Page 161

“It’s probably best you don’t see her for now. The press will go nuts. I’ll be in touch. Got to prep for surgery.” Xav hangs up.

Desperation whips through me, and I smack my fist on the window.

I did this. I taunted her, tempted her, pulled her into my dark, chaotic web, even though I knew we were breaking the rules. Casey and Lana both warned me. I can survive scandals—I’m the king of scandals. But it won’t be the same for her.

And now her career is at risk. She doesn’t need to tell me, but knowing what happened to Mia, I’m sure she became a psychiatrist to save people like her sister. It’s her way of atoning for missing the signs.

Just like my twisted shit with the mission.

My Olive and I are the same—both wrestling with grief and guilt. But she went about it to make the world a better place. I only wreaked more havoc.

But I need to save her career. It’s the least I can do for the woman who means the world to me.

Deep in my thoughts, I don’t notice the door opening until I hear someone clear his throat.

“I’ve never seen you like this before. Why did you let her go? Why didn’t you come to us sooner?”

Startled, I look up, seeing the reflection of my quietest brother, Ethan, staring at me with sympathy in his eyes.

Lana and Maxwell already filled them in on everything.

Dad called, saying he was coming straight back to the city after finishing a volunteering session in Southeast Asia.

My siblings have been great at giving me space, but I’m guessing that ends now.

I snort and shake my head at Ethan. “You’re the one to talk. You didn’t let us in either—all those years secretly in love with Lexy, waiting for her to wake up.”

Unbeknownst to us, Ethan was about to propose to Charles and Liam’s younger sister, Alexis, after secretly dating her for a few years behind his best friend Liam’s back. But when she got into a coma for eight years, Ethan silently suffered and waited, not telling a single soul about his lost love.

“Lexy was in a coma, then. There was nothing anyone could do. I didn’t want Liam to feel betrayed when he was already devastated about her condition.” Ethan clasps my shoulder. “You, on the other hand…you could change the situation. I couldn’t controlifshe’d wake up.”

Ethan clears his throat again, and when I turn around, I see a haunted glint in his eyes.

I can’t imagine the torture he went through.

“She’s fine now. Healthy. And married to the most boring asshole on the planet.” I nudge him.

He chuckles, the fear on his face vanishing. “We don’t give you enough credit. Lexy told me she thought you were a lot more sensitive than you let on.”

“Is that a compliment? But seriously, imagine the devastation if I unleash that into the world. Hot as fuck. Knows how to bring on theparty and fuck like a porn star. And sensitive on top of that?” Humorless chuckles escape my lips.

“Don’t do that. Minimize yourself,” Ethan says.

For a split second, I’m thrown back to my sessions with Olivia, when she called me out on my self-hatred. She’s the first person to truly see me.

And she never judged me, never made me feel less than. She made me feel worthwhile.

Worth saving.

“I need to save her career,” I murmur.

Ethan scans my face, not bothering to ask me who, because we all know. “Do you love her, Rex?”

Love.

My heart pulses at the word. It’s a sentiment I once thought was impossible for me.

“More than anything.”