Page 7 of Perfect Assumption
Angie.
She’s close enough I can see her face is set in tight lines, and I know it’s my fault. I feel my parents’ disapproval settle over me.You aren’t living up to the man they raised you to be, Ward, I chastise myself on their behalf. I call out her name, but she doesn’t turn around.
I don’t know if she heard me as she rounds the corner, but even if she did, I can’t say I’m surprised she ignores me. I certainly would have. I was an unmitigated ass and not just to her, but to the only people in the world I give a damn about.
I turn away from the skaters and make my way around the rink to our building. It’s time to face my sister’s fire and her husband’s ice.
After I get off the elevator, I enter the door with the engraved Celtic knot sandblasted on the frosted glass doors with the discreetLLF, LLCbeneath it. “Love, loyalty, friendship. How much damage did I do to mine today?” I murmur before pulling the door toward me.
The wooden doors with the same branding are cracked open. I wince as I hear my sister’s choked sobs. “…figured if it was just us…”
“Shh, Carrie. It’s Ward. He knows you meant well.”
“But what about Angie?” she cries.
“Sending her home for the day was the right thing to do,” David reassures her.
Damnit. I shove the door open. Two faces immediately swing in my direction: one hopeful and tear-streaked, the other closed off. The first words out of my mouth are “I’m so sorry.” And while I may have overreacted about the cake, I’m really apologizing for causing the death of our parents so many years ago. I’m apologizing again for that. I do that so often, I wonder if Carys realizes how often I do it anymore.
“No, I am. I just wanted to make you smile.” Carys tries to do that, but her lips wobble.
I step forward and open my arms. She pulls out of David’s arms and rushes into mine before bursting into tears again. I close my eyes against the burning sensation, knowing half of these tears aren’t because of a damn cake or me being an ass. They’re because of what we lost and will never get back.
No matter what we try to celebrate in life, certain moments are never going to be forgotten. It takes nothing but a word or a touch to ignite the feelings all over again. That’s how embedded they are in your brain.
I kiss the crown of Carys’s head before I tell my brother-in-law, “I apologize.”
He nods. “I appreciate it.” He gives his wife a once-over. Realizing Carys and I are in a good place, he announces, “I think I’m going to go get Ben early.”
“Then how about I treat everyone to dinner.” Carys’s head snaps up from my chest at the offer. I hold up a hand. “Not as a birthday celebration. I…can’t. Okay?”
“Okay, Ward. I’m sorry too. I just thought they’d…” Her voice trails off when I lay my finger across her lips.
“You don’t need to apologize,” I tell her firmly.
But I’m the one with one left, and I know it’s going to be a whopper. Especially because if what I suspect about her is true, the man she’s involved with is going to tear into me for hurting her.
And since he’s a client, this could be very, very bad.
Shit.
Three
Angela
Last night, “Winsome Ward” Burke was spotted escorting a woman around Manhattan. The petite blonde wasn’t able to be identified, but one can only assume he used his charming smile to suggest dessert in other ways. We’d certainly say yes to dessert with one of the world’s most eligible bachelors.
— Sexy&Social, All the Scandal You Can Handle
Igrowl slightly, even as I pick up the colorful article to read it closer. “‘Winsome Ward,’ my ass. The man is as cold and unfeeling as the wind blowing outside. And for the record, it was his damn sister.” Finishing, I fling the garbage news rag aside before pushing my cart away from the rack of magazines where I was searching for the latest edition of the knitting magazine my grandmother used to buy me for my birthday. Instead of finding something comforting, I’m now thinking not so very nice things about the brother of my friend and boss, Carys Burke.
Ward Burke is the complete polar opposite of his sister in every way possible. Tall and dark where she’s dainty and blonde, the similarities don’t just stop with their looks. In just a few short years, she left the media conglomerate Wildcard Entertainment to build a ferocious reputation as an entertainment lawyer to be reckoned with. And more than that, she’s become a trusted friend.
On the other hand, Ward has been with the firm for two years, and I’m still trying to determine if he’s doing his best to live up or down to what the gossip rags say about him. Carys claims he’s been “Invaluable. You have no idea how much he’s taken off my shoulders.”
Maybe it’s because the man is likely blinded by the flashbulbs of the paparazzi than he does in the office that I can’t quite figure it or him out. What I don’t appreciate is the way he makes me feel when we’re together—ignored, yet with a dangerous rush of emotions I haven’t experienced in far too long. Both feelings leave me on edge and generally have me plotting ways to make his life unpleasant for the few hours a day he does spend gracing the office with his presence. Then I mentally kick myself. Ward’s a good attorney. I’m being unfair, which is unlike me. I know he meets with most of our clients on the West Coast to alleviate the late hours Carys and David used to work. “I just don’t understand why he antagonizes me.”
Disgusted with everything, I wheel the cart around the store, grabbing the staples I’m low on in addition to sparingly adding fresh produce. I’m hefting a bag of Idaho potatoes into my wagon when a hand clutches my shoulder. I whirl around in panic before recognizing the face and relaxing. “Hi, Mr. Graham.”
