“Speak to my wife like that again,” he threatened, “and you and I will be having words outside.”
“Enough!” Freddie stood up and marched over to us. “We don’t know what happened. He left this letter. Some stuff went down with Tye last night and —”
“Tye?” I asked. I took the letter off him and read through it. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I read over his words. He sounded so lost and alone. “What happened with Tye?” I asked, directing my question to Everleigh.
“Too much,” she started. “Too much to go into now if we want to find Luke.”
“Then talk fast,” I said. “What was so bad to make my best friend take off and leave everything behind?”
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
FREDDIE
“What didn’t that prick do?” Dawson angrily began as I glared at him, making him realize that he’s not helping the situation. If anything, he was about to make it a whole lot damn worse. He took a step back and held his hands up in surrender, blowing out a long drawn breath before turning to reach for Everleigh, desperate for her comfort.
“Nina,” I began, not caring about the tears running freely down my face as I saw my friends gathering around me for moral support as I took a deep breath. “Tye was Dawson’s business partner.” I indicated the man with his arms wrapped around Everleigh. “The joint CEO of the RP Group. The place where Luke and I worked. Where we all work—bar Everleigh.”
I noticed James take a step backwards and gather Nina in his arms. Her fingers curled on top of his hands as James placed a kiss on the top of Nina’s head. It was almost as if he knew the words I was about to speak would sucker punch her just as hard as they had Luke when I first uttered them.
“Luke discovered Tye had got himself mixed up with some bad people and in the end, he hurt a lot of innocent people who didn’t deserve to be caught in the firing line. He hurt my family. He hurt the people I love.”
I didn’t miss the wince from Nina’s lips and tears that fell down her face as she gripped James’s hands tighter. I couldn’t miss the crestfallen look that appeared across James’s face at the sight of his new wife, completely broken and at a loss about what to do to help Luke. He wanted to take her pain away, just like she wanted to fix her friends. I didn’t think there was anything she could do, though. Luke had made a choice without consulting me and left me with a letter to remember him with. It was a few short words for all the emotions that had passed between us both when, in reality, his actions had said so much more.
I curled my arms around my waist and Isobel reached for me, but I shrugged her attempted hold away. I couldn’t allow her to comfort me when the only person’s strength and touch I needed had gone and left me.
He’d left me. He’d gone and l was alone.
I let out the harsh sobbed whimper as I reached out for the table by my side to keep me upright. At least a table couldn’t hurt me with words or walk away from me. As the reality sunk in, I knew that this was why I’d always kept my distance from men, a barrier around my heart, so I’d never experience this pain. This heartbreak. This overwhelming sensation that the world would never be the same again.
I never wanted a man to have that power over me, but I risked it for Luke. I gave him my all and now I had nothing left to give as he’d destroyed me.
My heart shattered at the fact that I didn’t even know if my family would all follow in the same stride and leave too. A thought I’d never have comprehended in the past, but now, every line seemed blurred and confused.
“Fred… do you need a moment?” Isobel chirped, reaching for me, but I shook my head.
“Tye, in the end, jumped in front of the car and saved my best friend.” I looked over to Everleigh and swallowed harshly. “No matter what he’d done beforehand, I would have forgiven his actions.” I gulped hard, hating admitting that fact, but it was the truth. “I wish I could’ve thanked him for that.”
“He saved me and my woman. It was the most selfless act he could have ever done,” Dawson replied as he trailed his fingers across Everleigh’s stomach and met my gaze. “Without his actions, we wouldn’t be here.”
“But Luke obviously didn’t see the same sentiment…” James interrupted, as he swiped a tear away from Nina’s face with his thumb as Nina nodded. “Freddie, Luke would’ve seen the bigger picture and once his mind is set, it’s hard to change.”
“He’s stubborn,” Nina agreed.
“Just like someone else I know,” Everleigh exclaimed as Isobel and the others chuckled around me and I let the sound wash around in my head. “I think we have some work to do.”
“I do, too,” Nina replied just as James showed her a text message on his phone and a grin appeared across her face. “Dawson, I need to borrow Freddie for a few weeks. Is that okay?”
I looked up and held my hands up, shaking my head from left to right.
“Nina, we don’t know where he is, and he doesn’t want me. Just leave it alone, yeah.”
“Of course you can. Cab’s on its way for the rest of us. We’ll give you some time alone.” Dawson smirked as the guys came over and started to hug me.
It looked like I had no say in whatever Nina and James had planned, just that I was at their disposal for the next few weeks. I just hoped I didn’t regret putting my foot firmly down and refusing to do as she said, but my gut said that Nina rarely took no for an answer.
* * *
Ithought Everleigh was scary at times when you tried to go against her, but Nina was a different breed of friend altogether. I thought I knew what a protective friendship felt like with that one person who ensured you felt cocooned and comforted at all times. God help them if someone pissed you off, but I never wanted to get on the wrong side of Nina. Luke had one hell of a guardian watching out for him. It made me think how lucky he was.