Page 6 of Billion Dollar Revenge

I close my eyes and sigh. “Sure.”

“Great!” she exclaims, a spark of excitement in her voice. “This place is perfect.”

Her high-pitched voice pierces my eardrums. “If that’s all, I need to go. I have somewhere to be.”

“Okay, no problem. I’ll see you Thursday,” she replies.

I hang up and return to my computer, wiping my hand over my face before quickly getting back to work.

Within ten minutes, Gabby enters with a warm smile and a coffee from my favorite coffee shop, City Brew. Carrying my cold brew to the sofa that faces the window, I sit, sipping my drink as I watch the sunrise until my phone rings again. And then it continues ringing long after the scandal leaks. The rest of myworkday is busy until I walk out and get in my car and drive over to Oliver's.

He opens the door to his Manhattan townhouse with a grin.

He’s a cocky bastard.

But I fucking love him.

Being the eldest of my brothers, I feel like I must look out for them. I stroll through his house, which is very different from mine. His counters are white marble, with dark wood cabinets and floors. Ancient cream rugs with faded patterns and rich textures add coziness to the space. The walls are covered with a collection of paintings, in a variety of colors and styles. He loves art, specifically floral paintings.

We head to his dark, exposed brick den, where his gray oval-shaped poker table has a wine cabinet backdrop. Poker nights are almost never at my house because of my odd hours. I’m not always able to make it. Even though I try hard to. It’s my only outlet. Poker is purely for entertainment. The laughs, the competition, and the fun. It’s the only time I feel like I get to truly be myself. Because it’s with people I care about.

Entering the den, I’m hit with the scent of cigars. Our friends Richard and Lukas are smoking.

“Only four of us tonight,” Oliver states when he sees me looking around the table.

“Should be easy to whip your ass, then,” I gloat.

Oliver snorts. “You wish, big bro. Sit your ass down and let me show you.”

“Boys, boys, boys. We all know who the true winner will be,” Richard adds.

“Let’s just start playing and then the rest can burn through their cash,” Lukas says.

These are our friends from high school. Richard recently got married and is expecting a child, but Lukas has been single for a year.

“Where’s Jeremy?” I ask Oliver, knowing Harvey would be working.

“Jeremy is out with Nova.”

Nova is Jeremy’s fiancée.

I nod and pick up my cards to begin. A butler sets a drink in front of me, and I quickly lift it to my lips, taking a sip as I unwind from the chaotic day. Generally, I avoid sharing personal things about my day because of my ex’s betrayal. I don’t want to be hurt again, so I keep my guard up. But Bobby’s words and the whole cheating scandal are playing heavily on my mind.

“I have a question for you all,” I say, taking another big sip of my drink and then add, “I have a photographer at work. He’s fucking sleazy. I need to fire him.”

Oliver’s eyebrows cinch together as he scowls. “You can’t get rid of someone just because you don’t like them.”

I blow out a breath and explain, “I know, but something tells me he’s no good, and if I don’t get rid of him soon, I’ll regret it.”

“I understand. But you can’t fire him without a reason. Have any of your staff complained? Or is he overly nice, but you view it as flirting?” Richard argues. He’s a successful real estate developer and one of the few people I trust who’s not family.

I slam my palm on the table, my eyes on Richard’s, the intensity of my frustration clear as I lean in, every word dripping with seriousness. “Nothing formal but, come on, he’s not just being a flirt. He’s harassing my employees. This could be a lawsuit on my hands.”

“You just don’t trust anyone,” Oliver adds.

Everyone goes quiet. It’s like my ex is an elephant in the room, and I know it’s my fault because I won’t talk about what happened with Connie. But I’m still not ready; I’m still processing the pain and trying to protect myself from further emotional damage.

The woman cheated on me with a co-worker, and I only found out the day of our wedding. To say I was gutted would be an understatement. The humiliation I felt telling everyone the wedding was off was overwhelming. It was the hardest time in my life. I gave her everything. All of me. I loved her with my entire soul. I feel like I have been carrying an albatross with me. An albatross I can’t let go. I wish she’d have given me a reason. Maybe she didn’t find me attractive, or she fell out of love with me, or I wasn’t romantic enough or I couldn’t make her happy. It could be any one of those things, but I’ll never know. She never explained, and her deception and silence broke something inside me. A happiness replaced with darkness. I feel empty where love should be.

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