Page 81 of Myself

His eyes widen. “How do you know about the Anderson file ...?”

“How could you do this to Ashlyn?” I ask, feeling my heart start to beat faster. “You know what this job means to her.”

He sighs. “It’s business.”

“Business?” I ask with a huff. “God, you sound just like Dad,” I growl. I hate to admit my mother was right about that.

“I have a job to do.”

“And Ashlyn is going to lose hers,” I snap. “When do you plan to tell her?” I demand.

He looks away from me, his green eyes narrowing as if he can’t stand the thought of talking to her ever again. “That’s none of your business.”

I slam my hands down on his desk, and his eyes come back to mine. “I thought you were a good guy, Ryder. I thought you loved her.” My throat tightens. I should tell him that she loves him, that she and Bradley are history, but I refuse to do that to her. To make him think he has a chance when he never really loved her to begin with. Instead, I hurt him like I know he’s hurt her. “But now I see you’re not capable of that.” His jaw sharpens. “You’re a lot like Mom in that way. All you care about is money.” His nostrils flare as he breathes heavily. “So just so you know, if you do this, you’ll never get her back.”

“She was never mine to begin with,” he responds flatly.

I swallow the lump in my throat, and my eyes well with unshed tears. I have always loved my brother, but at this very moment, I see just how big of a dick he is. And how much he is willing to lose over his career. And I realize I never want to be that person. “You’re right,” I say, wanting to hurt him like he did her. “She wasn’t.”

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JAYCENT

I knock on the girls’ apartment door and am surprised when Ashlyn opens it. “Hi,” I say to her.

“Hey,” she responds softly. “Becca is in her room.” And then she turns and walks to her own room, shutting the door behind her.

I make my way down the hall to Becca’s room. She sits on the end of her bed. “Hey, baby.” I notice her eyes are red and her cheeks wet. “What’s wrong?” I ask her. “Are you okay?” She nods. “You’re lying.” I kneel in front of her and place my hands on her knees. “What’s wrong?”

She sniffs. “I’m just so mad.”

I frown. “You’re crying because you’re mad?”

She nods. “Do you ever get so angry that you cry?”

“No,” I say slowly.

She lets out a huff. “I do.”

“Okay; why are you so mad?”

She reaches up and wipes the tears from her face. “I went to my father’s work today and overheard him talking to my mother. And they were talking about Ryder and Ashlyn.”

I frown. “What about them?”

She looks up at me and sighs heavily. “Ryder is buying out Talia’s.”

My frown deepens. “Isn’t that where Ashlyn works?”

She nods. “And she has no idea.” She places her hands on my shoulders. “I need to tell her. She deserves to know that he is going to be taking her dream job away. What do you think I should do?”

I run a hand through my hair. “I think you are right. She deserves to know.”

She hangs her head. “He said that it was business. Business? How can he say that? I thought he was going to be different with her.” She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “I truly thought he loved her. How could I have been so wrong?”

I sigh and wrap my arms around her, pulling her to me. “I’m sorry, babe.” She sniffs. “I thought he really loved her too,” I say honestly. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed Bradley away. What if I ruined Ashlyn’s chance at being loved? He was going to propose, and all Ryder was doing was having some fun. I was going to give Ryder a few days to call her and tell her that he loved her too, but now I’m not going to say anything to either one of them. I don’t want to be the one who hurts her. And Ryder has dug his own grave.

She pulls away and wipes the tears from her cheeks. “I need to go talk to her.”

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