“I’m pretty sure you and I have nothing to discuss in regards to Kate.”

“I just need two minutes of your time.”

“The clock just started. Say what you came to say and get out.”

Dickhead takes a deep breath. “I fell in love with her.”

“That’s what you came here for? You wasted your time, don’t waste any more of mine. I really don’t care to hear about your love life. I think you got the wrong brother.” I pick up a stack of documents for my next meeting. But the moron doesn’t take the hint. Instead, he sits.

“She doesn’t love me.”

I glare at him and say nothing.

“She loves you.”

“Didn’t look like it when she was leading you into that honeymoon suite.” The words taste as bitter as they’re spoken.

“It was an act.” Dickhead rubs the back of his neck. “We cheated. She told me about her family and why she really did the show. We pretended to be together because that’s what Miles wanted. I chose her so she could win the money.”

“So you didn’t spend the night together?” I have no idea why I ask, because anything but an unequivocal no is going to kill me.

“Dude, she made me sleep on the floor. Wouldn’t even share the big bed with me.”

“So the whole tension between you and Jessica and Kate was an act?”

“Well, not all of it.”

I glare at him.

“Turns out Jessica was on your brother’s payroll the whole time. He was paying her to stir the pot.” He shrugs. “Plus, I ended up sleeping with Jessica after I figured out I had no chance with Kate. Probably wasn’t the smartest move. I was wishing it was Kate the whole time.”

“Quit while you’re ahead,” I warn.

Dickhead chuckles. “Anyway. She’s a great girl. But I never had a shot. She’s in love with you.”

“A lot’s changed.”

“That hasn’t.”

Dickhead stands and extends his hand. This time I take it. He gets to the doorway before I call after him. “Hey.”

He turns.

“Thanks.”

He nods with a defeated smile.

“Maybe you’re not such a dickhead after all.”

chapter forty-one

Kate—

1 day later

Today I’m reminded why I did the right thing. The smile on Kyle’s face when he returned home from spinal cord stimulation therapy is contagious. He’s regained a small amount of voluntary control of his muscles, enough so that he could “flex” for me as I helped him back into bed. His hope shined so bright, a little even warmed me today.

Ever since Flynn came by to tell me about his conversation with Miles, I’ve regressed back to the depressing state I was in right after Cooper and I broke up. I feel like I’m missing a few pieces of the puzzle still. Even if it’s true that Miles blackmailed Cooper into breaking things off, and he did it to save me from myself, how could he have turned to Tatiana so soon? Why wouldn’t he have come to me? I spend hours trying to figure out why I feel like something’s missing, but in the end the only thing I’m clear about is that I’ve lost a piece of my heart.

My phone buzzes and I smile seeing his name on the caller ID.

“What, you don’t call, you don’t write?” Frank’s jovial voice booms loudly through the car speaker.

“You miss me, don’t you?” I say.

“I do, kid. I do. Are you too big and famous to play cards with us anymore?”

“Is that an invitation or just a general question?”

“Can you come tonight? Eight o’clock.” There’s a smile in his voice. “Grip and Ben took all my money last time. I need you to teach the bums a lesson.”

I laugh. “I’d love to come.”

“All right, kid. I’ll see you later.”

I park and sit in the car for a few minutes outside the studio. The memory of the first night I played cards here months ago still affects me, even through my sadness. I had no idea who Cooper was, but the flex of his forearm almost had me losing hands a few times—my focus so thrown by the effect the man had on me from the moment I laid eyes on him.

Taking a deep cleansing breath, I push the memory to the back of my mind and lift the case of Stella out of the back of my Jeep and head into the studio.

“Frank?” My voice echoes in the cavernous empty hangar. The usual card table isn’t set up yet. The large room is perfectly still, an invitation to my mind to run off and daydream.

The heavy steel door clanks open loudly, then slams shut.

“I was beginning to wonder if I had the wrong night.” I turn, expecting to find Frank, and freeze—my gaze locking on brilliant green eyes. I ached to see him, dreamed of running to him, yet a tangled mesh of feelings stir inside me that keeps me rooted in place.

As he moves across the room with his usual confidence and grace, every emotion I forced down over the last month comes flooding to the surface all at once.

I missed him every second of every day, but seeing him before me makes me remember all the reasons why. The way he looks at me like he wants to devour me, his cocky confidence that borders on arrogance, his irresistible charm, the way he commands a room without having to say or do a thing.

My heart pounds in my chest.

My mind finally stops whirling with questions and goes blank.

Cooper stops as he reaches where I’m standing. I don’t move an inch, my feet securely cemented to the earth.

I look at him. He stares at me.

His face is a mask. I can’t tell if he’s happy to see me or angry I’m here. While what’s going on inside of him may be completely unreadable, there’s a rash of emotions churning inside my own stomach that are impossible to ignore.

He folds his arms over his chest in a closed-off stance.

I don’t know what to say or do. Maybe he’s just as surprised to see me as I am to see him. His beautiful face is somber, and his green eyes are distant. It’s physically painful to be this close, yet feel so far away.

The seconds tick by. I’m certain he must be able to hear the pounding of my heartbeat, it’s so loud. Yet we just stare—neither of us saying a word. I long for him to open his folded arms and invite me in, but he doesn’t.

Mimicking his stance, I wrap my shaky arms around my waist to occupy them. So badly they want to reach out and touch him—I’m afraid they might. My body has a mind of its own when it comes to this man.

“How are you?” Unable to take the deafening silence any longer, I finally speak. His green eyes darken with emotion. He’s angry with me.

“How do you think I am?” The pain in his voice slices through me.

I close my eyes. Blinking back tears when I reopen them. “Do you want me to leave?” I ask softly.

“I wouldn’t have arranged for you to be here if I wanted you to leave.”

A spark of hope ignites in the darkness I’ve been shrouded in.

“I don’t understand?”

Cooper blows out a rush of air. “Neither do I, Kate.” He rakes his fingers through his hair, then regains his intimidating composure.

Our eyes lock in a challenging stare off, until I finally break. All the sadness I’ve been carrying, all the hurt and anger, bubbles to the top. My need to know the truth is greater than any silly race to win our stalemate. “Did Miles threaten you with things that could hurt me to make you break things off?”

He swallows. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have figured out a way.”

“You said it yourself best. You couldn’t give winning your all while we were together. If it were just me he’d ruin, I’d never have walked away. I’d have let him take everything I own to keep you.” He pauses and his voice drops lower. “I know how much you love your brother. It was too much to risk.”

He’s right—I’d never have been able to connect with Flynn like I did if he didn’t free me. Since Flynn came to see me, all I could focus on was how Cooper could tear us apart. I was upset he didn’t trust me enough to figure it out together. But in this moment, I finally understand. My eyes well with tears. I’ve been so busy being mad at him for making the decision without me, I couldn’t see what he really did. He made the decision for me.