Page 172 of The Morally Grey Billionaires Boxset

Abby

I unlock the door to my apartment, then walk inside.

Penny dropped me off in front of my block.

She was very persistent about wanting to come in with me, but I refused.

I told her I needed time alone. She wasn’t very happy and made me promise I’d call Solene and talk to her.

I also told her Cade arranged for extra security on the apartment, which is when she finally backed down. I suppose Cade has his uses sometimes.

I still can’t believe that proposal was fake.

To think, I believed him! But he was so convincing.

I place my handbag and my backpack on the settee.

I didn’t bother with packing up all of my clothes.

I’m sure Cade will send them along soon enough.

I only picked up my essentials and was waiting outside Cade’s apartment building when Penny drew up in her car.

I couldn’t wait to get out of there. After how horrible he’d been to me—again—no way, was I going to stay under his roof.

And this, after that moving proposal. I should have realized he hadn’t changed—not after he’d refused to say those big three words to me.

He was using me—which he’d said he would—but after the way he made love to me and made me come over and over again, I thought things had changed between us.

And then, there’s how he’s looked into my eyes and calmed me down and told me to trust him before we’d walked onto that stage.

I swear, I thought I saw something in his gaze then.

I was sure he had feelings for me. How wrong I’d been.

All he cares about is his precious career and his revenge for what I did to him, which he’s taken many times over.

So, he’s right, we are even. Through. Over. That’s it. I’m probably never going to see him again, but if I do, it will be as strangers. Pressure drums at the backs of my eyes. I’m not going to cry. I’m not.

My phone vibrates, and I pull it out of my bag.

“Hey, babe, you okay?” Solene’s face fills my screen.

“Guess Penny called you, eh?”

“Is it that obvious I’m checking in on you?” She purses her lips. “I hope you told that bastard to go to hell before you left?”

“Not exactly.”

She rolls her eyes. “Asshole should be kicked off the team. He should lose his sponsorships. He needs to pay for what he did to you.”

“You’re right.” I bite the inside of my cheek. “But if any of that happened, I’m not sure it would make me happy.”

She searches my features. “You’re too fucking good for him, you know that?”

I half-smile. Everyone should have girlfriends who’re in your corner, no matter what. “I’m tempted to say you’re biased, but I think I’ll take the compliment.”

“You bet your ass, you should.”

I walk into the kitchen, then glance around the space.

Why does this no longer feel like home? Why do I feel like I left behind the one place I could have called home?

Why does he feel more like home? Especially when he’s been such a mean, horrible person to me all along.

Guess I am a masochist. There’s no other explanation.

There, finally. I head toward the bottle of red wine hidden behind the spices.

I balance the phone on the counter, then slide the bottle out and dust it off.

Yeah, that’s how long it’s been there. Or rather, how long I haven’t been in this apartment.

No matter. Wine doesn’t expire, does it?

Nah, should be okay. I hunt around for a corkscrew and open the bottle.

I pour some of the scarlet liquid into a wine glass, then grab my phone and walk over to the window.

“Salut,” I raise the glass toward the screen, then sip from it. It goes down smoothly, but it’s not enough to take the edge off of the pain that’s clinging to my nerve-endings. I take another sip, then tip up my chin. “Enough about me and my sad story. What about you?”

She winces.

“That bad?”

“Worse.” She steps into a patch of sunlight and a golden glow fills the screen. “Where are you?”

“By the pool.”

“How do you stand all that brightness?”

“It’s California—" She laughs. “There’s a reason Hollywood is situated here.”

“Isn’t all that sun overwhelming for you?”

She chews on her bottom lip. “If you mean, does it end up shining a light on my faults, then you’re right.”

“Oh, babe, that’s not what I meant.”

She hunches her shoulders. “I know.” She glances to the side then back at me. “The label dropped me.”

“What?” I straighten. “What do you mean, they dropped you? They can’t drop you. You’re their golden child. The girl with the magic voice who shot up the charts like a meteor—"

“—And crashed just as fast.” She begins to pace.

“Maybe finding fame so quickly was a curse. It would have been better to inch up the rankings. Might have made for a steadier ascent, and I’d have had time to ground myself at every phase.

This business is fickle, you know? And I’ve barely managed to keep afloat, let alone, take the time to network along the way and make friends in the industry who can help me out.

Anyway, when you’re unsuccessful, no one wants to be your friend, you know? ”

“I’m your friend. And so is Penny and my new friend Mira, who you haven’t met yet. Also, you have your sister Olivia, and through her, the network of the wives and girlfriends of the Sovranos and the Seven. So, you have a lot of people rooting for you.”

“Just not him.”

“Eh?” I blink. “You’re talking about Declan, I take it?”

“Declan who? He hasn’t bothered to reply to my last few messages.”

“Aww, maybe he’s just been busy.”

“No doubt.” She flips her hair over her shoulder. “At least, my manager is rooting for me. If it weren’t for that, I might just have closed up shop and gone home, you know?”

“But that’s good, right? It means you still have a chance.”

“Maybe.” She hunches her shoulders.

“I wish you were here. You shouldn’t be having to go through this on your own.”

“I was thinking of visiting, for your wedding, but guess that’s not happening, huh?”

“Not anytime soon, and not to him.”

“That ring though—" She fans herself. “It took pride of place in the video.”

“So, you’ve seen that social media clip, too, huh?”

“I’m as much of a media whore as you, babe.

Comes with the territory. I wish I didn’t pay so much attention to it, but when your career is sinking, you become desperate for any media article mentioning you.

Besides, that proposal?" She shakes her head.

“You could have fooled me for thinking he was sincere.”

“Well, he wasn’t.” I glance away, then back at her. “Can we change the topic? Talking about him is giving me heartburn and—"

There’s a sound behind me. I turn, and the phone slips from my fingers. “You?”