“I gave up on you,” I reply simply. “And I’m glad I did, Amy.”
Her whole demeanor changes now; her eyes narrow, her shoulders stiffen. She’s not getting what she wants, and now she’s going to fire back.
“Do you think I don’t know all about your little American girlfriend?” she asks and circles the room, watching me. “I know everything.”
“Charly wasn’t a secret,” I reply with a shrug.
“Do you think she’s with you because of your sparkling personality?” she asks with a laugh. “Hardly. You’re handsome, rich, famous. She’s with you so you can pay for her precious little shoe store.”
I cock a brow.
“That’s right, I’ve been there. I wasn’t about to let you go fuck some gold digger in Louisiana without seeing what she was all about for myself. She’s nothing. Her little store is nothing.”
I want to slap her, and I’ve never wanted to slap a woman once in my life.
“You deserve so much better than that. Aren’t you the one out there on a stage, spouting all kinds of advice about going after what you’re worth? Why would you downgrade to such a pathetic little money-grubbing whore?”
“That’s enough.” My voice is steel. She stops pacing and stares at me with wide eyes.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me. You know what, Amy? I don’t know if she’s a money-grubbing whore.” I shrug one shoulder, as if it’s of no consequence to me. “I really don’t. She might be. But I do know that you are. Now, you want to know how you can make everything up to me? Get the fuck out of this room and don’t ever look back. If I so much as suspect that you’re fucking with my family, friends, or Charly, I will make you regret it for the rest of your life.”
“You’re bloody threatening me!”
“No. I’m telling you how it’s going to be.”
“I should just kill myself.” She stomps her foot like a child and I can’t help but laugh. “This is not funny!”
“You’re right. It’s ridiculous. Goodbye, Amy.” I turn away from her and ignore her completely until she finally stomps away and slams the door behind her.
Seconds later, the door opens again and I spin, ready to threaten to call the cops, but it’s Todd standing there instead of Amy.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“No.” I shake my head and rub my hand over my mouth. Todd nods and looks toward the door.
“She’s such a bitch, Simon. Don’t let her into your head.”
“I don’t give two shits about Amy,” I reply. “She no longer lives in my head. But I fucked up, mate.”
“Yeah, I’ve been telling you that for weeks.”
I’m pacing the room in agitation. God, how do I fix this?
“So, go after her, Simon. Get on a bloody plane.”
“I can’t.” I shake my head and push my fingers through my hair. “I’m a jealous moron with her, Todd. I’m a complete jerk and I want to tear off every man’s head who even looks in her direction. I overreact to even an innocent interaction, and I promised her that I would talk to her before jumping to conclusions, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I’ve had a lot of time to go over everything in my head, and I handled it so badly.”
“Simon, there’s a difference between being jealous and being territorial,” Todd says calmly. “It’s okay to stake a claim on the woman you love.”
“I didn’t say love.”
“Jesus, you’re stubborn,” he mutters. “Come on, mate. I’ve never seen you like this before. You’ve been in love with her since you met her. And that’s why you get so jealous, because she’s amazing and anyone would love to be with her. But she loves you too, you know. No way a woman lets a guy stay with her for weeks if she’s in like with him.”
“I can’t go after her,” I repeat and hold my hand up when Todd begins to disagree. “I need to figure out a few things first. I need to get my head on straight because I can’t go back into it with her in the same space. She needs more. She deserves more, and damn it, so do I.”
“Then get your head on straight and go get your girl. But don’t wait too long. You’ve already buggered it all up. If you wait too long, she’ll tell you to go fuck yourself.”
“She might do that anyway.”
“But you won’t know unless you try,” he says. “And you have to try, Simon. You deserve this too. It’s long overdue.”
Chapter Twenty