Page 120 of Forking the Billionaire

His look was what—pity?

“It’s no huge loss. We’re not together. Never were.”

“Then why’d you bring her?” he asked.

Behind Gabriel, Oscar’s mismatched gaze burrowed into my skull.

“You invited her,” I said with a shrug.

“I did?” Gabriel asked, confused.

“Yeah, you seemed excited about it, like you were helping me, so I went with it.”

“I’m…I apologize for overstepping. Why didn’t you say something?”

I should have spoken up. I was hearing that a lot tonight.

I was starting to worry Esme wasn’t coming back.

I sighed and shook my head. “Apparently I have a problem.”

“He doesn’t like to cause waves,” Oscar said.

“You wouldn’t have upset me,” Gabriel said. “I only wish to see you happy.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll work on it.”

Gabriel clapped me on the back, then scanned the beach. “By the way, where’s Esme?”

Great question. She should have been back by now.

Unless she couldn’t stand to be in my vicinity.

If she left, I couldn’t blame her. The situation was entirely my fault and it took all of my willpower to respect her wishes to leave her alone.

Gabriel was still looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“She went to the bathroom,” I said, gesturing toward the bar.

I’d betrayed her trust, and she might not come back. With the way she held onto things, what if she couldn’t forgive me?

The wind seemed to whisper, indecipherable voices washing over the sand.

A ripple of unease pricked the hairs on my arms.

The sound was exactly like the echoed voices Esme and I had heard in the vents and again in the ruins.

I scanned the shoreline, searching for the source of the sound. But like before, no one was there.

“Just another warm place to stick your dick.”

The words sounded clear as the crystalline water—Esme’s words.The sentence hurt as much now as it had the first time, piercing right between my ribs and twisting. I had to be imagining them, but they sounded so real.

“Who’s saying that?” Oscar asked.

“I don’t know. It sounds almost like the ocean,” Morgan said.

They could hear it too.

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