Enticed by His Forgotten Lover (Pregnancy & Passion #1)(46)

She started toward the door when a man brushed by her. She frowned. He looked familiar. Ryan? One of Rafael’s friends. Ryan Beardsley. Maybe he could at least get her inside since Rafe wasn’t answering his phone.

“Mr. Beardsley,” she called as she hurried to catch him before he disappeared inside.

Ryan stopped and turned, a frown on his face. When he saw her, the frown disappeared but neither did he smile.

“I don’t know if you remember me,” she began.

“Of course I remember you,” he said shortly. “What are you doing here? And for God’s sake, why aren’t you wearing a coat?”

“It was warm when I left Texas,” she said ruefully. “I came to see Rafael. It’s important. He hasn’t been answering his phone. I need to see him. It’s about the resort. I wanted to tell him it was okay. I don’t care anymore. Maybe I never should have. But I don’t want him to mess things up for you or his investors or his other friends.”

Ryan looked at her like she was nuts. “You came here to tell him all that?”

She nodded. “Do you know if he’s home? Have you heard from him? I know he’s busy. Probably more so now than ever, but if I could just see him for a minute.”

“I’ll do you one better,” Ryan muttered. “Come on. I’ll take you up to his apartment. Devon should already be here. We haven’t heard from him since he arrived.”

Bryony’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Now don’t go looking like that,” Ryan soothed. “Cam dropped him off and he was fine. He’s probably just busy trying to dig himself out of this mess he’s gotten himself into.”

He took Bryony’s arm and tugged her toward the door.

“What the hell have you done to yourself?” Devon asked in disgust.

Rafael opened one eye and squinted, then made a shooing gesture with his hand. “Get the hell out of my apartment.”

“You’re shit-faced.”

“I always said you were the smart one in this partnership.”

“Mind telling me what prompted you to tie one on when you should be salvaging a business deal you seem determined to flush down the toilet?”

“I don’t give a damn about the resort. Or you. Or anyone else. Get lost.”

Rafael closed his eye again and reached for the bottle he’d left on the floor by the couch. Damn thing was empty. His mouth felt like he’d ingested a bag of cotton balls and his head ached like a son of a bitch.

Suddenly he was jerked off the couch, hauled across the floor and slammed into one of the armchairs. He opened his eyes again to see Devon’s snarling face just inches from his own.

“You’re going to tell me what the hell is going on here,” Devon demanded. “Cam said everything was fine when he picked you up. Then suddenly you go radio silent and I come up here to check on your ass and you’re so liquored up you can’t see straight.”

Pain splintered Rafael’s chest, and worse, shame crowded in from every direction. He’d never been so ashamed in his life.

“I’m a bastard,” he said hoarsely.

Devon snorted. “Yeah, well, what else is new? It never bothered you before.”

Rafael lunged to his feet, gathered Devon’s shirt in his fists and got into Devon’s face. “Maybe it bothers me now. Damn it, Devon, I remember everything, okay? Every single detail and it makes me so sick I can’t even think about it.”

Devon’s eyes narrowed but he made no move to remove Rafael’s hands from his shirt. “What the hell are you talking about? What do you remember that’s so bad?”

“I used her,” Rafael said quietly. “I went down there with the sole intention of doing whatever it took to get the land. And I did. God, I did. I seduced her. I told her I loved her. I promised her whatever she wanted to hear. All so I could make this deal happen. And it was all a lie. I left there with the intention of never going back. I had what I wanted. The sale was closed. The paperwork was filed. I had won.”

A wounded cry from the doorway made Rafael jerk his head around. He went numb from head to toe when he saw Bryony standing there, white as a sheet, Ryan right beside her, supporting her with an arm when she’d stumbled back.

It was a nightmare. His worst nightmare come to life. What was she doing here? Why now?

He let go of Devon’s shirt and started toward her. “Bryony.” Her name spilled from his lips, a tortured sound that reflected all the shame and guilt that crowded his soul.

She took a hasty step back, shaking off Ryan’s arm. She was so pale that he worried she’d fall right over.

“Bryony, please, just listen to me.”

She shook her head, tears filling her beautiful eyes. It was a sight that staggered him.

“Please, just leave me alone,” she begged softly. “Don’t say anything else. There isn’t a need. I heard it all. Leave me with some of my pride at least.”

She turned and fled into the elevator, the sound of her quiet sobs echoing through his apartment.

Rafael stood, feeling dead on the inside as he watched the elevator close. “Go after her,” he croaked out to Ryan. “Please, for me. Make sure she’s okay. She doesn’t know anyone here in the city. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”