Page 60 of The Billionaire's Ride

Never in my life have I seen my brother so heartbroken. “I’m so sorry.”

“You were right, Drew. Love. Marriage. It’s for fucking wankers.” Mick kicks the ground as the sky grows grayer and grayer.

“What can I do?”

He looks at me, red-faced and in immense pain. “Can you make it go away? Can you make it like this day never happened?”

I shake my head. “I would if I could.”

“I have to get out of here,” Mick says, wiping the last of his angry, hot tears. “Can you get me out of here?”

“Yeah, give me a second.” I find Kent, who’s speaking to a woman dressed in a black suit near the corner of the courtyard.

“I’m getting Mick out of here. Can you take care of this mess?”

“Already on it,” Kent says like a boss, keeping cool in this holy hell of a situation.

“Mates. There you are.” Collin comes out of the shadows with his arms open.

“You,” I growl through gritted teeth and get in his face. “I know what you did to Kate. Why would you do that? You know she’s mine.”

“She doesn’t belong to you. Nobody does. I was just having a bit of fun. Like old times.” Collin and I had a bad habit of going after each other’s girlfriends when we were younger. More like a messed-up game, really. But we were kids. And we’re not kids anymore. We have to grow up.

“What about your wife, huh? Your kid?”

His expression turns cold. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“No, I have no bloody clue why you act like such a fucking asshole. Why you’d treat anyone like that. Especially Kate. She came to you for help.”

“So what? You’re going to do me in at Mick’s wedding?”

Might as well. We’ve already got a scandal. No one will care if this git gets it in the mouth after what Davina’s done. I grab him by the collar and shove him hard against the stone wall.

“Watch it. This is a ten thousand pound suit!” he yells in my face as I keep him pinned.

Then I realize something I’ve been avoiding for a long time. Collin isn’t the same guy he was when we became mates. Or maybe he is, but I couldn’t see it until now. Either way, I don’trecognize my friend anymore. And I want nothing to do with him.

“When did you become a guy who only cares about suits?” I let him go. He’s not worth it. Not when Mick’s standing here, emotionally castrated.

“I knew you were a good man.” Collin dusts himself off, and I turn away. “At least one of us got into her knickers.”

I stop dead in my tracks. Fuck him and his fancy suit. He’s going down. I whirl back around, bringing a raging fist along for the ride. My knuckles crash into his cheekbone, and he falls to the ground. Taking a boxing stance, I ready myself for Collin to jump up and retaliate. But he doesn’t. He knows he deserved it.

“What the hell, Drew?” Mick shouts. Poor guy. This is way more chaos than he’s used to.

“Sorry, but he asked for it,” I say, rubbing my stinging hand. “Let’s go.”

Mick stares at Collin, seeming to still be in shock over the scene. I lead him off, and we dodge the crowd while I call my driver to pick us up a block away from the cathedral. My brother’s dying to get out of his tux, and my place is closest. The ride home is quiet, but my mind is racing.

Inside my penthouse, Mick drags his feet and strips off a piece of his suit with every step he takes into the living room. By the time he reaches the sofa, he’s in his underpants and black socks. He lies face down on the couch.

“Let me get you some clothes,” I say.

“And a whiskey too,” he says, smearing his mouth over the cushion.

I hurry to my closet, trying Kate’s phone again. Still no answer. I change into my jeans and grab a pair for Mick, then stop by my bar for a couple of short glasses and a bottle of Macallan.

“How are you?” I toss him the pants and fill the glasses with the bitter, brown liquor.

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