“Fuck Stuart!” Zeke replied tersely. “He obviously didn’t have the brains to recognize or appreciate an amazing, perfect woman when he had one. The bastard never deserved you in the first place, Lia. You’re better off without him. I know you’re hurt and heartbroken right now, Jellybean, but give it some time. You aren’t the kind of woman who is ever going to be happy to walk meekly in some guy’s shadow. It’s not you. The restrictions and continual expectations would have eventually crushed your spirit.”
I blinked hard, and the liquid that had gathered in my tear ducts started to roll down my face. God, when had I last had anyone rush to my defense the way that Zeke always did?
Had I gotten so used to being critiqued all the time that I’d forgotten how it felt to just be…accepted?
“Shit!” Zeke cursed. “Don’t cry, Lia. I promise you, everything will be okay. If it makes you feel better, I’ll try not to criticize Stuart, but no guarantees I’ll do a great job with that particular promise.”
My tears started to fall even faster. “It’s not that,” I said shakily. “It’s not him. It’s me. I don’t know what in the hell happened to me, Zeke, or how I fell into that whole trap in the first place. Maybe it was because Stuart was so wealthy and connected—”
“No. That’s bullshit,” Zeke interrupted. “Not all rich guys are pricks. Jesus, Lia! I’m wealthier right now than Stuart will ever be, and I’ve never treated you the way he did. I never would. Money isn’t a golden ticket to be a complete asshole.”
“Are you really richer than he is?” I asked curiously. “Stuart is a millionaire.” Not that I cared, and I’d always known that Zeke wasn’t exactly poor, but now I was too intrigued not to ask.
He nodded, his eyes still on the road. “I think that’s one of the things I’ve always liked about you, Lia. We’ve been friends for a long time, but you’ve never even asked about my net worth, or how much money I have in the bank.”
I shrugged. “It’s never mattered. I knew you weren’t poor, and that you didn’t need any help in that department, so why ask?”
“I’m not a millionaire, Lia,” Zeke replied stoically.
“It doesn’t matter, Zeke,” I rushed to assure him. “You’re an extremely educated, successful guy—”
“Technically,” he interrupted, “since my assets exceed a billion dollars, I’m a billionaire.”
Zeke
There was no real reason why I’d never told Lia exactly how much money I had.
Like she’d said, she never asked, and it had never been that important to either one of us. But holy hell, the moment Lia had mentioned Stuart’s wealth, I’d almost fucking lost it.
Suddenly, I’d wanted her to know that if she really wanted to marry a guy who had a lot of money, I was her man.
Yeah, that instinct was totally ridiculous because I knew damn well that Lia wouldn’t hesitate to marry a guy who was dirt poor if she really loved him. So I had no idea what that whole chest-beating, I’m-richer-than-the-idiot-you-were-going-to-marry bullshit was all about.
“How did I not know that my best friend was a billionaire?” Lia asked softly. “I didn’t think there was very much we didn’t know about each other.”
“Now that you do, is it going to make any difference?” I asked.
“No,” she answered in a contemplative tone. “Wait! Maybe it will, a little. I might not feel quite so guilty or argue as much about you picking up the tab whenever we go to a pricey restaurant.”
I grinned. “I always told you I could afford it, Jellybean.”
She snorted. “I guess I never realized that paying wasn’t even going to put a small dent in your bank account. But that still doesn’t mean that you always get to pay.”
I chuckled. If I’d expected my net worth to impress her, I would have been sorely disappointed right now. “So do you understand that money doesn’t make every guy a jerk? You already know billionaires, Lia. Look at Jett Lawson, Ruby’s fiancé, and all of his brothers. Jett treats Ruby like she’s the most important thing in his universe, which I’m pretty sure she is, and the Lawson brothers have some of the highest net worths in the world.”
“I know,” Lia said with a small groan. “Jett adores Ruby, and he acts like he can’t live without her. If she wasn’t my friend, and I didn’t know how much she deserves a guy like that, I’d probably be green with envy.”
“So if Ruby wasn’t with him, you might be interested in Jett?” I prodded.
Oh, way to go, Conner. Lia hasn’t even gotten out of her wedding dress yet, and you’re already worried about who the next guy might be.
Lia let out a startled laugh. “No, that’s not why I’d be jealous. It’s not the guy. It’s their relationship. Nothing against Jett, mind you, but I can’t quite see those two with anyone else except each other. They love each other so much that I’m pretty sure they were meant to be together.” She paused before she added, “I really don’t know what it would be like to have a guy look at me the way Jett looks at Ruby. I don’t think any guy has ever looked at me like that.” She took a deep breath. “I guess Stuart was just…different.”
“A pretentious prick, you mean?” I asked before I could stop myself. “It wasn’t the money, Lia. It was the lifestyle. The snobby private schools, the trust funds, the country clubs, and the whole idea that money gives a person some kind of superiority. If you hang around with an entire crowd who believes that shit, you end up caught up in that theory, and it rules your life. Everyone is trying so hard to outdo each other that appearances become their biggest priority. It’s pretty twisted.”
She was silent for a moment before she said, “Maybe I got caught up in that world, too, at least for a little while.”
I shook my head. “Not for the same reasons. I think you just wanted to fit in.”
“I felt like Stuart’s love was conditional, and if I wanted him to love me more, I had to be the woman he needed,” she replied with a sigh. “It wasn’t like that in the beginning, but things changed.”
“You can hate me for saying this,” I told her huskily. “But I’m pretty damn glad he met somebody else.”
“Me, too,” she answered quietly. “I’m not exactly naïve, but I had no idea he was cheating on me. I guess I was so busy at the store, and with getting that crazy wedding together, that I never noticed any of the signs.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about that, Lia,” I warned. “That was his issue. It wasn’t your responsibility to notice any of the signals. The bastard should have kept his dick in his pants.”