Good Karma Read Online Free

prove. That he could make a woman feel beautiful
and special, and that he wasn’t the selfish bastard he had once
been.
    “Well, look at it this way,” Rob said, “now
that you’re single, there’s nothing stopping you from having a wild
night with one of these fine ladies before you leave for boring old
Indianapolis.” Rob lifted his beer and waved it in an arc toward
the crowd.
    “You know that’s not who I am.” Mark didn’t
do casual the same way he didn’t do commitments. He lived in the
halfway between the two. Casually committed? Was that even
possible?
    “Yeah, yeah. You and your mighty principles.”
Rob grinned, glanced away, and then his eyes went cold.
    “What?” Mark turned to find what had spooked
Rob.
    And there she was. Carol. The reason why he
hadn’t had a relationship that lasted longer than four months—with
the exception of Abby, of course—for the last six years.
    His heart skipped a beat as it always did
when he saw her, not because of how beautiful she was, but because
of the traumatic reminder of the past. The humiliation still felt
fresh, as if what she had done happened only yesterday. A wave of
nausea swept through his body. His pulse raced, and he quickly
downed a gulp of champagne. A nice buzz was setting up shop in his
brain, which was perfect. He would need it to get through the rest
of the night.
    Carol laughed at something Antonio whispered
in her ear, and that’s when he noticed the bump. The one her right
hand caressed with the love and affection every mother would show
her unborn child. So that’s why Carol wasn’t dancing tonight…and
why his parents had behaved so strangely when he’d asked about
her.
    Carol was pregnant. How about that?
    Rob said nothing. God love him. He knew
without Mark having to say it that seeing Carol pregnant devastated
him.
    Mark turned away, cleared his throat, and
drained the rest of his third glass of champagne.
    That was supposed to have been his life. His
baby. His wife. His fucking white picket fence.
    For a second, Mark thought he was going to be
sick, but he forced himself to breathe and pushed back his
emotions—as well as the bile rising in his throat.
    “Hey, man. I’m sorry,” Rob said quietly.
    “About what?” Mark squared his shoulders and
faced the room again as if nothing were wrong.
    Rob glanced down, fiddled with his beer
bottle, then looked at him. “It’s not fair.”
    “What? That she’s pregnant.” He huffed and
shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Good for her. She’ll be a good
mom. And Antonio…yeah…well…he’ll be a good dad.”
    “This is me you’re talking to, Mark.” Rob
gave him a look that said he wasn’t buying Mark’s line of shit.
    Mark shrugged again. “I know. But I’m good.
Really.” He clapped Rob on the shoulder and waved for the bartender
to bring him another of those half-glasses of champagne, which he
downed in one gulp. “Excuse me.” He smiled at Rob then walked
away.
    With measured steps, he left the ballroom,
made his way to the elevator, rode to the floor of his suite,
unlocked his door, entered, took off his tie and tuxedo coat, and
carefully hung both over the back of a chair. Then he slid into the
bathroom. As he unbuttoned the cuffs of his starched shirt, he
stared at his reflection in the mirror. Where had his life gone so
wrong? How had he failed so miserably? Why hadn’t he been able to
make Carol happy? Just…why?
    Resting his head against the cool glass, he
closed his eyes and held his breath.
    One count.
    Two.
    Three.
    Pain knifed his heart as he lost the
battle.
    He collapsed in front of the toilet and
gripped the sides as he threw up. The champagne, his dinner…his
heart and soul. He was shredded, wrecked beyond repair.
    After the retching ceased, he leaned against
the side of the bathtub, his face in his hands, tearless sobs
jerking his body as he gasped for air.
    Fuck! He thought he’d been getting better,
but like everything else in his life, that