Page 79 of The Silver Fox Brother

He helps me get my suitcase from the trunk. I stand on the sidewalk, bags clutched around me, and look up at the brownstone. The front door opens before I can move. Kate is standing there. Her blonde hair in a messy bun, oversized t-shirt, bare feet. Her face worried and alert despite the hour.

The moment I see her, something breaks. I walk up the steps, pulling my suitcase behind me, and the second Kate's arms wrap around me, the tears come.

Hot. Ugly. Can't stop.

My whole body shakes with sobs I've been holding back since the car left Gramercy. I can't catch my breath, gasping between cries, my hands fisted in Kate's shirt.

She doesn't ask questions. Just holds me, one hand in my hair, the other around my back, anchoring me while I fall apart.

"I've got you," she murmurs. "I've got you."

My knees feel weak. Kate guides me inside, kicks the door shut behind us, locks it. Leads me to the couch in her living room.

I collapse onto it, and the crying intensifies. Everything I held back during the fight, during the packing, during the elevator ride down—all of it pours out now.

Kate sits beside me, arm around my shoulders, handing me tissues from the box on the coffee table.

I cry until my throat is raw. Until my face is hot and my eyes burn. Until the sobs slow to hiccupping breaths. Kate strokes my hair, doesn't rush me. Just lets me break.

Finally, I can breathe again. Sort of. I wipe my face with a tissue, take the water Kate hands me, drink half the glass.

"Tell me what happened," Kate says quietly.

So I tell her.

About the phone ringing at 12:33 AM. About Madeleine's voice, young and confused. About her saying Rowan told her he was single.

About waking Rowan up. The confession. Over a year of lying.

About him blaming me for working too much. Calling Madeleine easier than me.

About packing my bags while he watched. Him blocking the door. The things he said.

Kate's face shifts from shock to fury as I talk.

"That motherfucker," she says when I finish.

"He said it was my fault." My voice cracks.

"For working too much. For not being present."

Kate grabs my shoulders, makes me look at her.

"Winter. Listen to me. You could have worked every hour of every day. That doesn't justify cheating. Nothing justifies that. This is NOT your fault."

"I ignored the signs." Fresh tears spill over.

"The phone calls. The texts from 'M.' I saw it and I just... I didn't want to know."

"That doesn't make it your fault."

"I feel so stupid."

"You're not stupid. You trusted someone you loved. That's not stupid. That's human."

I want to believe her.

But all I can think about is the year I wasted. The apartment I gave up. The life I thought we were building that was a lie the whole time.