The Devil Gets His Due (The Devils #4)(83)

Something Drew would have on speed dial.





Drew calls me back within the hour.

“I heard about you and Graham. I’m so sorry. You guys were so cute together the other week, at Ben’s house. I really thought it was all going to work out.”

Maybe it’s my imagination, but she sounds guilty.

“Actually, this is related: that night, the night we went to Vegas? I don’t really remember how we got there.”

She is very quiet, for a long moment. “I’m so sorry,” she finally says. “You seemed okay. I mean we were all drinking, but according to Josh, I was the drunk one. You don’t remember anything?”

I run a hand over my face. I can no longer claim I regret getting that drunk because I wouldn’t have this baby coming if I didn’t. But it’s probably going to remain embarrassing for a good long time. “Very little. Did you…get us a plane?”

She sighs. “Yes. Fuck. I took care of the plane; I took care of getting you to the airport before you’d even agreed. I even had my assistant arrange everything in Vegas. I was drunk and felt like I was playing fairy godmother, and it wasn’t until I woke up that I realized it might have all been a really bad idea. I’m so, so sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I mean, clearly, I was the one pushing to marry a stranger.”

“Oh,” she says. “Not really. I mean, you were on board, but the whole thing started with Graham.”

“Graham?” I repeat. That can’t be right. Graham Tate was coerced into this nonsense by me and me alone, possibly with Drew’s assistance.

“Wow,” she says. “You really don’t remember anything, do you? It was so cute. He said he knew he was going to marry you the first time you ever spoke on the phone.”

If things hadn’t ended the way they did, I’d think that was the most romantic story ever. But they did end, so now it’s just really sad.

And really confusing.





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44





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GRAHAM





“Graham,” barks a sharp voice. I’m sweating profusely and a little disoriented from the run I just finished—excessive exercise is the only thing keeping me going these days.

I wipe my face with my t-shirt and pull my earbuds out as I turn to find my sister-in-law stepping out of her car in a suit and sky-high heels. Her sunglasses are on, and her cheekbones look like they could cut glass. I’m far taller than Gemma, but if I weren’t…I’d probably be a little terrified. Given how much she must hate me, I probably should be a little terrified anyway.

“Is Keeley okay?” I ask immediately.

Even behind her sunglasses I can tell she’s rolling her eyes. “No thanks to you.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You can yell at me all you want, Gemma. You can’t make me feel any worse than I already do.”

“Do you honestly think I don’t know what you’re doing?” she demands. “My husband and I have been together nearly two years, and he has never asked me once about Keeley. Now he’s asking me multiple times a day, detailed questions he wouldn’t even know to ask, about her blood pressure and the baby and her job and if all the furniture’s arrived and if the car seat was installed. You two are idiots!” she says, throwing her hands in the air. “Why the hell aren’t you just asking me directly? Why aren’t you just asking her?”

I push my hands in my pockets. “She’s not speaking to me. I assumed you weren’t either.”

“I shouldn’t be, but my friend is devastated and it’s your goddamn fault, so you need to pull your shit together and fix it.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t fix it if I could?” I demand. “She kicked me out and told me not to contact her! She’s seeing someone else anyway.”

She groans loudly. “Did you honestly believe that? Who exactly do you think she suddenly started dating?”

Ethan. He’d take her back at any point, I’m certain. It was written all over his face. “I figured it was someone from before.”

“You smitten asshole, even if she was willing to date someone at this point in her pregnancy she wouldn’t, and you’re the only person whipped enough to think one of her exes is going to date her when she’s eight months pregnant.”

Maybe she’s right. It’s one of the things I found too painful to even contemplate fully…and thus all the working out.

“I still don’t know how to fix it.”

“By telling her why you did it, Graham. Why you really did it. And by telling her you know her better than that.” Gemma pushes her sunglasses on top of her head and brushes at her eyes. I’ve never seen Gemma tear up before. I sort of thought she wasn’t capable of it.

What I’ve done to Keeley is that bad.

“You know why this is so hard for her?” she whispers. “Because you took everything she hates about herself and everything Shannon told her she was and you put it on paper. That’s what she saw when she looked at that contract: that the guy she fell in love with only saw the side of herself she hates and nothing more.”