“Strange,” Cade murmured, but he didn’t argue with her.
They went up to the bar. It was busier due to the time of night, but Violet still had no trouble finding Jonathan’s table. She just looked for the one with the most bottles in the darkest corner. Yep, there he was. Violet sighed and pointed. “At the table in the back. He’s busy trying to drink himself into a stupor again.”
“Damn.” Cade rubbed his jaw and looked over at Violet curiously. “What exactly did you say to him?”
“It’s . . . personal. So you’ll handle him from here?”
“You don’t want to stick around?” He looked surprised.
Her smile was bittersweet. “I don’t think he wants me around at the moment. I’m sorry.” Violet gave Cade an apologetic look and hustled off before he could ask further questions.
It was cowardly of her to run, but she couldn’t handle things at the moment. Her mind was spinning. She didn’t know who—or what—to believe anymore.
FIVE
Jonathan barely glanced up from his bottle of Scotch as someone sat down at his table. To his surprise, it looked like his friend, Cade. He closed his eyes, and then rubbed them. “Damn. I think I’m drinking too much.”
“What’s on the menu?” Cade asked, picking up a bottle and sniffing it. He winced. “Jesus, man. Did you buy up all the decent brands already?”
He shrugged. “Alcohol is alcohol.”
“And you’re not one to drink.” Cade waved someone over. “Can I get a glass, please? And two waters.” He turned back to Jonathan. “So, you want to say what’s bothering you?”
Jonathan poured himself another drink and slugged it down. “My life is f**king rotten, that’s what.”
“Odd thing to hear from a man who seems to love mountain climbing and chasing down lost cities.”
“All dumb shit to pass the time,” Jonathan said. “It’s all bullshit that doesn’t f**king matter.” Nothing mattered because ten years ago, he’d had Violet and she was carrying his child . . . and he’d pissed it all away to go gallivanting around the world with a man who lied to his face while pretending to be his friend and mentor.
Christ, he was a f**king idiot. He’d given up Violet. His Violet. Jonathan rubbed his face again and moaned as the reality of it came crashing down again. “Cade, I’m such a fool.”
“Is this about that lovely woman who just ran off?” Cade sipped his drink, his expression friendly and understanding. Of course Cade wouldn’t judge him. Cade never judged anyone. If ever there was a man who deserved to be sainted, it was Cade Archer. Jonathan couldn’t even hate him for it.
Instead, he craned his neck, hoping for another glimpse of Violet. “Did she leave?”
“Couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”
He stared down into his glass, thinking of Violet’s wary brown eyes, her smooth hair, her lush figure that had only ripened with age. “She is beautiful, isn’t she? She makes my heart hurt just to look at her. I see her face, and I see everything I could have had.” He shook his head and wanted to bang it on the table in frustration. “But I don’t have any of it. I have nothing.”
“That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” Cade squinted at him, analyzing him. “You’ve turned your family’s fortunes around. You’re one of the wealthiest men on the planet. You’re a benefactor for dozens of charities. You’re never cruel, you’re generous with your money, and you have some really kick-ass friends.” He grinned at the last part. “It can’t be all bad, can it?”
“But none of it matters because she hates me,” Jonathan snarled. His hand gripped his tumbler so tightly Cade thought it might shatter. “I’d give it all up in a heartbeat to know she loved me again.”
“I don’t think she hates you,” Cade said quietly. “She wouldn’t be this unsettled if she did.”
“What do you know? You’ve never lost anyone you loved. You have a perfect life.”
“Perfect,” Cade echoed, and his smile twisted a little, looking surprisingly brittle. “Are we confessing our sins, then? All right.” He leaned forward and poured himself a bigger drink, not looking at Jonathan. “I’ve loved and lost, too.”
“Who?” Jonathan didn’t believe him. Cade was just spouting shit to make Jonathan feel better.
The blond man took a long swig of his drink and considered it for a time before looking up at Jonathan again. “Daphne Petty,” he said slowly.
Didn’t ring a bell. Sounded familiar, but Jonathan’s brain was skunked at the moment. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”
Cade’s expression was rueful. “You might be the only one in the world that doesn’t. Audrey’s sister. Reese’s Audrey.” When Jonathan’s expression remained bland, Cade continued. “Reese Durham? Your buddy in the Brotherhood? Ladies’ man? His wife’s twin sister is Daphne. She’s a singer. The one with the purple wig and the plastic bikinis and the tattoos?”
A memory sparked. “Was she in a men’s magazine last month?”
“Probably.”
“Yeah, I think I jerked off to her.” He hadn’t, not really. Violet was the only one who got his dick hard. He just wanted to wipe that cheerful look off of Cade’s face.
“Asshole.”
“So you’re in love with her?” If he was thinking of the right girl, she was wild and more than a little badly behaved. Didn’t seem like Cade’s type at all. “The singer?”
“I was in love, yeah. Back in the day.” Cade considered his glass. “She got famous and she changed. She’s not the same girl anymore, and I don’t know what to think. All I know is that I feel like she’s the one that got away.” He gave Jonathan a thin smile. “So. You’re not alone in the heartbreak corner.”
He was surprised to hear all of that coming from Cade. “Yeah, but you didn’t destroy her life, did you?”
“No, she seems to be doing that well enough on her own,” Cade said flatly.
“Well, I destroyed Violet.” Jonathan thought of the pain in her eyes. A baby. There had been a baby and he’d never known. She’d lost it after she’d gone home. Had it been because she was so stressed and unhappy to be abandoned? Probably. He could lay the blame for that at his own feet, as well. It just made him hate himself more. “I’ve dreamed of her for ten years, Cade. Missed her with every waking moment. And now I find out that she hates me and she’ll always hate me. It’s like a knife in my gut.” Despair threatened to overwhelm him. “I’ll never get her back now. Ever.”