Page 497 of His Virgin Romance Series

Ben frowned. “Naked woman… Are you talking about Emma?”

“Yes.”

“Emma was only in your suite because her room hadn’t been vacated yet,” Ben said, looking confused. “Brie knows Emma, surely?”

“She does,” I nodded. “But Brie never saw Emma’s face…”

“Then why the fuck didn’t you tell her?” he demanded.

“Because I realized something,” I said in a deadpan voice. “I’m not cut out for relationships; at some point, I’m going to hurt her. So…”

“You decided to make the decision for her—again.” Ben looked disgusted with me.

“I’m trying to protect her.”

“You’re an asshole,” he said, shaking his head at me. “Emma’s not going to like the fact that you used her to get rid of Brie.”

“Emma will understand,” I replied, not caring whether she did or not.

“Brie wants to leave first thing tomorrow morning,” Ben told me.

“Make the arrangements for her,” I said, knocking back my glass of bourbon. “Make sure she has a first-class seat back home.”

“And what are you going to do?” he demanded.

“I’m going to sit here and get drunk. Obviously.”

“You have meetings.”

“Cancel them,” I said firmly. “I’m taking a sick day.”

“And what about dinner?” he asked. “You were going to have dinner with Emma tonight.”

“Give her an excuse, any excuse,” I said uncaringly. “I’m not in the mood to make small talk with my sister tonight.”

Ben looked at me with a mixture of pity and disgust. “You just made a huge mistake; you know that, don’t you?”

“Ben, I mean this in the nicest possible way,” I said, pouring myself another glass. “Get out of my office and stay out of my business.”

“No problem,” he replied. “You’ll want to get used to being alone. And maybe you deserve to be.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I muttered darkly under my breath.

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