Page 87 of On the Rocks

Levi smirked, looking from Cora to me. He shoved at me again, and this time I stumbled back a couple steps, caught off guard by her question. “Figured you hadn’t told her,” Levi said. “Because that wouldn’t fit the charming little lie you’ve sold her about you being the perfect boyfriend. But in reality, you’re an unhinged, controlling?—”

“Shut the hell up!” I growled, my fist clenching at my side.

“I know you think I’m the problem,” Levi continued, his voice getting louder as he focused on Cora, pleading with her. “But this is the guy you really have to be worried about. He’s clearly dangerous.”

I lifted my arm, winding up to take a punch. If the guy wouldn’t shut his mouth I’d shut it for him.

“I’mthe one who loves you, Cora,” Levi said. “I only want to make you happy.”

“Does any of this look like it’s making me happy?” she cried, pressing her fingers to her temples.

“Hereyou are!” a voice cut in, interrupting my raging thoughts. I turned to see Dominic, hurrying down the hall toward…oh holy crap.Heading down the hall toward Elio, who was standing a little ways down from us, with his phone in his hand—pointed right at me.

“So glad I found you. I was hoping we could talk,” Dom continued, getting close enough to wrap an arm around Elio’s shoulders, guiding him back toward the party. “I just love yoursocials. Oh, are you getting footage from tonight? Can I take a look?”

There was a minor scuffle as he managed to swipe the phone out of Elio’s hands.

“Oh, whoops!” Dominic said. “I think I deleted it. So clumsy! My bad, man. Here, let me get you a drink to make up for it.” Dominic’s arm tightened its grip, pulling the man with him down the hallway. “Elixir could have big things in store for you. How would you feel about a partnership?”

My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached. I’d been so rage-blind I hadn’t even realized Elio was there. Damn it, I should have known better—especially after something similar happened to Vincent not that long ago. I’d felt so horrible for him at the time, but even while it all played out, it never crossed my mind that the same thing could ever happen to me. For one thing, I didn’t have a vengeful shrew of an ex like Maya, the supermodel who had set Vincent up to look bad. But for another, I wasn’t the guy who lost his head. I was supposed to have a better handle on myself than that.

I usuallydidhave a better handle on myself than that.

But Cora…Cora always broke all my rules.

Paul and Trent stood at the end of the hall, staring at me with mingled looks of concern. They’d obviously realized what was going on and rallied Dominic from his drunken stupor at the bar. Thank god, he’d still been with it enough to know what to do. If they hadn’t stepped in, this could have turned into a massive scandal.

Trent arched his eyebrow, silently asking if I was okay. I gave him a brief nod in return. He disappeared back into the partywith Paul, leaving me in the hallway with Cora and Levi. It was thunderously silent.

“I need to talk to Levi,” Cora said without looking at me. Her voice was quiet. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Levi shot me a triumphant, cocky smirk as he and Cora walked off down the hall where they could speak privately. I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there, breathing hard, feeling like an idiot. How had I gotten here, in this position where I’d lost control, putting my company’s reputation at risk?

I didn’t want to be the kind of person who acted without thinking, who lashed out and made irrational decisions. But that was who I’d become now that Cora was back in my life. These overwhelming feelings for her had me losing sense of myself. It was happening all over again, just like in high school.

I needed to take back control.

25

CORA

“How else can I show you I love you? Just tell me what you need me to do, and I’ll do it, Cora. I swear I will.”

“Levi,” I said, fighting to keep my voice even. I was still shaken by Aiden’s confrontation with Levi, not to mention the fact Levi had shown up here in the first place. It was all too much—the look of rage on Aiden’s face, the way he’d grabbed Levi, Levi’s ceaseless pleas. “I need you to understand what I’m saying to you.”

Levi grasped my hands, his thumbs running over my knuckles. “I still love you, Cora. I needyouto understand that.”

I shook my head, no more convinced by his words now than I had been at the reunion. I didn’t know what was going on with me and Aiden, but I knew right down to my bones that I was never getting back together with Levi. Our time had come and gone.

He just needed to get that through his head.

“I was a fool?—”

“—to let me go.” I sighed. “Yes, I know. I get that, Levi. And, sure, it’s nice to hear in a way.” He squeezed my hands. “Even after all this time, I’m glad that you finally realize you should have handled things better. But as much as it hurt me when you left, I’ve had enough time to realize you did us both a favor.”

“Don’t say that.” His eyebrows drew together, his face pinched tight. “We can still fix this and be together the way we’re supposed to be.”

What I would have given to hear him say that a year ago. Now I didn’t feel anything. Not regret, not sadness, not disgust. Just nothing. Because I’d cared for him at one point, but I’d never beenin lovewith him. And when he’d thrown away fifteen years of us, when he’d thrown me away so abruptly, so callously, I’d finally learned to shed that version of myself who believed I needed him.

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