I close my eyes, he’s right, the way I handled that situation was all wrong. So wrong in fact that even easy-going Ryker is pissed at me.
“You have to fix it. She is going to go to another company dude.”
Ryker’s words cause my eyes to pop wide. She hadn’t even been gone thirty minutes and she’d already managed to squeeze in a call to Liv. I’m still steaming over what I saw when I was looking out the window. She was all sunshine and smiles for Antonio, hugging him and getting into his car as if nothing had happened between us.
“She can’t do that, we are a team, I just offered her a promotion,” I say weakly and hear Ryker snort on the other end of the phone.
“I know that Emily messed you up. No one can blame you for being cautious after what happened, but this is Harper. You know her probably better than anyone else. She would never ever hurt you like that.”
“I know I know. Now she is out with the Italian stallion and he’s smoldering at her and hugging her,” I grumble under my breath.
“What the hell? Who is the Italian stallion?” Ryker asks.
“Antonio. That is what I’ve been calling him. He offered to give her a tour of Rome the other day after we met with him, and I encouraged her to go. It would be goodfor the company.”
“That was smart. I’m in love with you Harper, but please go spend time with a hot billionaire in one of the most romantic cities in the world.”
“I’m not…” I start but cuts me off.
“Oh, please you are too. The way you talked about her after her first day on the job it made it obvious. You had been so wrapped up in Emily and you couldn’t see her for what she was and then it was Harper this and Harper that,” Ryker says in a high-pitched voice.
“I was complaining Ryker! She never stops talking, she is always telling me what she thinks, and about her life. It was a lot to process at first.”
“And you loved every minute of it. The only reason you even proposed to Emily is because it is what you thought youshoulddo. You couldn’t get out of your own way and see what was right in front of you. So, you proposed to the wrong girl. You weren’t heartbroken when Emily left you were humiliated,” Ryker says.
“This conversation is over. What kind of brother are you?” I punch the end button and throw my phone at the couch.
He isn’t right. There is no way that Emily leaving didn’t shatter my heart into pieces. I was going to marry her for fucks sake.
Picking up the phone I dial one of our other brother’s Mark.
“Hey how is Rome,” he says, his voice cheerful. Mark, always the cheerful one.
“Question: do you remember when Emily left me?” I ask him.
“Yes,” he says confused.
“Ryker seems to think I didn’t even love her, that I just proposed because I was supposed to and that I’ve really been in love with Harper this whole time, he thinks all Emily did was humiliate me and hurt my pride.” The sentence comes out in a long whoosh and there is silence on the other line.
“Hello Mark are you there?” I look at the phone to make sure we haven’t been disconnected.
“I’m still her. Yes, Ryker is right. Emily was a fraud and a gold-digging princess that was just trying to make her rich boyfriend jealous. Even though you and Harper go at each other like two feral cats, it is obvious that you are in love with each other.”
I hear the squeak of his chair, “Wait, did you guys get together in Rome? This is important I need to know.”
“Why is it so important to you?” I ask, forgetting my situation for a moment.
“Because if you did, I won the pool,” he says, his voice trembling with excitement.
“Kind of? We slept together and then I screwed it up.”
“Fix it because bragging rights are on the line. Look, to answer your questions, you guys have danced around this for years. It is about time you pulled your head out of the sand and realized what was right in front of you. Now I have to go and call Ryker.” The line goes dead, and I just shake my head. This is ridiculous, they were betting on when we would get together?
The sound of the elevator makes me turn and my heart starts to beat like crazy in my chest.
I need to fix this, Harper is my everything and I need her in my life.
She gets off the elevator and I open my mouth, and nothing comes out. She isn’t alone, the Italian stallion is with her.