Page 27 of Lonely Heart

I hated this solitary life I seemed destined to live.

And in the same thought, I realized I could have had the company of my sister today.

But I’d chosen to push her away, too.

If I didn’t want to go out, I could have just invited her over.

I sighed.

Was this ever going to get better?

Would it always feel this way?

8

MARCO

“Hey,do you have a few minutes to spare?”

I glanced up from where I was working in the bathroom of the villa and saw Cooper making his approach. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I’m wondering if you’ll join me for a meeting.”

My brows shot up. Cooper hated meetings. “A meeting? You want to have a meeting?”

His face twisted with disgust, like he’d just popped something bitter into his mouth. “No, I don’twantto have a meeting, but Tate and Wyatt do. I’m not sure if my dad is going to be there. Who knows? He might pop in. Anyway, they want to go over some specifics on the current construction projects and maintenance items at Westwood’s, and with you putting in so much time on the villas, I figured it’d be wise to have you there. Liam’s going to be there, too, since he’s been doing the same.”

Liam was usually in charge of handling all the maintenance on the amusement park, but since it was winter and that was shut down for the time being, he had been helping with the construction of the villas. It’d been great, too, because Liam worked hard. I’d come in early a few days ago, because I’dbeen unable to sleep and wanted the distraction. Liam did that regularly, desperate for something to occupy his time and mind.

I stood and wiped off my hands. “Sure, I can go.”

He jerked his head to the door. “Come on. I’m positive they’re already there waiting for us. They live for this kind of stuff.”

Chuckling, I fell into step beside him as the two of us made our way over to the building that housed the offices.

The moment we walked into the conference room, it started. “You hate meetings so much you thought it’d be wise to bring reinforcements, Coop?” Wyatt teased.

“Yep,” Cooper muttered. “I figure if you see more of us here, you’ll realize there’re less of us working, and maybe you’ll cut this thing short.”

Wyatt shook his head. “Hey, Marco.”

“Good morning, Wyatt.”

Liam jerked his chin up at me as Cooper and I grabbed a seat at the table. And the moment we were sitting, Tate said, “Well, I’ll do my best to try to get you guys out of here as quickly as possible, but before we dive into everything, I want to say that I’m actually glad that you’re here, Marco.”

My brows drew together. “You are?”

He nodded. “Yeah. This is completely unrelated to anything we need to discuss today, but this is the first time I’ve seen you in quite a few days. I wanted to just take a minute to thank you.”

“Yeah, same here,” Wyatt chimed in. “I’m seriously appreciative.”

My eyes darted between them before shifting once to Liam and finally to Cooper. “Thank me? For what?”

The look that washed over Tate’s expression gave me the answer I was seeking before a single word ever had the chance of coming out of his mouth. He was going to talk about Ivy.

“Ivy told us what happened a few nights ago, and I wanted to personally thank you for caring for her that night the way you did,” he revealed.

As his jaw clenched with fury, Wyatt shared, “When she walked into my office, and I saw what happened to her face, I couldn’t bring myself to even imagine what she shared in the minutes that followed. But I’m glad you happened to be there when she, by some miracle, managed to get away before it got worse and drove herself to the hotel.”

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