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Herman’s eyes are soft on me. I don’t deserve it, though. Not after what I did to Holt.

Not after the way I hurt him. Not after the place I took between brothers.

Not after the promises I broke and the secrets I kept.

He has a right to hate me.

Regret is sour, but it’s worse when the thing you regret is also something you’d never change. Never take back. I lived a beautiful life with a beautiful man, creating beautiful souls. This man is the wreckage of all that beauty. It hurts to face the truth of it all. A truth I still would not change.

“Holt is here to cover for me while I’m recovering, Faye, honey.”

“I could have overseen things around the office,” Tanner says roughly. I forgot he was even here, and my eyes pull jerkily to where he stands close to Elise’s desk.

It’s then, as I peer at Tanner, that I realize there’s water swimming in my eyes.

I don’t dare blink. If I do, I’m sure to squeeze out an accidental tear.

Herman says, “I need you in the field, Tanner. You know the ropes, the guys.”

“And Holt knows the business side of things?” Tanner almost scoffs. Almost, but doesn’t. He might be pissed, but he respects Herman too much to scoff at him.

“He’ll learn what he doesn’t know. And he has Faye here to guide him.” I flinch at the thought of being anywhere near Holt for any kind of time. The watery image of Elise looks sad where she stands next to Tanner, watching me with her youngest son.

She’s sad because me and Tate hurt him the way we did. But we didn’t have a choice, not really.

I was dealt my cards. I played my hand as best as I could.

But they won’t see it that way.

Now that I’m standing here, facing Holt, I’m not sure I see it that way still either.

Herman draws breath from the charged silence. “What the two of them can’t figure out together, me and Elise will be around to help with.”

“Right,” Tanner clips.

Herman looks back over his shoulder. “Do we got a problem, here?”

There’s a heavy pause before Tanner grits, “No, Sir.”

My eyes slide back to Holt and my insides jolt. I’m not sure he took his eyes from me even once. I stiffen against the shudder that threatens to roll through my body. “How long are you staying?”

Holt’s lip curls again. There’s so much disdain in his expression. It’s the shield he’s built around his hurt—his hate—I know.

I think knowing that makes it all worse.

“Eager for me to leave, peach?”

That name, said with so much hatred, nearly guts me. Quietly, I manage, “Just curious.”

“I’ll be sticking around until September. So, buckle up, baby. Figure this will be a long ride for you.”

“Holt Wilder,” Elise scolds sharply. “That is no way to talk to the woman who will be working alongside you for the foreseeable future.” She takes a sure step forward. “Nor is it the way my son talks to the woman who birthed me my grandbabies!”

Holt dips his chin, but not so much I don’t see the muscles popping in his jaw. “Apologies.”

I’m already shaken to the core. But somehow, the man manages to rattle me again, because when he lifts his head, he locks his eyes on me like he knows it’s torture and he wants to watch me suffer. Then he leans too far into my personal space.

Every part of me erupts into burning embers when his thumb connects with the side of my mouth. He swipes away the lingering glaze of my chocolate treat with the pad of his thumb, bringing it directly to his mouth. Mine drops as he sucks the chocolate clean from his thumb for everyone to see.