Honor

Chapter 71

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

R eid

Since Evangeline has gone silent on me, my life has been upended. It has nothing to do with the fact that she’s not behind her desk and everything to do with the reality that I may have fucked up the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I have to fix this, and I need that done now.

Sending her more flowers won’t work because I know she’s not at home. I found that out after I stood outside the door to her apartment building last night. I thought about texting her to ask her to let me up, but since she was already ignoring every message I had sent to that point, I devised a different plan.

I waited outside for almost an hour until a guy exiting the building let me in.

He questioned me briefly. I told him I liked his suit. He gave me an appreciative nod before he motioned for me to enter.

After that, I pounded on Evangeline’s door for a solid five minutes until a woman peered her head out of an apartment down the hall and told me to shut the hell up.

The expression on my face must have given away my despair because she found it in her heart to tell me that she saw Evangeline leave on Monday night with “ her blonde friend and a hunky guy with big muscles .”

Since not one word of that described Randall, I felt the fury of jealousy grip me until the neighbor explained that the big, muscled guy was carrying pink roses out of the apartment, along with a few other things. She made sure to note that one looked like a container of soup.

I put enough pieces of that puzzle together to seek out Randall. I called him on my way out of the building and casually asked if he was hanging out with Charlotte last night. He was working, he said, and besides, his fiancée was with her maid of honor. Evie has been camped out at Charlotte’s since the last time I saw her.

I lucked out when Randall added on the random fact that Mack, his driver, was the man who drove them there from Evie’s place.

Stalking Charlotte’s apartment is an option, but since I have no idea where the hell that is, and I doubt Evie would find that acceptable, I’m out of luck.

I drop my head into my hands and exhale harshly.

“What deal did you screw up?” Baden asks from what I assume is the open doorway to my office.

I only have myself to blame for the impending conversation. I should have shut the damn door when I got to work three hours ago. I never arrive at six a.m., but I haven’t slept a wink the past two nights, and couldn’t stand another second in my apartment. I’ve spent too many memorable moments there with Evie recently.

“It’s not a deal,” I confess.

Baden knows me well enough to read between the lines. “Who did you fuck over?”

I motion for him to close the door. Employees are arriving, and I don’t want a nosy one to overhear what I’m about to say. The last thing Evangeline needs right now is for her co-workers to know about our relationship, if we still have one.

“You’re freaking me out,” he confesses as he unbuttons his suit jacket before taking a seat in one of the guest chairs that face my desk.

Normally, I’d comment on the quality and cut of the suit, but not today. I’m in the middle of the biggest crisis I’ve ever faced, and need advice.

“Who did you fuck over?” he repeats. “Did you say something to hurt Melody? Did you piss Vance off again? If that’s it, don’t sweat it. You know he’ll forgive you by lunch.”

“It’s Evangeline,” I say her name with a crack in my voice. “Evie. I fucked over Evie.”

“You fired her?” he asks, jumping to the obvious conclusion. “Tell me you didn’t fire her because she asked for extra days off this week, Reid. That’s on me. I approved it.”

“I think I’m in love with her.”

His mouth drops open. “What?”

I shake my head and correct my last statement to reflect my truth, “I am in love with her. I know it deep in my bones. I fucking love her, Baden.”

“No shit?” He chuckles. “Does she even know you like her? Sending a woman on daily scavenger hunts around Manhattan to collect postage stamps and library books is not the way to win her heart.”

I ignore that because he’s right. I haven’t shown her the respect she deserves, but those errand runs were a way to get her out of my sight. I may not have fallen in love with her at first sight, but it was lust. That’s changed to love. I’ve never experienced it before, but I know what it is. My grandfather always told me my heart would know before my brain did. He was right.

Jesus. I wish Buzzy were here to talk me through this. I was too na?ve to know how much I’d need him until it was too late.

“We’ve been together for weeks,” I tell him, keeping my gaze locked on his so he knows how serious this is. “I’ve spent almost all of my off time with her.”

He nods. “You do love her. How does she feel about you?”

I wish I knew. Judging by what I saw in her eyes at her apartment the other night, disappointment tops the list of what she’s feeling for me. I suspect there’s some anger there and confusion, too. I don’t know if love, or even like, cracks the top ten emotions she’s feeling at the moment.

“I don’t know.” I scrub a hand over my forehead. “Evie is the maid of honor in Randall’s wedding.”

“Since when?”

“Since right around when he asked me to be the best man.”

His eyes widen. “So, she’s close with Charlotte Rushing? You were keeping that fact in your back pocket to surprise us, weren’t you? You knew you could use that to secure a deal for Emmel’s.”

Every word out of his mouth reminds me of what Evie must have inferred after overhearing the conversation I was having with Baden and Vance earlier this week.

“They’re becoming close,” I clarify. “I did see her as an in to get a deal done with Emmel’s, but I was wrong. I was so fucking wrong to think that. I was an idiot to use my position as Randall’s best man to think I could get control of Azelius.”

Baden leans closer to my desk to tap the corner of it. “You’re not making any sense. That was always the plan. You’d get your hands on Azelius when he was ready to sell. Emmel’s was the icing on the cake.”

“Evie thought I was a good man.” Closing my eyes briefly, I rest the back of my head against my chair. “She thought I was the best man because I’m a good man. She thought I viewed Randall as an old friend; as a brother. She saw a side of me that she now thinks doesn’t exist.”

“What are you talking about? You are a good man.”

“She overheard us talking the other day,” I get to the point. “It was the first she heard of us wanting Azelius and Emmel’s. In her eyes, I’m a ruthless bastard who was using Randall and Charlotte to pad my bank account.”

“Fuck.” He sighs. “I’m sorry, Reid.”

“I should have told her we were interested in both companies,” I say. “She had a right to know. Randall and Charlotte did, too. I should have said something to Randall the second I realized he owned Azelius.”

“That’s the thing, Reid.” He plucks a piece of lint off his dark gray pants. “You agreed to be his best man before you knew he owned the spa chain. You did that for a reason. Don’t beat yourself up because you think you’re an asshole. You may be in business, but you’ve been a good friend to Vance and me. You’re a solid guy who has been through the wringer.”

“Everyone’s past has a few hurdles.”

“You lost your parents when you were a kid,” he points out. “Then your grandfather and your grandma. Putting your trust in Winston fucked things up for you. You never talk about it, but I know.”

The chapter of my life that involves billionaire Moses Winston is one I wish to hell I could forget, but the impact of that mentorship has haunted me for years. It’s time I’ll never get back, and it has changed me. It’s changed me in ways I’m not proud of.

“I got through all of that,” I half-lie because I am, for the most part, able to shoulder the grief of every profound loss I’ve suffered, and I’ve overcome the pain that I suffered when Winston’s misdeeds were uncovered. “I need to make things right with Evie.”

“I have a suggestion.”

I wave my hand in the air. “Spit it out. I’ll do anything to make her see I’m worthy of her. I need to fix this.”

“Go talk to Randall,” he says. “Explain what’s happening. Admit that we had an eye on Azelius, but your love for Evie is worth more than any deal. Own up to this, Reid. Show Evie you are the best man she’s ever met.”