Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(69)

“Okay, but what about Brandon. Did you call the police when he showed up with a bullet hole?”

She held his gaze with difficulty. “No.”

“You do get that’s why he wouldn’t go to the ER, right? They’d have to report it.”

“You have to know that if I’d been aware that Brandon had hurt someone, I’d have been the first person to turn him in,” she said shakily.

She could see the doubt in his eyes, and her heartsick turned to anger. “I did promise I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Doesn’t mean you meant it.”

Like a dagger to the heart that she had never meant to give him access to. “If you’re done with the interrogation, I’d really like you to leave now.”

He closed his eyes for a beat. “Ivy,” he said low and pained. Like she’d hurt him.

“I don’t understand what you want from me,” she whispered, hugging herself.

“Honesty.”

“I’ve given you that, even when it hurt and was humiliating,” she said. “But it’s not enough, is it.” She grabbed her bag and keys. “I’m tired of feeling like I’m not enough. For once, I want the person in my life to be what I need them to be.”

“And what did you need me to be?”

“It no longer matters.”

“It does,” he said, sounding very serious.

The words escaped her mouth before she could filter them. “I want someone to have my back without question.”

“I think I’ve done that.”

“Really?” she asked. “Because you think I withheld information from you, on purpose. You accused me of hiding my brother, of lying to you via text.” She held up a hand when he would have spoken. “I know. I get it. I can see how it looked to you, but you have the facts now. At least all the facts that I have. And yeah, I made a mistake, a big one. But that mistake wasn’t lying. It was believing in Brandon when I knew better. And I did know better.”

Kel blew out a breath. “He’s your brother and you wanted to believe in him.”

“It was stupid,” she said. “And I won’t do it again.” Once again. And with that, she walked out of her own place.

Completely wrecked.

It felt like she’d lived a year in just today alone, but unbelievably it was only eight in the morning. And yet all she could think was . . . Kel hadn’t believed in her, and in doing so, he’d played right into her worst fears. That once again she didn’t have anyone at her back.

On the street, she ran to catch the bus to the Pacific Pier Building because she wasn’t up for walking. She was pissed off and still shaky, and . . . so, so unhappy. But hell, she’d been unhappy before. She would live.

In the meantime, she needed to earn money, now more than ever, since she clearly wouldn’t be getting her condo. Or anything anytime soon.

She felt the threat of tears and willed them away. God, she’d been so stupid. It was her fault a man was in the hospital, not to mention that she’d allowed her brother to draw her into this mess. The worst part was, she knew she’d ruined not only what she’d had with Kel, but also had most certainly destroyed any trust Caleb had had in her. And ditto for the friends when they found out. And they would find out, this building didn’t hold its secrets. Hard to believe she’d found that refreshing.

She’d actually started to believe that this life could be hers. But the joke had been on her . . .

When she got off the bus, she walked through the courtyard of the building, heading directly for the coffee shop. No way could she possibly face customers without caffeine. Caffeine would bolster her up and allow her to get through the day without losing it completely.

Something she refused to do.

She strode up to the counter and gave Tina her order. “A tall, nonfat latte with caramel drizzle. And if you could make it more like a scoop than a drizzle, that’d be great.”

Tina nodded. “You weren’t at class.”

“I know.”

“Bad day already?” Tina asked.

“Bad doesn’t begin to cut it.”

“Give me a minute, darling.”

And in the promised minute, Tina reappeared with a jasmine green tea and an organic banana oatmeal muffin. “Strong is what happens when you run out of weak.”

“Um . . . what?”

“Trust me,” Tina said. “Mama knows best. That tea’s going to rejuvenate you instead of send you to an early grave, and you look like you’re down a quart so the muffin’s going to fill your tummy and give you energy and life.” She paused. “Man problems?”

“Is there any other kind of problem?”

Tina smiled grimly. “Not that I’ve ever found.”





Chapter 25




Strong is what happens when you run out of weak



There’d been many times in Kel’s life where he’d felt he’d been wronged. It was rare for him to feel like he was the one doing the wronging. He just didn’t operate that way. He followed his own moral code and instincts, and they’d rarely steered him off base.

Work first. He’d promised himself this after the last fiasco, he would never again put anything ahead of work. Certainly not emotions.