I want a little girl, though another boy would be fine too. The only logical way to make this happen is through surrogacy.

The last thing I expected was to form a connection with a woman via the surrogacy app, only to find out that the woman I spilled my secrets to was none other than Savvy Monroe.

That’s the real reason I fled home to California as soon as I could. Savvy made me question who I am at my core. I felt asthough I were cheating on her when I would talk to Firefly and vice versa.

It makes no logical sense, and I’m always logical. Savvy and I weren’t dating, we were never exclusive, and she made sure I knew that every chance she got. We weren’t even friends with benefits. We were…benefits.

Liar.

Fuck me and my conscience.

I didn’t want to feel anything for Savvy.

Slightly more truthful.

But she always, always showed up when I was at my weakest point. And now I know why. She got me to open up to her as Firefly, then used that information to—to what exactly?

I still don’t know. She didn’t take advantage of me with the information. She just…showed up.

It’s so damn confusing. All I know for sure is that when I saw that message on her phone, betrayal like nothing I’d ever felt before cut me to my very soul.

After six months, I’m no closer to finding answers, but I also couldn’t stay away from Braxton and Sage any longer. I’d already cut out on Sage’s football team, where I’d agreed to help coach, like a class A asshole. Sure, I flew back to work with the quarterbacks once a week, but I never stayed more than a day.

I never gave anyone a straight answer either, and I know they’re fed up with my bullshit, especially now that Braxton is going to be a dad.

The worst part is, I’ve never in my life backed down from a challenge or a fight.

But Savvy broke something I don’t know how to fix, and it’s slowly killing whatever kindness I have left.

Something moves in the distance, a flash of yellow through the sheets of rain. What the hell is out there?

There’s no way though. Someone would have to walk up my mile-long driveway in this weather, and it’s?—

For fuck’s sake.

I set my mug of coffee on the porch railing, then stand straight with my arms crossed over my chest.