Julian straightened up. “Oh, I wasn’t reprimanding you.”
For the first time, I noticed Riley’s purse sitting on the end of the bench. Picking it up, I walked over to where she still stood by the doorway. She silently accepted the purse, staring at the water behind me.
“What are you doing here?” she quietly asked.
“The better question is what are you doing here?”
She tilted her face back up, her eyes narrow. “I can go wherever I want and do what I want with whoever I please.”
What she said was too suggestive to handle. Jealousy consumed me. I fought to keep my breathing even. “And how does Seth play into that? What were you doing out here with him?”
“I...” Riley fell silent and pursed her lips. Her eyes darted over my shoulder and then back to me. “I was just talking to him.”
Reaching up, I lightly touched her cheek. “And then you randomly started crying?”
I expected her to recoil at my touch, but she stayed put. “I shouldn’t have come out here by myself.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
Riley defiantly lifted her chin. “But I did, and that was my own decision to make.”
I scoffed. “When did you get so cocky?”
She exhaled, and suddenly looked sad. “I had to. Things happened, and I had to.”
My throat tightened. “Did Seth force you to do anything?”
Her cheeks puffed. “No. Not really. I mean, he tried, but I locked myself in the cabin.” She looked past me. “Is he all right?”
“He blacked out,” Julian answered, coming to stand with us. “He’ll probably be up and moving about in ten minutes or so, but we should probably get him checked out by a doctor, just to be safe.”
“Or we can leave him here,” I answered, sliding my eyes to the bastard.
Julian nodded in acknowledgment. “As much as I like that thought, it’s not the best solution, publicity wise. If anyone cruises by and sees him passed out, they’ll call the authorities. With Seth’s parents being who they are, the story will be all over the internet tomorrow.”
“Right,” I answered through tight teeth. “I guess we bring him back with us.”
“It’s the only answer. I’ll take him back to his place and get a doctor to come to the apartment.”
We moved quickly, pulling Seth into some shade. Julian took the helm of the yacht, which was harder to sail than his own, and Riley and I steered his boat back. The trek across the water was a silent one. Riley stood as far away from me as she could, her arms folded and her eyes cast toward Manhattan. I wanted to speak, but I was once again in that frozen state. I could tell Ann-Marie how I felt about Riley, but around Riley herself, it became a different story.
Something bad had almost happened to her today. Knowing what could have occurred made me want to fall to my knees and yell until my lungs gave out. I’d let her go before, and I couldn’t make that mistake again. With Riley gone, I was a mess. With Riley gone, she was in danger. Nothing was right with her not in my life.
I wished I could just come out and say these things, but it was probably too late. I’d hoped that she’d be thrilled and grateful to see me coming to her rescue on Seth’s yacht, but she still looked at me with that cold distance in her eyes. I could have saved her from a burning building, and she would still hate me.
We docked the boats, and I helped Julian carry Seth to the end of the pier. He moaned a little bit and shook his head side to side, but his eyes were still closed. Julian’s driver pulled up, and we loaded Seth into the backseat. Julian turned and gave me a parting handshake.
“I’ll call Davis and have him come over,” he said. “He can take a turn at babysitting.”
“Sounds good. Let me know what happens.”
“Will do.” His gaze fell on Riley. “It was a pleasure meeting you. I wish it had been under better circumstances.”
“Same here,” Riley murmured.
Julian gave me one more look, but since his face was flat and emotionless, I couldn’t tell what it meant. He climbed into the car and rolled away, leaving me and Riley alone again.
“I need to go home,” she announced.
I touched her elbow, afraid to let her take so much as one step away from me. “Come back to my place.”
“Why?”
“Because… it’s closer. You can take a shower, and I’ll make you something to eat.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“We need to talk.”
She rubbed her temples. “Do you have another secret to reveal to me?”
“Something like that,” I answered, the words feeling thick on my tongue.
Riley closed her eyes for a few seconds, looking as if she might be thinking or praying. Finally, she opened them. “Okay. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
Riley
I tilted my face toward the shower’s spray. The warm water hit my eyelids and cheeks with forceful splatters. Each drop washed away a second of the day. Ounce by ounce, the water cleansed me of my fears and worries.
Lathering up some soap, I washed every inch of my skin. Xavier’s shower was the most luxurious one I’d ever seen, with two showerheads and a long bench for sitting down. It almost seemed wrong to be enjoying it all by myself.
I turned the water off and grabbed a towel before I could let myself go with that train of thought. Things were done between me and Xavier. Just because I stood in his apartment getting cleaned up didn’t mean anything. He’d said he wanted to talk, so we were going to talk. After that, I’d leave.
And probably never see him again.
The thought made me ache with pain. It was easier convincing myself I was moving on from Xavier when he wasn’t right in front of me. I’d broken at his office the other day, and I was afraid that being in his apartment meant I would break again. I had to be careful. I needed to take care of myself. I hadn’t on Seth’s yacht, but I needed to do so now.
I dried off and put my dress back on. Xavier had left a shirt and shorts hanging on the door for me, but I couldn’t put them on. Doing so would be taking the first step on a very slippery slope.
With my hair still damp, I left the bathroom and entered a silent apartment. I trekked slowly down the hallway, peeking around the doorway of each room in search of Xavier.
I found him in the dining room. There was a spread of take-out boxes and plates on the table, but he wasn’t sitting in front of them. Instead, he stood looking out the window, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Hey,” I said.
He jerked in surprise and turned to look at me. “Hey. Have a seat. I had some Indian delivered. I didn’t know what you would want, so I got a few different things.”