Page 98 of The Last Resort
And now I’m punishing her for it.
The sound of a car pulling into the parking lot had Matthew heading at a trot to the front of the main building. When he got to the cluster of trees near the top of the drive, he stood behind them. For some insane reason, he didn’t want to be seen. Right now, he could barely face himself.
He watched as Rachel’s sister Kellie climbed out of a blue car and made her way toward the entrance. Matthew’s hesitant shift forward came to an immediate halt as Rachel appeared. She and Kellie embraced.
Regret stabbed at his heart. Rachel’s body shook as she sobbed. Kellie rubbed her hands up and down her back, offering comfort.
I’m back to being the villain. Any wonder she rang her family. She can trust them.
Rachel and Kellie had a short, animated conversation. He would have given anything to be able to hear what they were saying. But if it involved him, he doubted any of it would have been kind. And rightly so.
I deserve that. I didn’t give her the benefit of the doubt.”
He swore under his breath as Rachel climbed into her sister’s car and it headed back out the drive. Bryce had warned him to be careful with his words, but he’d let his shock and embarrassment rule his head.
Stupid. Fucking idiot.
He’d hurt Rachel, thrown her pain in her face.Forget about the damn four-million bucks, this is really going to cost me.
And even when he’d paid for his mistake, there was no guarantee that she would ever forgive him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go and get your things? I can take you back before you have any more wine to drink,” offered Kellie. She nodded toward Rachel’s half empty glass of chardonnay.
“No. I just need some time away from the lodge—and him.”
Her sister’s kitchen seemed the best place to be right now. Kellie’s hand settled on Rachel’s, and she gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sorry that Matthew didn’t understand your situation, he sounded like a great guy. I thought you two might have had a real chance, especially after he took you to his brother’s wedding. But just so you know, Dan and I have agreed I’m not going to accept any more calls from the prison. I’m done with dad.”
I need to do the same.
“That’s the only way any of us are going to move on.” Rachel sighed. “Speaking of moving on, let’s order in some food. I’ll book an Uber to take me back to the lodge later.”
She still had a job to finish, and a life to rebuild. Judgmental billionaires could go take a flying leap.
And yet her heart ached over what she’d lost.
You can’t lose something you never had. But I thought I might have …
“Do you think you can finish the project? I mean can you still work with him? If you need Dan and me to go talk to myin-laws, we will. The Brocks are good people, they will understand.”
“I can and I will finish the job. There’s only maybe a week’s worth of work left in the draft proposal where we’d have to be on site.” She would stick it out. She’d dealt with enough asshole clients over the years, not to mention the pointed barbs from her ex’s mother, she could handle Matthew.
He was a puppy dog compared to them.
“I’m sure the two of us can manage to keep things professional and polite. It’s in Matt’s best interests to get this project across the line. Besides, the ski lodge is a big building—we don’t need to be anywhere near one another unless it’s necessary.”
And if Mister Royal can share the internet connection with me, then emails will be the perfect way for us to communicate.
There couldn’t be any misunderstandings if she put everything in writing. Once the main piece of work was done, she’d find somewhere in town to set up. There had to be a local co-working space where she could rent a desk short-term.
Kellie gave her a sad look but said nothing. Her sister knew better than to try and talk Rachel out of her plans when she was in this sort of resigned mood.
After the way Matthew had spoken to her earlier, it was clear there was no coming back from this for them. Their relationship had descended into a mire of miscommunication. She got why he was angry, she’d lied to him. That part made perfect sense. But to suspect, even tenuously, that she’d been with him just for his money. That really burned.
His words had torn open old scars, and now those wounds were bleeding once more.
I wonder if Matthew was truly invested in this relationship. If he ever got close to loving me.
CHAPTER SIXTY
