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He ran a hand over his hair. “I’m sorry I disturbed you.” He seemed embarrassed.
“Don’t be. Do you want to talk?”
He backed up against his headboard. “I’m fine. You can go back to bed.”
“Brock, please don’t shut me out. I can help you through this.”
“I’m fine,” he repeated with some force.
“Okay.” I stood. “If you don’t want to talk to me, I can recommend someone who specializes in PTSD.”
“I don’t have PTSD,” he growled.
“You don’t have to lie. No one’s here but me.”
“I’ve never lied to you.” In his tone I could hear, Like you lied to me.
“Right.” I walked off, not wanting to get into it with him. Especially after his traumatic dream.
“When did I lie?” he asked indignantly, unwilling to let it go.
Besides our entire marriage being a lie? I couldn’t bring myself to say that. Instead I mentioned the most recent lie. I grabbed my silk-covered stomach. “When you told the reporter it was love at first sight and to know me is to love me.”
“I wasn’t lying, Dani. Good night.” He dismissed me without another word.
I walked numbly toward the door, begging myself not to believe him. Because the truth he’d hit me with was harder to bear than the lie.Chapter Five“Knock, knock, knock,” Kinsley’s cheery voice rang through my closed office door.
I hesitated to tell her to come in. I could hear her fake enthusiasm loud and clear. And though she had no idea how I had betrayed her, I felt responsible for her heartache.
“We know you’re in there,” Ariana called.
I let out a long sigh. The fact they had come together in the middle of the day spelled trouble for me. It meant my lies weren’t working on them. And after last night’s episode in Brock’s room, my resistance was waning. I longed to confide in them. How I wished they could help me, but no one could. I had to protect my baby at all costs, even if it meant lying to my sisters, the women I loved most in the world.
I shoved the bag of crackers I had been nibbling on to stave off the nausea into my top desk drawer before sitting up straight and smiling. “Come in.”
My sisters wasted no time rushing through the door carrying a basket of what smelled like Kinsley’s famous chicken noodle soup and her to-die-for homemade nine-grain bread. Honestly, it sounded good at the moment. I hadn’t craved food in weeks. Hence my baggy jeans. However, I was suspicious of their presence and the comfort food. Did they know? My heart began to race.
I gripped my chair. “Hi.”
Kinsley set the basket on my perpetually messy desk. “Hey there.”
Ariana, on the other hand, came around, leaned against the desk, folded her arms, and gave me a good once-over with her eyes. “So, what’s going on?” She didn’t beat around the bush.
Her all-knowing gaze was making me feel warm, which made me feel like I wanted to vomit. I pushed a scrap piece of paper around on my desk, trying to calm my insides down before I had to run to the bathroom. “Just working.”
Ariana scooted closer. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“What else would you mean?” I feigned innocence.
Kinsley came around and sandwiched me between them. “Remember last year when we tried to subtly tell Ariana she was a slob?”
“Did we have to bring that up, Kins?” Ariana grumbled. She still wasn’t over us trying to get her on a knockoff What Not to Wear and throwing away all her downright embarrassing stained and holey clothes. You wouldn’t know, looking at her now, that she’d had a fashion problem. She was dressed in designer slacks and a pink peasant blouse that went well with her creamy skin and gorgeous strawberry blonde hair. She was stunning and still glowing from her summer nuptials a few months ago. Unlike me, marriage looked good on her.
“I think it’s appropriate.” Kinsley shot Ariana a sly smile.
Ariana rolled her eyes. “Fine. Proceed with caution.”
Kinsley turned her attention back toward me. Her sweet brown eyes bored into my soul, the way only hers could. We had been through so much together. We were both orphans, fostered, and then adopted at the same time by Ariana’s grandparents. Together we’d learned how to traverse our new lives in our new forever family. I’d always felt so protective of her, which made my betrayal worse. I’d promised her I would never let anything bad happen to her.
Kinsley took my hand, the way she had so many times over the years. We may have looked nothing alike, as she was blonder than blonde and just a petite little thing, but we were sisters. There was no denying our connection was thicker than blood. That went for all three of us.
I took Kinsley’s hand and held on for dear life.
