Page 216 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
Miles takes a seat at the kitchen table and sips his coffee. “Apparently Carly ran into her in the bathroom last night. At the restaurant. She came back to the table and told us about it.”
I stiffen. Then, “So?”
“So…Carly said she looked terrible. Very sad.”
I try to ignore the spike that pierces my heart at the thought of Avery’s sadness. Hell, why should I care? She left me. “Not my concern.”
“Avery left after that,” Miles says. “We saw her say something to her partner and then cut out.”
I don’t reply. I know very well where Avery went. She got into a car with some Uber driver and drove off. That’s when I walked the half mile back into town and went to the pool hall.
“We tried to call you,” he continues.
“Phone died.” I take a swill of coffee, wince when it burns my tongue.
“The girls were worried, but Austin and I figured you could take care of yourself.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I scoff.
“You know what you need?” Miles asks.
I roll my eyes. “To get laid?”
He chuckles. “To be truthful, that wouldn’t hurt, but I was thinking of something else.”
“And what might that be?”
“You need to figure out why in hell this woman left you fifteen years ago, because from what I can ascertain, it wasn’t her idea.”
“How do you know that?”
He shrugs. “If you two were as hot as you say, then why is she back and upset?”
I have no fucking clue. “What does it matter? She was eighteen. She could have stayed.”
“Eighteen is such an arbitrary damned age.” Miles draws in a breath. “Hell, when I was eighteen, I thought I knew everything. It’s amazing how much less I know now than then.”
“And this has what to do with my situation?” I push, trying to figure out why he knows all about my love life—or lack thereof—and wants to give me advice.
“I’m just saying.” He scratches the back of his neck and looks my way. “She was barely eighteen. Her mother was the one constant in her life. Don’t blame her for not having the strength to venture out on her own. I mean, could she? Did she have the money? A support system—besides you—to stick around? Maybe she didn’t have a choice if she wanted a roof over her head.”
“She had me!” I snap. “Look, I would have understood if she had to leave. Hell, even if she wanted to leave, for that matter. But she should have told me. Fuck it all. Did she know that day at the spring?”
He looks at me, confused. “Day at the spring? What the fuck are you talking about?”
I sigh. He might have picked up slivers of info from me and ’Carly, but he doesn’t know everything. I sure as shit don’t kiss and tell. “Never mind.” I set my empty coffee cup in the sink and walk back to my bedroom.
Time to stop feeling fucking sorry for myself. There’s work to be done.
And once I’ve kicked my brothers’ asses with manure shoveling? I’m going to head into town, find Avery Marsh, and make her talk to me.
9
AVERY
Ten minutes pass before a middle-aged man with dark hair and a beer belly is led to the small cubicle where I’m sitting.
He sits across from me behind the thick plexiglass and picks up the phone.
