Page 58 of The Forbidden Trio

Maybe she doesn’t think so.

Whatever happened, she was gone. Again. And that could mean only one thing—despite all the strides they seemed to have made, she still didn’t trust him. If she did, nothing could have driven her off like this. She loved him. He knew she did.

Fucking goddammit.

He wanted to kick himself for ever having used, for having created this whole situation to begin with, but he’d come too far for that shit. It wouldn’t do any good.He’dput it behind him. He’d forgiven himself for everything… everything but losing her. And now it felt exactly like it had before, except this time there was nothing to numb the pain. He’d better find a fucking meeting today. Maybe two. AA, NA, didn’t matter. He knew when he was on shaky ground, and there was nothing shakier for him than Janie walking away from him.

He buried his face in his hands, tried not to see Janie’s face behind his closed eyes. Tried not to hear her telling him she loved him. But her voice, her scent, herpresence,was in his head, etched there forever.

He stood and strode to the window, bracing a hand against the glass. Below him Hollywood was waking up, coming alive. But he had never felt more dead inside. Without Janie, he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel alive again.

She’d woken at noon with a pounding headache and a raw wound in her chest. When she made her way blearily to the living room, her cell phone was flashing. She didn’t want to look, didn’t want to see how many messages Cole had left. But apparently that had stopped and the calls she’d missed were from Celine.

She didn’t want to have to tell her what had happened. But she needed her friend. She listened to the first message.

“Janie, hon, it’s me. What happened last night? I looked up and you were gone. And now I feel awful not saying goodbye. Call me, babe.”

She erased it and went on to the next message.

“Janie, me again. Honey, call me, will you? I heard what happened. Well, sort of. And I have some stuff to tell you. Call me. Please.”

Once more she pressed the number seven on her keypad to erase the message. What could Celine possibly know? Who had she talked to? Would Cole have tried to contact her?

There was another message.

“It’s Celine. It’s almost eleven and I’ve been trying to call you all day. I’m worried, hon. And I really need to talk to you. I have some information, and I don’t mean to be a tease but I can’t explain it all to your voicemail. Please just call me back.”

With a sigh, she hung up the phone, tossed it down on the couch and pressed her hands into her eyes.

There was a knock at the door.

No. She would not talk to him.

But it was Celine’s voice. “Janie, open up or I’m coming in.”

She sighed, leaning against the door. “I could really use a hug right now, Celine, but not some lecture.”

“Babe, I’m not here to lecture you. But I need to tell you something. Something about

Cole.”

“Oh, I am definitely not letting you in.”

She turned and was moving back toward her bedroom when the door swung open behind her.

“What the—?”

Celine had the grace to look sheepish. “Spare key.”

Janie waved a hand. “All right, fine, come in.”

“Jesus, hon, you look awful.”

“Thanks for not sparing the compliments.”

Celine’s dark brows wrinkled. “Oh, honey. Come here.”

She opened her arms, and all the stupid stubbornness drained away as Janie fell into them. She stayed there and cried for what seemed like an eternity.

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