Page 376 of The Christmas Wife

"When I met Summer, I was a heartless bastard." He stands abreast.

"Still are," I point out.

He ignores my comment and nods toward the city. "My only goal then was to amass as much money and power as I could, hoping to fill that void inside of me."

His words are so close to my earlier thoughts, I stiffen.

"Then, Summer swept in, with her pink hair and her optimistic nature, no matter that she’d been dealt some tough cards in life. She showed me it's okay to not always be uber-focused on my goals. She made me realize there's more to life than chasing the next billion. The thrill of seeing her smile is more satisfying than the next merger, more exciting than another acquisition. She's the only person who knows the truth about Max."

"Max, your Whippet?" I shoot him a sideways glance. "What about him?"

His mouth kicks up. "That’s between us."

I shuffle my feet. A sliver of tension coils in my belly. I’m not jealous of his happiness. I’m not envious about his contentment. Or his absolute certainty that Summer is his soulmate. I had mine and I lost her. And Belle?

She deserves better than a man who’ll never be able to love her the way she should be loved. Only, I’m not selfless enough to let her go. I can’t have her. But I will not let anyone else have her, either. Does that make me a selfish bastard? I never claimed otherwise. I have more in common with my grandfather than he’ll ever know.

"The reason I’m going all emo on you is because you need to pull your head out of your arse and recognize the good thing you have here."

"I’m not cut out for marriage." I rub the back of my neck.

"Who is? But then, the right woman comes along, and you willingly tie yourself to her, clip your wings, and remind yourself she's always right."

"Sounds torturous." I wince.

"With the right woman, there’s a certain contentment, a peace of mind, a knowledge that she’s your better half, that she rounds out your edges, compliments your strengths. It’s the two of you against the world. A unit. And then you have kids, and everything changes again."

"Sleepless nights, and all the bullshit that comes with it." I roll my shoulders.

"You’re only looking at it from the outside?—"

"It’s all I can do."

"You’re choosing to ignore the obvious upsides."

"There’s none— Oh, wait… In my case, I get to consolidate my role as the CEO of the Davenport group, so there’s that."

"Money was never your motivator." Sinclair frowns.

"It is now."

"You’re the last person to be power-hungry."

"People change."

"The Edward I knew was the most loyal, the most ethical of all the seven of us."

"And look where that got me."

"So, you got your heart broken. Shit happens. You deal with it and move on."

I squeeze my fingers at my sides. "You’re beginning to piss me off," I growl.

"Good. I’d rather youfeelthose emotions you’ve bottled up inside since the incident."

"I don’t want to talk about the incident."

"Or the fucking betrayal you feel you committed in leaving the church?"

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