Page 60 of The Billionaire's Promise

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I said, suddenly at sea. I was fantastic with women. "Women love me," I protested.

"Womenlove you," Aiden said slowly. "But this isn't aboutwomen. This is about one woman. This is about Magnolia. And she's been in love with you for years. What did you tell her when she asked you how you felt?"

"I said I didn't know," I answered, my throat tight. Even angry with Magnolia and feeling wronged, I knew that was a shitty answer to her question.

"You're kidding, right?" Aiden said. "Please tell me you said anything other than that."

"She blindsided me," I said defensively.

"And now that you've had time to think about it?" Aiden asked.

I started to speak, not quite sure what I was going to say, when the door slammed open. Charlie stood there, her sleek chignon falling down and her cheeks pink with rage.

"What did you do to Maggie?" she demanded, storming into the room and slamming the door behind her. I shot to my feet, worry stabbing through my gut.

"What do you mean? Is she okay? What happened?"

"That's what I want to know. She just called me and asked me to take care of the dog. She won't tell me where she is, she said she's not coming home today, and she was crying. What the hell, Vance? If something's wrong with Maggie, why are you here?"

"She kicked him out," Aiden supplied helpfully.

"What did you do?" Charlie screeched.

"Why does everyone assume this is my fault?" I yelled back, my temper flaring out of control.

This was my family. Mine. Shouldn't they be on my side? Why couldn't this be Magnolia's fault? She was the one who wouldn't listen. She was the one who wouldn't talk to me about it. Aiden just shook his head at me.

"Playing the odds," he said. Looking at Charlie, he explained, "She asked him if he loved her and he told her he didn't know."

Charlie's face fell, her anger sliding away, replaced by a look of immeasurable sadness. She moved Rosie's carrier out of the other chair and unsnapped her, cuddling Rosie in her lap and studying her face for a moment before she looked at me.

"Vance, you're an asshole. When the woman you love asks you how you feel about her, you don't tell her you don't know. As if Maggie hasn't been through enough, you have to stomp all over her heart? How could you do that?"

"She took me by surprise," I mumbled. That excuse was starting to wear thin, even to me. "And how doyouknow I'm in love with her?"

Charlie rolled her eyes at me. "I can't believe you're really this dumb. This is what happens when you spend your entire adult life sleeping around and never even attempt to have a normal relationship with a woman. Of course you're in love with Maggie. Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you're not? Because if you've just been using her—"

Charlie looked down at Rosie and said in a low voice, "That would be pretty much the worst thing you could do to your best friend. Her parents dumped her when she was eight, she lost her only family when her grandmother died, and her fiancée cheated on her then broke up with her a month ago.

"I've never known anyone who needs a family as much as Maggie. She stuck with Brayden for years because she wanted to get married and have kids. If you moved into her house with Rosie to make your own life easier, and you aren’t in love with her and don’t want a life with her, then you just became the biggest bastard I've ever met."

When Charlie put it like that . . . I really was a bastard.

"Fuck," I muttered, unable to look at either of my cousins.

"You really didn't think this through, did you?" Aiden asked. I scrubbed my palms over my face, my stomach turning over.

"I had a plan," I said. "After she and Brayden split up, I was going to give her some time to get over him and then I was going to ask her out. But Stephanie showed up with Rosie and . . . I've been a little distracted, okay?"

Aiden let out a puff of breath and leaned back in his chair. "Okay. I can see how the sudden appearance of a daughter you didn't know existed would shake things up. But Vance, Maggie's been hurt enough, don't you think?"

"She said she wanted to be my world," I said, mostly to myself.

"If that's not who she is to you," Charlie said, "then just let her go. I'll track her down. I'll make sure she's okay. But don't go after her if you can't give her what she wants. She loves you. If you don't love her back, really love her, then let her go."

I pushed out of my chair and went to the window, staring blindly out at the panoramic view of downtown Atlanta.

Fucking hell. There was no way I was going to let Magnolia Henry out of my life. The problem was, love had always seemed like a trite word. A Valentine's Day, greeting card kind of thing. People threw it around all the time, as an excuse or a promise.