Page 94 of In Good Company

And now I have to pay the price.

“Are you talking about Lucy Owens?” Ollie pushes.

I gladly accept the bourbon from our server, buying myself a little time to gather my thoughts as I suck down a large drink of the amber liquid. With a sigh, I set the bourbon down on the little table between our chairs and nod.

“Yes. The only Lucy we know.”

Ollie slowly nods as he tries to understand where this is going. “Why would I be here to talk to you about Lucy?”

“Because I ran into her at the start of the summer. Did you know she was working as a private chef here in the Hamptons?”

Ollie raises his eyebrows. “I knew she enjoyed cooking, but no, I had no idea she was working here. Why would I want to talk to you about that, though?” he adds at the last minute.

I wave at Ryker and a man I don’t recognize as they walk into the lounge. I half expect to see Camille walk in after them since it seems that this summer, everywhere Ryker is, Camille is close behind. But no one else walks in, and I return to looking at my brother.

“I hired Lucy as my private chef and then fell in love withher,” I blurt, not wanting to drag this out. I don’t really care about his opinion of my feelings for Lucy.

Ollie chokes, pulling his crystal tumbler away from his lips as a coughing fit takes over his entire body.

I shrug, taking another sip of my drink while he collects himself. Even saying her name out loud cuts right through me.

“I’m sorry, I’m trying to play catch-up here. Lucy worked for you? And you fell in love with her? You’re talking aboutmyLucy?”

I scoff at the way he saysmy. “Please. She’s not yours and never was. She’s mine. But yes, we’re talking about the same Lucy.”

Ollie blinks a few times. He slowly begins to nod and I can almost see the wheels turning in his head. “Um, okay,” he begins. He clears his throat, clearly still not recovered from choking on his own drink. “Well, I didn’t know what to expect from seeing you today, but hearing you fell in love with my ex-girlfriend was not something I could’ve ever expected.”

Jealousy runs through me at him being able to call her his ex-girlfriend. It’s unreasonable, but I’m jealous that he ever got the title of being her boyfriend.

It’s not a title I ever had, despite how madly in love with her I am.

Right now, it’s not even a title I think I’lleverhave. Although, I’m so in love with her at this point that I’d be happy with foregoing boyfriend and going straight to husband if she’d let me.

I shake my head for a moment, trying to dull the ache in my heart of letting my mind wander to fantasies of being anything to her but temporary.

“I’d rather pretend you were never her boyfriend, to be honest,” I mutter. “You never deserved her. And before you get mad at me for falling for someone from your past, just save yourbreath. I don’t give a damn if you don’t like that I fell in love with her.”

Ollie raises his hands defensively. “Look, I was young and a terrible boyfriend to her. There were absolutely things I could’ve done differently, but my feelings for her were never what they should’ve been. Who you love is none of my business, Cal.”

His words take me by surprise. I was ready for a fight, or at least for him to make some kind of snide comment.

“How is she?” he asks. There doesn’t seem to be any hint of anger in his tone. His question seems genuine. Before I can answer him, he clears his throat before speaking again. “Fuck, I just realized what this month means for her. Is she doing okay?”

My eyebrows furrow together on my forehead. I try to hide my confusion at his question, but I can’t. “What are you talking about?” The question leaves my mouth before I can think better of it.

Ollie frowns a little as he stares at me, his eyes searching my face. “What do you mean? I can’t remember off the top of my head how many years it’d be, but I know this month is the anniversary of her twin brothers’ death.”

Pain slices through me at his words. For a moment, I can’t even think straight. It hurts too bad to know that she experienced a loss of that magnitude and I had no idea. She never once told me about them passing.

She never even told me she ever had brothers.

There was so much more I still wanted to learn about her, but I hadn’t expected her to have something like this in her past. She holds herself with so much strength, I never would’ve guessed if Ollie hadn’t told me.

My heart aches for her and what she’s been through. It kills me that she didn’t trust me enough to tell me about that part of her life.

And it hurts even more to know Ollie knows, and that she trusted him enough to open up about them but never once mentioned their death to me.

“You didn’t know?” Ollie annoyingly pushes. He sounds genuinely shocked that I had no idea. I’m still too stunned by what he revealed to even pretend to have known.

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