Page 106 of From the Moment We Met

“Bugger,” he muttered and poured a glass of whiskey, dialing Roger’s number. He was surprised when his friend answered.

“You packed and ready for Greece?”

“Yeah,” Jacob replied, “I leave tomorrow night. It’s probably a good thing I’ll be more than three thousand kilometers away.”

Roger was silent for a moment. “What do you want me to say, Jacob? You want me to placate you and tell you what happened the other night was fine? Nothing about it was fine, and the way you and Victoria treated Lilly was abominable.”

Jacob’s breathing became ragged. “I know, it was unforgivable, and I hate myself for it.”

“Has she called you?”

Jacob scoffed. “Sure, she’s been blowing up my phone. Oh, you mean the woman I actually want to speak to? No, Lilly is far too good for me.”

Now it was Roger’s turn to scoff. “That’s a load of bollocks, and you know it. You two would have been great together. I hope that damn role is worth it in the end because women like Lilly don’t come along every day. In fact, they often don’t come along at all. Take care in Greece, mate.”

Jacob stared at his phone, knowing that Roger’s words were right and feeling an ache in his gut unlike any he’d experienced before.

He dialed Janie, and she picked up on the first ring. “Hello, are you still coming over?”

“Janie, can you get Lilly to your house tomorrow?”

Janie groaned. “Come on Jacob, don’t ask me to do that.”

“Please,” Jacob pleaded. “I know I don’t deserve it, but I can’t leave and not see her one more time.”

The silence lasted forever, and Jacob realized he was holding his breath as he awaited his sister’s reply.

Janie sighed loudly. “You’re lucky, on more than one count, that Audrey won’t be here tomorrow. If she found out I helped arrange a meeting with you and Lilly after what you did to her, you wouldn’t survive long enough to see Greece.”

“I know,” Jacob mumbled.

“Why do you want to see Lilly? Is it to mend your ego, so you don’t feel like the bad guy?”

Jacob’s emotional dam broke at that moment, and he knew his sister had never heard him cry before. “I’m in love with her. Totally and completely in love with her, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to live without her now.”

“Really? You love her? Jacob, your actions the other night were reprehensible. How can you say you love Lilly when you allowed Victoria to treat her in such a manner? When you treated her in such a manner?”

Jacob raked his hand through his hair, tugging hard enough to feel discomfort. He deserved worse than that—far worse than that. He let out a low, mirthless laugh. “I thought…I thought I could balance everything—”

“You thought you could have your cake and eat it too.”

“I guess—”

“Jacob, you’ve always been that way. Your gift is acting in your own best interest. You’ve never put another person’s needs in front of your own. It’s no different with Lilly.” Janie’s words echoed an eerie similarity to Victoria’s earlier that day, and it made Jacob nauseous with shame.

“I did turn down the role, the night of the fundraiser. Victoria gave me an ultimatum, and I told her to shove it up her ass. I chose Lilly.”

“Then what happened the other night? You had sex with Lilly and then ran out the door to another woman. You barely had time to put your pants on! Badly done, Jacob!”

He fell back against the couch, the truth of the situation sinking in. God, he really did only think of himself.

“Jacob, are you there?”

“I’m a selfish bastard. Once I saw the quality of the script and the talent of the director, I knew it would make my career. I wanted it so badly that I was willing to put it before everything—and everyone—else. Victoria knows that, that’s how she played me. The final straw was when she threatened Lilly—”

“She did what?” Janie exclaimed, her voice rising in volume.

“It wasn’t a direct threat, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out to whom she was referring.”

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