Her face fell in a mask of sympathy. “Oh honey.”
“Why would anyone ever want to fall in love if it hurts this bad?” I asked on a sniffle. “I mean, this really sucks.”
“That’s it,” Alma spoke, spinning on her heel and heading toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Mac called after her.
“To the store to get some good wine while one of you calls and orders pizza. Tonight we drink, eat a million calories, and binge watch Yellowstone so we can pretend that men like Rip exist in real life.” She pointed her finger at me. “Then tomorrow, you’re going to pull yourself up, shower, and start living again. Got it?”
I nodded, feeling the corner of my lips tremble with a suppressed smile. Alma wasn’t the mama-bear type of our group. She was more the let’s-party-and-have-the-time-of-our-lives one, so seeing her like this was more than just a little heartwarming. “Yes ma’am.”
She nodded resolutely. “Good. And if you find yourself slipping again, you do not slip into a black hole of 90’s grunge music and bad hygiene. You call your girls and we’ll come over and do this again and again, as long as it takes for you to feel better.”
Okay, so maybe—definitely—I was heartbroken, but I still had some incredible women at my back. Despite how I’d been feeling the past few days, I started to think that, maybe, with their help, I’d be okay.
Eventually.
28
Pierce
God, I was a fucking idiot.
It had been two weeks since I ended things with Marin, and that black cloud, those shadows that had followed me every single day before she came into my life, had returned, blocking out the light I’d had shining down on me the past several weeks.
I’d made a huge fucking mistake. But the worst part was, I couldn’t bring myself to do what I needed to do in order to make things right.
Having to see her almost every day, even for just the short blip of time it took her to get from my front door to her car, and not being able to touch her or hold her was a special kind of torment. The few times I’d gotten a glimpse at those tawny eyes what I saw in them felt like someone had punched a hole right through my chest. The light in them was gone, darkened by sadness, and it was all my fault. I’d done that to her. I’d snuffed out that light, and I hated myself for it.
That hate had put me in a foul mood that I’d been taking out on everyone around me. My assistant had gotten to the point where she turned and ran in the opposite direction whenever she saw me coming. Not that I blamed her. I’d been acting like a prick.
The intercom on my desk phone buzzed, pulling me from my self-inflicted misery. “Mr. Walton?”
That spike of irritation coursed through me once more as I hit the button. “Abigale, I told you, no interruptions.”
Christ, I was going to really need to pull out the stops come Christmas and get her something amazing, like a week-long cruise, or she was liable to quit on me.
“I know sir,” she said, her voice small and shaky. “I’m sorry, but there’s someone here to see you. A Tali Allen? She doesn’t have an appointment, but she was insistent that you’d want to talk to her. I’ll send her away if—”
My back shot straight at the name. “No!” I spat out quickly. “No, that’s all right. I’ll go get her myself.”
“Oh . . . okay.”
I shot from my chair and bolted out of my office, stopping to back-peddle to my assistant’s desk. She looked up at me with no small amount of trepidation. “Abigale, I’m sorry for how I’ve been treating you the past few days.”
Her eyes went wide with surprise. “Oh . . . um, it-it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” I told her, feeling like a piece of shit. “I’ve been in a bad mood that’s all my own fault, and I’ve been taking it out on you. I’ll try and do better.”
I waited for her nod before I turned back around and headed for the reception area. A woman I could only assume was Tali was standing a few feet from the desk, looking around the lobby when I stepped through the glass doors and called her name. She looked so much like her little sister, it wasn’t funny, and I felt my breathing grow choppy as her eyes met mine
She turned around and gave me a slow, appraising once-over, the expression on her face telling me she wasn’t all that impressed with what she saw. “Swanky digs you got here. You guys must bring in some serious cash.”
I felt a grin tug at my lips. She had the same fire and attitude as her sister, and while it was cute on the woman standing before me, it was even more adorable on Marin. “If we’re good at what we do.” I stepped aside and held an arm out. “How about we go to one of the conference rooms for some privacy. Are you hungry? I could get my assistant to order in some food.”
God, I was nervous. I couldn’t remember the last time that happened to me. But this woman here held a whole hell of a lot of sway with Marin, and if I had any chance in hell of getting her to stop hating me, I knew I’d need Tali Allen in my corner.
Her blank expression gave absolutely nothing away as she started toward me. “That’s not necessary. I won’t be here long.”
She let me lead her deeper down the hall to an empty conference room, spinning around to pin me in place with an unhappy scowl as soon as I closed the door behind me.
“So,” I started awkwardly. “How are you—”
“Cut the pleasantries bullshit. I’ll make this quick. I had to Google Pierce Walton, attorney, and Richmond to locate you, and the stupid internet gave me two freaking posibilities. So I’ve already gone through this whole thing with a poor, unsuspecting guy who nearly called the cops on me before I found the real you, and I’m a little annoyed I have to repeat myself. That said, I’m not here to be friendly,” she snapped. “I’m here to tell you you’re a dumbass.”
I let out a sigh, lifting an arm to rub at the back of my neck. “I know.”
“I can’t believe you’d—wait. What?”
I looked up, meeting her wide, bewildered eyes. “I said I know. I’m a dumbass.”
She shook her head, and I got the sense that she’d been expecting this conversation to start off much differently and was trying to shift her plan of attack since I’d caught her off guard.
She threw her arms out at her sides. “Well, if you already know that, why the hell haven’t you done something to fix it?”
“Tali, it’s not that simple.”
“Do you love her?”
The word yes was on the tip of my tongue, desperate to be put out into the world, but I just couldn’t make myself say it. “There are things you don’t understand—”
“You mean about your wife?” My chin jerked back in shock at her question, and a small amount of that hostility in her eyes and body drifted away. “Marin told me. She wasn’t gossiping or anything like that, but she knew she was developing feelings for you, real feelings, and it scared her.” As if she’d sensed herself softening, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin up, all hard and protective once more. “The difference between you and her, though, is that she was at least brave enough to put herself out there, despite being scared.”