Page 282 of The Black Trilogy

A-w-k-w-a-r-d.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen. We’d had too much to drink and things got out of hand.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Did he treat you okay?”

“Yes! More than okay. He was…”

I held up a hand. “Spare me the details, yeah?”

“Sorry.”

She hovered in front of the door, close to an escape route. Hmm, I needed to work on my interpersonal skills. Again. I walked over and hugged her, and after her initial surprise, she hugged me tightly back.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

She pulled back and stared at me. “You don’t mind?”

Sure it stung, but I wasn’t about to show her that. “When have you ever known me to get possessive over a man?”

“Well, never, but I haven’t dated one of your exes before. I mean, I know you’re okay with, say, Nick seeing other women, but none of them have been me or Dan.”

“I wouldn’t have a problem with you dating Nick, or Jed, or any of the others. Except Black.”

“But I thought you and he didn’t…you know? I thought he saw other women like you saw other men?”

“We didn’t, and he did.” I closed my eyes. “Somehow I could deal with the nameless, faceless women. The one-night stands and his little rescue projects. But if it had been you or Dan, that would have destroyed me.”

My voice was all lumpy, and I knew I’d said too much. I tried to walk away, but Mack squeezed me tighter instead.

“Oh, Emmy, I’m so sorry. You deserve happiness as much as anyone.”

“I exist to do a job. Being happy was never in my stars.” That was my life now. My job. I pulled back again, harder this time, fighting tears that threatened to erupt. “I’m going to the office now, and I’ll fly back to Richmond tomorrow morning.”

I ran upstairs and changed, then caught the Tube to Blackwood. Mack and Luke needed space, and they weren’t the only ones. It hurt to watch them have something I never would.

Work occupied me for the rest of the day, or at least I spent hours staring at my computer screen. When I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, I pulled out the futon next to the desk and slept, my door firmly locked.

By the time the sun rose, I was in my jet, heading for the East Coast.

CHAPTER 48

OKAY, OKAY, I knew exactly what I’d done.

I’d run away again, but avoiding my feelings was easier than facing them. I was happy for Luke and Mack, really I was, but I still found it hard to see two people close to me find the kind of partnership I’d had one chance at and lost.

At least when I got home, I found plenty to keep me busy. Not least Bradley, who’d returned in my absence and wouldn’t stop gushing about how wonderful his trip to Italy was, not to mention the fact that Miles had finished his dig and travelled back with him.

“The flight was fantastic. Your jet’s lush.”

“Glad you had a good time.”

“And I even bought you candy at the airport.”

See, this was why I loved Bradley.

Jed had also been waiting for me when I got back to Little Riverley. With his broken leg, he was officially on sick leave, although he was still going in for meetings and spent hours on his laptop at home. Or my home, it appeared.

“Bradley invited me to stay. I was bored, and you have a games room,” he said. “And my apartment’s on the sixth floor. Those stairs aren’t easy with my leg.”

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