“What charity function?” I ask, feigning nonchalance.
“Honestly, I have no idea. There’s always something going on at that house, and since half of my clients go to these things, I always wind up getting invited,” Daniel tells me. “And since kissing ass is part of my job description, I go. At least I usually get a few new prospective clients out of it, so there’s that.”
The conversation Rylan and I had when he followed me out the door this morning, and annoyed the shit out of me during my run, flashes through my mind. Rylan is the only person in my life who knew about Shelby and what she meant to me. He knew it when it happened six years ago, and he had to listen to me talk about it all through our deployment and when we had moments of peace in the five years of hell after. He knew how I felt about her, he knew she was the one thing that kept me alive, and he knew as soon as he saw me chucking candles into the garbage can this morning, cursing and kicking the shit out of the damn thing, that our first meeting didn’t go as planned.
“You’ve been out of her life for six years. You have no idea what she went through or what’s gone on in her life during that time. You say you love her, carried this torch for her all these years, then man the fuck up and do something about it. Make her talk to you, find out what the hell is going on and stop being a pussy.”
A few hours ago, I had no intention of going back to her. Not after I’d seen what she’d become, knowing all the guilt I felt over the way I left her and the reasons why I left her were all for nothing. I gave up everything to keep her safe, and almost gave up my life because of my involvement with her. Before last night, every minute of my time away from her had been worth it when I’d thought she was happy and following her dreams. Even if that whole scene in the barn never happened and I was still oblivious to the woman she’d turned into, I was still plagued with doubts about finding her again, knowing I had nothing to offer her. Being a broken man living with his sister and with no clue what the hell he was going to do with his life isn’t exactly a position of strength. Now I can walk into that room, with her rich-ass friends and her mother’s rich-ass supporters, hold my head high, and not be ashamed and feel like I have a right to be there. A part of me wanted to walk away and never look back after my first encounter with Shelby out at the stables. I was hurt and pissed that something I’d been holding on to for so many years was gone, and it made me wonder if it had ever been there to begin with.
I’m still hurt, and I’m still pissed, but I’ll be damned if I just walk away without making her talk to me and tell me what the hell happened. I need to see that my Shelby is still in there somewhere, and I don’t give a shit if I have to do it in front of all of Charleston. Bonus points for also being able to rub it in Georgia’s face and let her see that I’m back, and I’m not going anywhere. Her days of bullying and blackmailing me are over.
“How about you let me be your plus-one?” I ask Daniel. “I’ll even let you dress me up in one of your monkey suits.”
Daniel laughs. “I hate to break it to you, but it’s black tie. Which means you’re going to need a tux, my friend. Good thing I have an excellent tailor always on standby and you have enough money to buy something that fits you better than anything in my closet.”
While Kat rushes out of the room to get my niece when she starts crying from her afternoon nap, Daniel calls the office and takes the rest of the day off, then immediately places a call to his tailor to book us an emergency appointment for within the hour. As all of this takes place, I wonder if this is the dumbest idea I’ve ever had, walking into the lion’s den and facing Georgia Eubanks on her turf. I tell myself I’m not a hypocrite for having more confidence now to face Shelby again, knowing damn well that having a few extra zeros behind the balance of my bank account doesn’t make me a better man. All this money does is give me access to her world, a place where I’d never been welcome before. A place where I can confront her on equal footing and prove that everything she said to me in the stables was complete bullshit.
It’s also a place where I can show Georgia Eubanks once and for all that I’m not backing down, and there’s not a damn thing she can do to keep me away from Shelby now, especially in front of all her people. With a thumbs-up from Daniel as he speaks to his tailor, at least I know I’ll look damn good when it happens.
Chapter 7
Shelby
Dr. Eugene Stanford, and his wife, Maribell. Large plastic surgery practice in Charleston. Donated two hundred and fifty thousand to the Leatherback Turtle Endangered Species event last year,” I say softly in my mother’s ear before pulling back and pasting a smile on my face as the couple moves forward in the reception line.
“Dr. Stanford, Maribell, so nice to see you again,” my mother tells them with a bright smile, shaking both of their hands and expertly using the information I just fed to her. “Thank you so much for coming this evening.”
I glance behind them in line to prepare myself for the next guest while they chitchat about the charity event, ironically being held for wounded veterans. Ironic because the one wounded vet that should be at this event would never be important or wealthy enough to be added to my mother’s guest list. And it’s not like I want him here, especially after our confrontation last night and how much it drained me to be in his arms one minute, and have to pull away from him the next. To see the disappointment and anger in his eyes and feel the sharp sting of his accusations, cutting deeper than any knife possibly could.
Rubbing the watchband on the inside of my wrist, I know I deserved every insult he threw at me, but that doesn’t make the hurt go away. It doesn’t help me rest easy at night knowing he’s sleeping just a few short miles away and I can’t go to him, can’t touch him, can’t kiss him, and can’t tell him why.
A man in a crisp white Navy uniform, walking with a cane, moves forward in line as my mother says her good-byes to the doctor and his wife. I’m spending an evening in a room filled with military personnel and it’s the worst form of torture. I’ve seen at least a dozen men in Marine dress blues come through this line tonight, and each one reminds me of Eli and the one time I got to see him in his uniform. He had just come home from a funeral for the wife of one of his commanding officers. Even though it was a somber event, his face lit up as soon as he let me into his apartment and that uniform was quickly ripped away by my own hands.
Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I lean forward, closer to my mother’s ear once more and speak quietly.