Perfect Together by Kristen Ashley

“Don’t worry about that, baby,” she replied, the humor leaving her expression. “The bridge has been burned. There’s no rebuilding it.”

Shit.

He needed to get a handle on it. She’d lost a friend that day.

“Honey,” he murmured.

“It’s okay,” she said, but everything about her screamed it was not.

“Come here,” he ordered.

She moved from her seat to squeeze into his with him.

He held her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I thought,” she told the pool, “Bea loves me. I thought today would be tough on you. That Myrna was a deranged stalker and we had to gird our loins for more of her shenanigans. I thought Bea would see reason, meet me in the middle, discuss things like the adults we are, and even if she still held some animosity toward you, she’d shield me from it, because not doing so hurt me. I thought she loved me enough to do that, because I loved her enough to reach out and try to find middle ground. I thought I’d come away with my friend, and right now, I’d be comforting you.” Not moving her head from his shoulder, she took another sip before she concluded, “I thought wrong.”

“I was thinking the same.”

She sighed.

“Gird our loins?” he teased.

She twisted to set her glass down on the table behind her, turned back and slapped him in his abs.

He chuckled.

She retrieved her drink.

“I’m sad,” she admitted. “But even so, if one of us had to come out a loser, I’m glad it was me. Myrna was freaking me out.”

He didn’t want her to be a loser, ever.

And he wasn’t going to share, but he didn’t think she was one.

He detested Bea, didn’t trust her one bit, and he was glad she was out of both of their lives.

It was selfish, but it was the truth.

And he was also pleased his experience meant they were hopefully going to be free of Myrna’s bullshit. Because it pissed him off it freaked out Wyn and their kids, and he’d worried what was already damned extreme would only get worse.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” he said.

“Yes,” she agreed.

“Have you told Noel and the girls?” he asked.

“I wanted to debrief with you first.”

“They’re probably worried.”

“Kara isn’t. It’s sex night for her and Reed.”

He laughed, even if mostly that knowledge made him feel slightly ill. He didn’t need to know that much about Kara and Reed, or anyone.

But he had this back, all that was her, including her sharing all that went on with her friends…their friends.

He’d missed Kara. And Bernice.

And it was good he had this back.

“You should probably tell her anyway,” he said. “At least send a text. But I know Bernice and Noel are probably stressed out, so you need to see to that, baby.”

She heaved another sigh, kissed his jaw, then rose from the chair, holding her glass, a long column of grace in crisp white jeans, an over-sized, gray boyfriend shirt French tucked and silver Valentino wedges.

His wife.

A fashion plate.

Always stunning.

She stopped a few feet from him and turned back.

“Do you know how she tracked Sah down at school?” she asked.

He shook his head. “We didn’t go there. I can contact her again and find out.”

“No,” she quickly replied. “We’ll let that be a mystery for the ages.”

She seemed genuinely unconcerned, so Remy let it go.

For his part, he’d thought about it, and he’d remembered Sah had left his class schedule on the kitchen counter, where it had remained for a week before his housecleaner had moved it to Sabre’s bedroom. It would not be a surprise if Myrna read it, just out of curiosity.

Though it seemed farfetched Myrna would have memorized it enough to know how to find him on any given day. But it was an explanation that made sense, and between that, and those two kicking back on occasion, when Sabre could have talked about his classes, he figured she was no supersleuth. Something stuck, and she’d followed that lead.

And that was that.

Wyn moved to the house to get her phone, and Remy alternately watched her legs and ass as she did it.

She disappeared, and since he had his phone in his pocket, he took that opportunity to call his dad.

It wasn’t a long call, but it was a disturbing one.

Guillaume tried to be positive, but Melly was also now reporting in, and Remy knew that it seemed Colette had been holding on for Remy and his family’s visit.

Now, even if it had only been a few days, the news was it seemed she was declining rapidly.

Remy knew it helped his father hearing from his son.

In the end, Guillaume didn’t offer to pass the phone to Colette, and Remy didn’t ask, which was probably a relief for them both.

It was even darker now, so Remy moved to the firepit across the way where it sat between some loungers. He lit it, contemplating what they’d have for dinner, thinking some takeout would be a good idea, when he realized that Wyn hadn’t returned.

He looked to the house, seeing one lamp in the living room lit, but not seeing her there. The rest of the house, save the wine room, was dark.

He moved that way.

She was nowhere to be found, until he commenced a full search, and discovered her in his walk-in closet.