“Let me do something, Noah. Tell me what to do.”
“There’s nothing to do.”
“She probably just needs time to calm down. Then you can work it out.”
He wasn’t so sure that was possible. That look on her face . . .
“Well, congrats on the deal.”
“Thanks.” But now it was all for nothing. He’d mostly done it for Libby . . . and now she was gone. He knew he should be happy to have helped the business, but he couldn’t muster much emotion for that either.
He considered leaving—he’d found a flight to Seattle for that night—but what if she changed her mind and came back? So he didn’t leave the room for the rest of the night. He found her wedding dress in the closet, puddled on the floor. Hope rushed through him. She loved the dress. Maybe she’d come back for it.
He ordered room service in the evening and steadily drank all the bottles in the mini bar. By three a.m., he knew it was hopeless and passed out on the bed. When he awoke, she was the first thing on his mind. The wedding dress wasn’t next to him on the bed where he’d left it.
Had she come back?
He bolted upright and looked around the room, but the only thing he saw was the room service tray and half a dozen empty mini bottles of alcohol. The dress lay on the floor. He must have kicked it off in his sleep.
Libby was really gone.
He was back in Seattle by mid-afternoon and he headed straight to the office. Josh was sitting at his desk when Noah walked in.
Josh looked up in surprise, a grin spreading across his face. “What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you for at least a few days.” His gaze took in Noah’s rumpled clothes and his smile faded. “Why do you look like death warmed over?”
Noah ignored him and tossed a file on his desk. “The Abrahams deal. Signed, sealed, and delivered.”
Josh sat upright and his eyes widened as he opened the folder. “How’d you pull this off?”
“What the hell does it matter? It’s all there. The payment schedule is worked out in there too.”
Josh started thumbing through the papers. “So do you want to handle this here or in K.C.? Megan said Libby was moving here, but I figured I’d check.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m not handling it at all.”
Josh pushed back his chair and stood. “Wait. You just got this account. Why wouldn’t you want to handle it?”
“In case you forgot, I quit last week.”
“But the deal . . . ?” Josh sounded confused.
“I got it for you. I thought I’d bring it in as a peace offering to get my job back, but now I don’t give a fuck.” He turned around. “Congrats.”
“Noah!” Josh called out after him, his voice worried now. “You look like you’ve been on a three-day bender. What happened?”
Noah spun around, furious. “As if you and Megan haven’t been laughing about it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Look, Megan and Blair made no secret of the fact they don’t approve, so I’m sure they’re happy that Libby left me.”
Josh’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in shock. “What? When? What happened?”
“What does it matter? She came to her senses. Everyone’s happy.”
Josh shook his head. “That’s not true, Noah. What happened?” His face went as pale as skim milk. “Oh, God. Megan. She told Libby about you quitting. She was upset you hadn’t told her.”
His chest squeezed tight with her betrayal. “Megan hates me that much?”
“No, Noah. That’s not it at all. She was just worried you two got married so quickly.” He held up his hands in defense. “And yes, I reminded her that she and I were married a hell of a lot faster.”
Noah found it difficult to breathe.
“But if Libby left you, where is she?”
The answer was obvious. She would have gone to the only place she would feel completely safe. The thought that he’d hurt her so much brought a lump to his throat he found difficult to talk past. “She went home to Tortoise.”
Josh blinked in confusion before recognition registered in his eyes. “Oh . . . her dog.”
He nodded, then turned to leave.
“Noah,” Josh called out in alarm. “Stop.”
He stopped in Josh’s doorway. Their receptionist’s worried glance reminded him that he looked like a mess. He’d slept in his clothes from the day before—the smell of Libby was still faintly in the weave of shirt, and he couldn’t bear to change. That was the last part he had of her and once it was gone, she would be lost to him forever. The thought brought him close to a breakdown, but he didn’t even care. Let them think the worst . . . they probably already did.
Josh grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the room, shutting the door behind them. He pushed Noah into a chair and then sat on the edge of his desk. “Noah, you have to go after her.”
His brother’s words broke down his last layer of control and his chest heaved as he struggled to keep it together. “She hates me.” He heaved out a shortened version of the story, then said, “I tried to tell her nothing happened between Tiffany and me, but she refused to believe me.” A sob rented from his chest. “I deserve it. After everything I’ve done, all the people I’ve hurt, I deserve every bit of it.” He looked up at Josh with tear-filled eyes. “She’s the one good thing in my life and I hurt her so badly. I don’t deserve her.”
Josh leaned toward him. “No, Noah. That’s not true. You deserve every bit of happiness and more.”
Noah gritted his teeth as tears spilled from his eyes. “If you knew everything I’ve done, you wouldn’t be saying that.”
“The women?” Josh shook his head. “They were all consenting adults who knew what they were getting into. You never lied or led them on, Noah. I know you well enough to know that.”
Noah released a harsh laugh. “No, not the women.”
Josh was silent for a moment. “Are you talking about Dad?”
Noah’s eyes swung up to meet his brother’s as his heartbeat ratcheted up enough for him to hear it.
“I know you and Dad didn’t get along. I know I was his favorite. It made me uncomfortable that he gave me more attention than you, but you had Mom.”
Guilt clawed at Noah’s chest and some feral part of him decided it was finally time Josh knew the truth. Noah needed his brother to hate him as much as he hated himself. “I killed Dad.”
Josh stared at him like he was trying to sell him property on Mars. “Dad died of a heart attack here in the office while you were at school over a hundred miles away. You did not kill Dad.”
He shook his head, nearly choking on the bitterness in his heart. “I may not have been here, but I killed him anyway.”
“What in the world are you talking ab—” Recognition filled his eyes. “Dad never called you.”
Now it was Noah’s turn to be confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Dad told me about his visit to you at school. He was really upset that you were buying drugs for your ADD and he thought you were dealing too. He told me he’d changed his mind about making you partner and he wanted to give the whole business to me.”