Page 94 of Impossible Love

“Shiiiit.” That’s Declan.

Evander looks at me, stunned. “So, should I—?”

“Get her everything she wants,” I tell him. “And if you don’t got it, go get it.”

Chapter 49

Cal

“Wait.” Victoria stands. “Where are these records stored, Evander?”

“Most are in digital form on our secure cloud server. I can access all those from my laptop. The older stuff is probably in Arlo’s office in the barn.”

“Yeah,” Declan says. “And that place is a black hole of chaos. Maybe we should loop him in and ask for his help.”

“Let’s bring him in a bit later,” Victoria says. I see her tense up. Her back straightens and her shoulders go rigid, though she’s still smiling pleasantly. I wonder what the hell her problem could be with Arlo, of all people. “Is he working tonight, do you think?”

“Nah, he went home hours ago,” Declan says. “Evander, text me what you need from his files. Let’s roll.” Special K and Finn follow him out the front door.

“I’ll make coffee.” Evander hops on one leg to the kitchen.

That leaves me alone with Victoria again, who’s still avoiding my gaze. I don’t blame her. I’ve behaved like a complete douche these last couple of days—with a valid reason, of course. I saw the contract. My brothers saw the contract. Her betrayal is right there in black and white.

So why do I suddenly feel like I’m missing something?

“Hey, Victoria.”

She turns. What I see in her expression nearly knocks the wind out of me. She looks like she might cry. “What are you up to? What’s all this about?”

“I already explained that I’m informing your family of my concerns.”

“About what?”

“About who’s screwing you over, because it’s not me.” She peers at me and laughs. “Don’t worry, Cal. I know you’ve already decided that I’m the Cruella Deville of Southern California. And speaking of screwing, there’ll be no more of that, because it’s over. As soon as I arrange for a plane, I’m gone.”

I open my mouth to say something but can’t. Even if I had enough air, what would I tell her? That I’m sorry and that I made a mistake? No. Because I have zero evidence that she’s innocent and a whole stack of it that tells the opposite story.

She shakes her head, disgusted. “Let’s just get through this and put it all behind us.”

“So you’re going back to daddy?” Seems I found enough air to say one more rotten thing to her. I’m already regretting my words before they’re out of my mouth. “You’ll just pick up where you left off, then? Find some new batch of unsuspecting landowners to play bait and switch with?”

“Fuck off, Cal.”

“Cream? Sugar?” Evander returns but realizes that he’s walked in at the worst moment possible. “Sorry. I’ll leave it on the counter.”

“I’ll come with you,” Victoria says. “We’re done here.”

A few minutes later, we’re heading into Evander’s bedroom. Victoria’s holding two mugs, helping him out as he hops. “You could get yourself some crutches,” I say.

“Don’t want ‘em.”

I see that all the papers from the night before are still spread on top of his comforter, along with two laptops and an adding machine. “You need a woman, dude.”

He chuckles, tidying up. “You? Giving relationship advice? That’s just hilarious.”

Victoria’s face reveals nothing. Maybe they were talking about me in the kitchen, about what an ass I am. Maybe she’d be better off with a man like Evander. He has an adding machine, after all. And probably a whole selection of staplers.

We get started. Evander sends her a bunch of files via email and then prints out hard copies. Victoria’s totally focused, taking notes, creating digital spreadsheets, and asking for clarification. Evander’s phone rings, and he picks up. “Okay. Sure. That’s weird.”

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