Page 48 of Burning Rivalry

Something that started off so promising turned to shit in the blink of an eye?

Was it me? Was I the problem? Had I driven him away?

When would I stop blaming myself?

He never gave me a chance.

“Thanks for the opportunity,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. I blinked them back, furious, shattered. Waiting for him to apologize. Wishing he would. Knowing anything I said now would be tainted by the accusation I’d just hurled at him. I had wanted to hurt him the way he was hurting me.

His jaw twitched, and for a brief moment, his rigid posture softened. Then he murmured, “My pleasure.” And that was it. Not even twenty-four hours after we made love in his bed, he left me sitting alone on a milk crate behind the kitchen, where I was only able to keep from sobbing when I reminded myself he would be able to see through the camera.

I managed to wait until I was behind the wheel before the tears began to fall.

19

SEBASTIAN

“This sort of thing happens all the time, unfortunately.” Aiden sighed unhappily, giving me a sympathetic look. “Everything seems fine until it’s not.”

I stared at the fire chief’s final analysis of last week’s fire. The cause—faulty wiring in the new walk-in. The sort of thing the manufacturer would be held accountable for. It wasn’t Kristoff, after all.

It occurred to me that I wanted it to be, and was disappointed after reviewing the report. If Kristoff had been behind the fire, there might be something I could control. I could stop him, send him to prison for the rest of his life for nearly killing Claudia, among many other things.

Instead, I’d only been reminded of how unpredictable life was. There were certain things that could not be controlled. Fate could be a fickle bitch.

“Look at it this way,” Vaughn offered. “I know you. You had everything insured to the hilt, right?”

“Of course.” I didn’t mean to sound dismissive. Naturally, it was important that we settle the cause of the fire, and I recoup my investment.

“Do you know how long it will take before all the damage is cleaned up?” Jackson asked, polishing off his drink.

“Well, they can finally get started now since there’s no longer an investigation pending.” There was an uneasiness churning in me, and I couldn’t hide it. I didn’t have the strength. Frankly, I didn’t care, either. “I don’t know if I want to.”

“What?” Aiden burst out laughing, but the sound died when he realized I wasn’t joking.

“What are you talking about?” Grayson asked. “You’re not giving up. That’s not you.”

“I’m not giving up,” I insisted, looking around the table. We had met at one of Vaughn’s lounges tonight on the first floor of his casino, but I was anything but laid-back the way his other guests seemed to be on a Friday night. Suddenly, my suit was too tight, along with my skin. I wanted to burst out of it.

“Because of her?” Vaughn asked. There was that knowing tone in his voice again. He was the expert all because he was married now.

“She has a name,” I reminded him.

“Claudia,” he murmured. “Is she why?”

“It’s not as simple as that.” Nothing was simple. It had only been a few days since she left. I didn’t know if she was still in town, if she had flown to New York, or if she was in Peru. Regardless, it didn’t matter.

“There are other pastry chefs in the world,” Jackson reminded me. Because as far as they knew, that was all she was—an employee of mine with whom I’d had a falling out.

“Yeah, you can open a second restaurant with another baker,” Grayson agreed.

It was Vaughn who merely gazed at me from across the table, his drink in his hand, a gleam in his eye. “But she’s more than that, isn’t she?” he asked, raising the glass to his lips. It did nothing to hide a faint smirk.

“Wait. What?” Aiden’s head snapped around, his eyes getting wide. “Since when? When the fuck were you going to tell us?”

“I wasn’t aware I had to check in with you guys on things like this. Should we stay up late and do each other’s nails too?” I countered. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. It’s over. She’s going back to New York to work for some hotshot chef out there so she could finally get what she wanted.”

“And you know that how?” Vaughn was not willing to let this go, and I was about to walk away if he didn’t stop pushing me.