Страница 46 из 53
Ambrose chuckled in spite of himself, and Sindee tried to suppress a smile.
Konstantin blinked like he was in pain. “Just agree with me, woman. If I want your honest opinion, I’ll beat it out of you.”
She squirmed in his lap, giggling. “Is that a promise?”
Her master arched a brow at her, and she somehow managed to shrink back without getting off his lap. Talented. “If you have the slightest shred of self-preservation, then yes. I’m not interested in dealing with a bratty girl today.”
She pouted at him, and he kissed her on the forehead.
As much as Ambrose was indifferent about Konstantin’s toy girls, the short, affectionate interaction reminded him of what he’d lost with Everly. It was hard to find a girl that understood his need for both mastering and playfulness, instead of having an unreasonably severe dynamic. Sure, he was a serious guy at times, but life was too short to spend it glaring at the woman he loved. Everly was full of fun, and yet responded instinctively to his style of mastery, giving him a run for his money at times, but still obedient when it was important.
He must have stared at the girl too long without meaning to, because Konstantin raised his brows and gestured to her. “I’ve told you before, if you want to play with her, you don’t even have to ask. She’s already told me she’s more than willing. Or we could share her, if you’d prefer.”
Sindee bit her lip and eyed him nervously.
“Don’t mind her—I told her how big your dick is a while back, and she’s talked of nothing else since. It’s a good thing I’m not a jealous man, at least not when it comes to you and Ba
Nothing about sex even interested Ambrose since Everly left, except for the occasional dream he woke from where his brain tricked him into thinking she was still next to him in bed.
“It’s been weeks. All you do is work. You won’t pull yourself out of this if you never do anything fun.”
Ambrose attempted to entertain the idea.
She’d left him. She wasn’t answering his texts or his phone calls. It felt like his history with Shae was repeating itself, except this time he knew it was his fault. Maybe he hadn’t been engaged to Everly, but it didn’t matter, because his co
For all he knew, Everly was off playing with other men and sleeping with them. Maybe she even had a new boyfriend. But even if Sindee had been his type, she still wasn’t Everly.
Just thinking her name made his chest ache.
Konstantin groaned and hid his face in Sindee’s hair. “Do you see? He plans on wallowing in his guilt and self-loathing for the rest of his life.” He coaxed the girl up off his lap. “Go to him now and make him happy.”
Sindee recovered her usual self-assured demeanor and stalked over to him with feline grace, as though she didn’t have the slightest hesitation about doing what her Master asked. When he realized she wasn’t going to balk, Ambrose sat up quickly and raised a staying hand.
“Thank you for being willing to help, but I don’t think I’m ready for that.”
“If she seriously broke up with you just because you’re rich, she’s a twit.” Sindee shook her head, and went back to Konstantin’s lap. “If she’s not interested in you, I have about a million friends who’d be more than willing to wait in line just to be introduced. Like me, for instance. When Konstantin’s new little wife comes, keep me and A
Sindee was interested in his love life? She was interested in him? It was an awkward conversation, considering she was sitting in his best friend’s lap, but at least she and A
“I’m not ready to give up on her.” The swell of emotion that came when he thought about walking away from Everly permanently thickened his throat and gave him a headache. He couldn’t just forget about her. And if it took her weeks, or even years, to come back to him, he’d fucking wait. Waiting for her, even if there was the slightest chance, was worth every miserable second.
His mind drifted to the passionate way she talked about human rights, and dignity for the poor, the fire that lit her from within. The way she challenged how he saw the world. Everly was so much more than a sexy girl with kink on her mind. She was that, of course, but there was a depth to her that had slowly been changing him, too, making him see where he was lacking as a person and challenging him to grow—to be worthy of her.
There was no moving on when the person who had become his life wanted nothing to do with him.
* * *
Flipping through the seven zillion cha
Pitiful.
And why hadn’t he taken more photos when they were together? Idiot. He’d been too busy enjoying their life together
It should have been a good day. He’d gotten through a whole hour and a half without feeling like someone had gutted him, because he’d been dealing with a situation at the office.
Now, alone at home with no work to do, his house felt huge and ridiculous and excessive. Why did one person need all this space? Maybe one of those really small homes, like he’d seen on TV, would be better for him. A house this big needed more people—like a wife and children, or maybe a small village—to fill it. Everything he owned that was expensive made him feel ashamed. How much wealth was too much for one person? But at the same time, was he supposed to give everything away? He’d tried asking Ba
He stopped flipping cha
No wonder she hated him.
This was stupid. What he needed to do was get off his ass and go to The Catacombs and hang out with the guys. They’d invited him to go, but he’d declined, saying he was going to make himself a big di
The phone rang, and he realized with a
“Hello?”
There was silence for a moment, and he rolled his gaze to the ceiling, waiting for an automated telemarketer spiel to begin.
“Ambrose?” The voice was so quiet he barely heard it over his own breathing.
“Yes?”
“I . . . You can hang up on me if you want, but I had no one else to call. My mom is out of town with her boyfriend.”
Everly? His heart struggled to find its rhythm again. “No, it’s okay. What’s wrong?” He could almost hear his heart pounding in his throat. Ask me for anything, and it’s yours.
“I was at a protest today.”
“Oh. For what? I hope it went well.” Okay, so that wasn’t the smoothest response, but talking to her at all, after so long, made him panic about saying the wrong thing.