The Favor

“I don’t need to know him to be sure that he’s cold right down to his soul. Anyone can see it. I don’t understand how you could possibly miss it. You’re one of the most observant people I know.”

“Then maybe you should consider that you’re wrong about him.”

“No, Vee, I’m not wrong. He’s never going to be or give you what you need.”

I bristled. “You don’t know what I need. You knew me well once. Not now. Not anymore.”

“Wrong, Vee. I know that being Simon’s emotional caretaker hasn’t been easy on you. I know that having your mother abuse and abandon you fucked with your ability to trust. I know that you blame yourself for what Deacon did all those years ago. And I know that you didn’t really find stability with Melinda and Wyatt because Heather kept shitting all over it. You’ve never felt that the ground was solid beneath you.”

I closed my eyes and swallowed hard, hating that he was right.

“If you think you’re going to get that from Davenport, you’re wrong, Vee. You’ll get financial stability from him, but not emotional stability, because he’s never going to make you feel loved. Ever.”

My gut twisted. Which wasn’t good, because I shouldn’t care that Owen was right about that.

“Work will always come first to him, and you deserve someone who’ll put you first. Why else do you think I broke up with you? It wasn’t just because I was selfishly set on pursuing my own goals. I knew I wasn’t giving you what you needed. The long-distance relationship wasn’t working for you. You hated it.”

He was right, I had. Not just because being away from him was hard and I’d missed him, but because he’d called less and less, and those calls had become shorter and shorter. I’d felt him slipping away, and I’d felt helpless to stop it happening.

“But you never would have said anything, because you wanted me to succeed; you wouldn’t risk that I’d drop out of college to stay with you. So I ended us. I had to do it over the phone because I knew I’d never be able to make you believe it if I’d done it face-to-face; you’d have known I was lying.”

The sincerity in his voice was impossible to ignore. He meant it. Meant every word. Once upon a time, that would have mattered. But it was too late. “None of this is relevant now.”

“Wrong again, Vee. I couldn’t give you what you needed back then. I can now.”

The cell was snatched from my hand. I whirled, my heart jumping. Dane stood there, his jaw hard, his shoulders tense.

He put the phone to his ear. “Who is this?”

It was quiet enough in the suite that I heard Owen’s sharp intake of breath. “Put Vienna back on the phone,” he finally said.

“Who is this?” repeated Dane, though I suspected he knew. “If you’re going to have the balls to call my fiancée in the middle of the fucking night, you can at least tell me who you are.”

There was a long moment of silence. “Owen Redford.”

“Ah, yes, I remember you. Vienna’s childhood friend.”

“We were more than that.”

“Yes, were being the key word. You’re nothing to her now.”

“What, because you proposed to her? You can’t erase the kind of history me and Vienna have. We’ve known each other since—”

“I said, you’re nothing to her now,” Dane calmly repeated. “You had her. You lost her. Now I have her, and I intend to keep her.”

Owen barked a laugh. “You’ll never manage to hold Vienna. You might have her fooled into thinking you care for her, but it won’t last long. She’s not stupid. To you, that ring is just a corporate brand that states she belongs to you. She’ll realize that soon enough. When she does, she’ll leave you.”

“Are you finished?” asked Dane.

“Actually—”

“You’re finished. Believe what you want about me—I don’t give a fuck. Just stay away from my fiancée. You don’t want to cross me on this, Redford. I can make your life uncomfortable in ways you can’t imagine. It’s not something I’d enjoy doing for the simple reason that you aren’t important enough to matter. But I’ll do it in a heartbeat if you don’t do the smart thing and keep your distance from Vienna. So be smart.” With that, Dane hung up. He looked at me, his dark eyes blazing. “How did he get your number?”

“Not from me. His boss’s PA has it. Owen could have gotten it from her.”

Dane handed me back my cell. “Block his number. If he tries to contact you again, I want to know about it.” His brow furrowed. “What did he say that put that expression on your face?”

“What expression?”

“You look like someone ran over your puppy.”

“It’s just sad that someone I once considered a close friend has no issue with trying to end what he believes is my current relationship. I would never have done that to him.” And because I really didn’t like that it had hurt to be reminded that Dane didn’t truly care for me. That wasn’t supposed to matter.