Page 91 of The Love Destroyers

She laughs softly. “You think there are only thousands of therapists in the world?”

“There are probably fewer of them than lawyers.” I wink at her, but the look on her face—amused and warm—grips me in a way that makes me almost uncomfortable. It makes me look away for a second to get my shit together. “Anyway…I hope this convinces Chuck to power through with his divorce. He deserves more.”

“You’re good to him,” she says.

“He’s good to me,” I correct. “And good for me. It’s not healthy for me to live alone. I fall into bad memories. Bad habits too.”

Dark places.

“Like smoking?”

I grin at her. “What do you know, I quit.”

“Sure you did,” she says, already shaking her head in disbelief.

“A very demanding woman stole my lighter. So maybe Chuck isn’t the only one who likes getting walked all over.”

A puff of air escapes her. Giving me an incredulous look, she says, “The only woman you’d let walk all over you is Shadow.”

I think of Lia and rub a sore spot on my chest—only this one is so far on the inside nothing could touch it. I should keep my mouth shut, but I find myself saying, “Nah, I had this woman once. I let her convince me to do something I still regret. It wasn’t her fault, but she encouraged my worst impulses. That’s why I decided never to get close to anyone else. I stopped trusting myself.”

She watches me, understanding flashing in her eyes. “She wanted you to work for your uncle.”

I’m not surprised she caught on. But I’m not going to give all the responsibility to Lia, however tempting that is. “Sure, but I was willing to give it a try. I liked feeling important.”

“How long did you work for him?”

I wipe my mouth and look down before meeting her gaze again. “I lasted all of a week, but I wasn’t without ambition. After he died, I tried to convince Declan we should take over his operations. Lia had nothing to do with that. She dropped me after I quit.”

“You wanted her back,” she says flatly.

My mouth curls into a smile. “Nah. It had been years. But maybe I wanted her to want me back. I’ve never pretended to be a good guy. I don’t want you to pretend I’m one either.”

“No one’s only good or bad,” she says, pressing a hand to the side of my chest that doesn’t hurt like hell.

“No one?”

“No one.”

“What about that waste of life Jeffrey?” I ask. His name tastes sour in his mouth. I’d like to spit it at him.

She smiles at me. “Sure, maybe him. He put his mother in an old age home and never visited her.”

“The real shocker is that she’s still kicking. What is she, ninety?”

She presses against that same safe place on my chest—a soft version of a shove, because she knows I’ve been kicked around enough tonight.

“Thank you for telling me about Lia.”

“I don’t know why I did,” I admit.

“Ido.”

“Care to fill me in?” I ask, reaching up to touch her hand, still hot on my chest, branding me. I press it down harder, wanting to keep it there.

“You’re warning me away, or maybe yourself. But I already know why we should stay away from each other.”

“Because we’re in-laws.”

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