“Not tonight, buddy. You need to give her some time for all of this to sink in. How long did you say you were writing to each other?” Micah asked curiously.
“Over a year,” Evan said grudgingly. “She got me with a smartass email. I’ve been addicted to her ever since.”
“How is it that neither one of you knew who the other really was?”
“I tried to track her earlier in our correspondence. All I could find out was that it was coming from the Center. After that, I stopped trying. We agreed not to share identities. To her I was just some random guy. I wasn’t a billionaire from one of the most well-known families in the world. I kind of liked that. But I did want to meet her. I don’t think she wanted to meet me.” Evan stabilized his upper body by resting his arms on the table, his body staying upright. “Now that I think about it, I should have known it was her.”
“Why?” Micah asked.
“Because she got to me both ways, via email and in person,” Evan replied, his voice getting more and more garbled.
“If you knew very little about each other, what did you talk about?” Julian asked, his expression more serious now.
“Everything and nothing,” Evan answered after a short contemplation. “We didn’t talk in specifics. It was all about how we felt about certain things. Very little of our conversation related to work or other people. Her foster mother died not long ago, and she mostly talked about her and how it felt to lose someone she loved so much.”
“You were there for her.” Micah’s words were a statement rather than a question. His respect for Evan kicked up a notch knowing that he’d just been there for Randi when she needed to vent.
“She was there for me, too,” Evan replied as he finally looked directly at Micah. “She changed the way I looked at life sometimes, made me not take everything so seriously.”
Jesus! Evan looked so damn broken that it tore Micah up inside. He’d already been through so much, and Evan had always made his family his priority. He deserved something for himself. He hoped to God that Randi would finally realize that Evan hadn’t meant to deceive her. His cousin just sucked at intimate relationships.
“We’ll figure something out,” Micah told him firmly.
“I have to talk to her.” Evan sounded desperate.
“Not tonight,” Micah said, shaking his head. An idea sprang to his mind as he contemplated how to get Randi to realize that Evan really loved her. “I think you should consider writing to her. It was how your relationship started. Maybe you can say things easier that way.”
“Good idea,” Julian agreed. “That way she can’t slam the door in your face.”
“She probably won’t read it,” Evan rumbled.
“She’ll read it. Women are funny that way. If you send an email, she’ll have to read it,” Micah told him solemnly.
“I need her,” Evan informed his cousins fiercely. “I’m not sure what I’ll do if she won’t talk to me.”
“She will. Eventually.” Julian’s voice was supportive now.
Micah was pretty certain that his brother understood the gravity of the situation now that Julian had seen how torn up Evan really was. “What are your plans for tomorrow? I thought you had to be in San Francisco.”
Evan shook his head. “I’m not leaving until she talks to me. I don’t care how long it takes.”
“You could stand to lose a pretty big deal,” Micah warned, familiar with the company Evan was trying to buy into with controlling interest. It definitely had big possibilities.
“There’s always more deals,” Evan answered bitterly. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
Those were words he never thought would come out of Evan’s mouth. Micah looked at Julian, who shrugged like he was equally confused before asking Evan, “Can I borrow your jet tomorrow? I need to get to Los Angeles, and Micah is going to New York.”
“I don’t care,” Evan agreed readily. “I’m not going anywhere for a while.”
Micah had planned on having his pilot drop him off in New York and then fly on to get Julian back to Hollywood. But if Evan wasn’t using his own plane, Julian could get back faster as he wouldn’t have to make the trip to New York first.
“Thanks,” Julian muttered.
“We need to get home. We have an early morning tomorrow,” Micah said. He stood and grabbed his tuxedo jacket off the back of the wooden chair.
“I need to write to Randi,” Evan said hoarsely as he stood unsteadily.
“Leave it until tomorrow, Evan.” Julian’s voice was sincere as he rose and put on his own formal jacket. “I’ve got the tip.”
Micah wasn’t sure how much Julian left for Kristin, but judging by the wad of bills bulging from under the napkin holding the empty beer bottle, he was assuming it was plenty.
“Let’s go, Evan,” Micah prompted his cousin.
“I’d like to talk to Hope,” Evan notified Micah, his words starting to slur even more as he downed the rest of his drink and stood up.
“I doubt she’s still at the party. She was showing Davy off around at the Center, and she’s probably in bed by now. It’s getting late.” They’d been at Shamrock’s for a while. Micah was pretty certain that the party had already wound down.
Evan frowned. “I can’t wake her up. She’s tired anyway because she’s up a lot with the baby.”
Micah spotted Evan as he weaved toward the door. He finally grasped him by the collar and steered him in the right direction.
“Thank you for coming. Have a good night,” Kristin called from the bar.
Micah raised his hand in acknowledgment, but he noticed that Julian just turned around and shot her a false smile.
“She’s a nice woman,” Micah commented as he assisted Evan into the car.
“She’s a major bitch,” Julian retorted, grinning.
“I like her,” Micah argued, not seeing Julian’s grin because he was busy trying to get his drunken cousin situated in the vehicle.
Julian sighed. “I like her, too.”
Micah rolled his eyes, wondering how his brother would act if he really didn’t like a woman, because he’d been a real prick to Kristin. He didn’t show his interest in a good way. “Then quit acting like an asshole when you see her.”
Julian shrugged. “I can’t. I have too much fun watching her eyes change color when she’s pissed off.”
It was interesting that Julian even noticed. Micah waved for him to get into the car before climbing in himself.
He lingered for a moment, wondering if Tessa had noticed that he was gone. Picturing her face as they’d danced made his cock stiffen. He saw her face in his mind as she smiled up at him, and he swore she looked familiar, like it was a face he’d seen somewhere before. But he didn’t think he’d actually been introduced to her. He would have remembered her.
His fingers curled around the crystal Beatrice had given him. For some reason, he’d kept it, even though he shouldn’t have accepted any kind of a gift from an elderly woman he didn’t know.
Problem was, there was no redemption for him, and no woman waiting for him to claim her. He was as free as a bird, traveling from place to place looking for a new extreme. Micah loved his life just the way it was right now.