Page 76 of Only Ever You

Meeting her gaze, I shake my head. “Mum, I can’t keep working there. Deacon’s one of the owners. Even if I changed offices, it’d still be uncomfortable.”

Lucas starts to say something, but I hold up my hand.

“I just want to go, get it done, and then come back here to lick my wounds a while.”

“And then …?” Lucas asks.

“Maybe I’ll look for a job in Wellington. Or maybe I even start looking at Australia. I’ve got work experience. Maybe it’s time to use my degree. I don’t know.”

He frowns. “I just wish?—”

“Wishes aren’t going to help me now.”

He walks over and wraps his arms around my shoulders. “I love you, Pippa. And I’m sorry if I never told you that enough. When you hurt, I hurt.”

“You’re a good big brother. I’m not sure I ever told you that enough.”

“Not good enough to protect you from this. I’m sure this has something to do with me.”

I close my eyes and let out a long breath. “Maybe, but this was Deacon’s decision. He could have left well enough alone and kept me out of it if that’s the case. Instead he let me think?—”

Lucas presses a kiss to my temple and drops into the seat next to mine. “He loved you. It was so obvious. He’s not that good an actor. Something tipped him over the edge.” He shakes his head. “I’m just as worried about him as I am about you.”

I swallow hard. He’s right. Nothing adds up. Mallory’s take on the night before the wedding doesn’t match with what happened. He either managed to hide his intention from not just me but his best friends, or he … what? Had some kind of breakdown? It’s hard to reconcile everything—especially with my own heartbreak getting in the way.

Is Deacon in trouble?

Now Lucas has sent my thoughts in a whole new direction and an uneasy feeling sits in my gut.

“Pippa. You need to take care of you now. I’ll come with you to Auckland and help you sort out your things. We’ll fly up and drive your car back down. Okay?”

Lucas lets me go, and I nod.

“Thank you.”

He bops me on the nose with a smile. “That’s my girl.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Deacon

I don’t know why I came here.

The day I was supposed to marry Pippa, I put our travel plans in motion and landed in Paris first.

The hotel room was stifling, so I went to a club within walking distance. But no matter what I do, I can’t stop thinking about my girl.

She’s not my girl anymore.

My stomach churns at the thought of alcohol after my binge, and I must be the only person here not drinking anything other than cola.

A hand lands on my shoulder from behind and grips it, and I look up, blinking as I’m blinded by the flash of a camera.

What the fuck?

“Hi, Deacon. Fancy meeting you here.”

I know that voice.

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