“No—”
“Yes!” She shook her head at him. “How can you possibly think that is okay? I am a person! I have feelings, too! Pretending that you wanted to go out with me is not okay on any level, Magnus!”
“It hasn’t been pretending. Not for some time.”
“How am I supposed to know that? How am I supposed to believe a word that you say? You’re just as big a liar as Bianca is.” She bounded to her feet, ignoring the sharp stab of pain that shot up her bad leg. “I can’t stay here. I have to leave—”
“No, Edie,” Magnus said, coming after her. He reached for her, and when she jerked away, stopped. “I love you. Seriously. That’s all me. I want you to move in with me. I don’t care that we’ll have nine cats and sixteen-hundred square feet. We’ll find a bigger place that meets our needs and we’ll be happy together, just you and me. Just stay, and let’s talk this through.”
She shook her head. “I can’t deal with this. Not right now. Maybe not ever.”
“Edie—”
“Fuck off,” she said, and then she was out the door, and down the street, and she didn’t stop running until she found a taxi. In a haze of pain and misery, she looked at the driver. “Buchanan Manor, please.”
And then she burst into more noisy tears.
Chapter Sixteen
Gretchen Petty was a good friend.
She didn’t ask questions when Edie stood on her doorstep, utterly miserable, knee swollen, tears running down her face, vomit on her shirt. She just folded her arms around her friend and ushered her inside. After Edie had taken a nice long bath and changed into Gretchen’s pajamas, Gretchen ordered a pizza and slowly coaxed the story out of Edie. Of Bianca’s betrayal, followed up by the fact that Magnus had been lying to her, too. Gretchen was appropriately horrified, and insisted that Edie stay with her until things were sorted out.
“But my cats,” Edie protested. “They need medication and Bianca won’t take care of them, and—” Fresh tears erupted.
Gretchen patted Edie’s good knee. “Give me your house key and a list of their meds and I’ll handle it.”
Edie gave up the keys without protest.
Hours later, Edie woke up from a nap to find that Gretchen had arrived with one of Hunter’s new assistants named Darcy. Between the two of them, they’d rounded up all seven of Edie’s cats, brought bags of cat food and litter, and proceeded to set up the largest room in the guest wing for Edie. Gretchen had also packed up Edie’s clothing so she’d have something to wear and not have to worry about returning home.
Edie cried some more, because she had such a good friend in Gretchen. She was the only person who had kept her word at all.
As she settled her cats into the new, unfamiliar surroundings, Edie ignored her phone. It had been ringing off the hook all afternoon, and vibrating with incoming texts. Gretchen had reported that Bianca was beside herself, weeping and full of excuses, and followed Gretchen around the apartment until Gretchen threatened to deck her. It seemed that someone had let Bianca in on what was happening, and her sister was upset that Edie knew the truth.
Good, Edie thought cruelly. Let her stew. Let her know how it feels for a change.
Magnus had been calling, too, but she ignored those. Instead of the rage she felt at her sister, there was just a dull ache where Magnus had betrayed her, a dull ache right where her heart should have been. She wasn’t as angry at Magnus as she was at Bianca. Her anger at Bianca was mostly anger at herself—she should have known better. Bianca had always been selfish and controlling growing up. Her change-about should have made Edie question things. Instead, she’d simply allowed Bianca to slowly take over her life.
Magnus’s betrayal she’d never seen coming. Maybe that was why it made her just want to cry instead of punch things. Maybe because she so desperately wanted to believe the words he’d been saying—I love you—and she just couldn’t.
If everyone lies to you, how can you possibly know what the truth is? Edie had no answer for that. And as she hugged Chunk’s ragged fur against her, she let the tears flow.
Because she’d let herself fall for Magnus. She’d let herself believe in love again.
That probably made her the stupidest one of all.
“You want something to eat?” Gretchen asked as Darcy left, carrying out the empty pizza box. “You hardly touched the pepperoni deluxe, and I know it’s your favorite.”
Edie held Chunk close, feeling the elderly cat tremble in fear out of her new surroundings. “I’m fine. I’m not hungry.”
“Most people pork up when they have a breakup,” Gretchen told her. “If you want to have ice-cream sundaes and a pork-rind pig-out fest, I’m your girl. You just let me know.”
“I know,” Edie said softly. “Thank you.”
“All right. Just text me if you need me. I’m a wing away but it might as well be miles in this place.”
“I’ll text.”
“Okay,” Gretchen said. “Leaving now. For real.”
“Bye.”
“This is me leaving,” Gretchen echoed again, stepping slowly to the door. “This is me checking to see if you want anything else before I leave. Anything at all.”
A ghost of a smile touched Edie’s face. “I’m good. I promise.”
Gretchen sighed. “All righty, then. See you in the morning.” She closed the door, and Edie pressed a kiss to Chunk’s soft head. Alone with her thoughts at last.
A knock sounded at the door. Gretchen again? “I’m fine,” Edie yelled. “Seriously, Gretch.”
The door opened and to Edie’s surprise, Hunter glanced in. “Is this a bad time?” His voice was deep, gravelly, almost raspy, as if not used often. His face was a bit fearsome in the shadows, and his mouth was pulled down heavily in one corner. No, Edie realized, it was scarring that made it seem as if he were permanently angry.
She sat up, and Chunk leapt away. “No, of course not. This is your house. Thank you for letting me stay here.”
He nodded and opened the door a bit farther, but didn’t come inside. Instead, he glanced around the room, at the cats hiding in corners, shivering in their carriers, and she knew at least one was hiding under the bed. Cats never did well in a new environment, and hers would need a little time to adjust. He looked around, then back at Edie.
“You’re very dear to Gretchen,” he said in that strange, low voice. “I just want you to know that if you need anything, all you have to do is ask. My resources are at your disposal.”
Fresh tears threatened again. She knew Hunter was a recluse based off of Gretchen’s comments, knew that he hated to be around people unless he absolutely had to. For him to come and offer this was touching. “I appreciate it.”
He gave her a stiff nod, then shut the door. She heard his footsteps down the hall as he walked away.
Edie lay back down on the bed again, grabbing a pillow and hugging it. On the nearby table, her phone buzzed with an incoming text.
She ignored it and closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep.
Didn’t work.
***
Magnus was ready to kill someone, starting with his brother, Levi. No, he decided, Bianca would go first.
Both of them were completely useless when it came to finding Edie. All Bianca did was sob and ask what it meant for her, and Magnus wanted to wring her pretty neck. She wasn’t concerned about her sister as much as she was concerned about herself, and that just increased his rage. Levi was also equally useless. It seemed that the fair Bianca had dumped him and now he was inconsolable.
Misery loved company, but this was ridiculous.
In the meantime, he’d texted Edie a ridiculous number of times, called her just as many, but she wasn’t answering. Bianca wasn’t answering his calls, either, so he’d taken to driving around the city, in the hopes that he’d catch a glimpse of a woman with a unique gait and two short brown braids that she wore tucked behind each ear. When it got dark, he decided to give up and headed back to his new place, just in case she changed her mind and came home.