Page 177 of Suite 7

“Years.” She says it quietly, turning it over. Her eyes come back to mine. “Vera. You’ve been carrying that for years and you never told me.”

“I was ashamed.” The words come out before I can dress them up. “These needs I have — they felt wrong. Too much. Not normal.” I press my hands flat against the table. “I was terrified of being judged.”

“By me?”

The question lands softly. Not hurt, not accusatory. Genuinely asking.

“By everyone.” My eyes sting. “But especially you. You’re the person whose opinion matters most to me. You have been for nine years.” I look at her directly even though it costs me. “And I was so scared you’d think I was broken.”

“Stop.” Her voice is firm. “I would never think that.”

“I know that now.”

“You should have known it then.”

“I know.” I wipe my eyes. “I was going to tell you. After I understood what it meant for me. But then Kane walked in that night and everything became so much more complicated.”

She’s quiet for a moment. Then: “Kane goes to a BDSM club.”

“Yes.”

She blinks. Sets her cup down. “My brother.”

“Yes.”

A beat. She absorbs it. Then she exhales.

“I’m going to need some time with the image of my brother at a BDSM club.” A breath. “There are questions. I’m not asking them today.” She meets my eyes. “I’m not judging either of you for it. Eclipse, what you need, what he needs — that’s yours and his.” She sets her cup down. “But the lying about Kane — that’s what I’m sitting here for.”

“I know.”

She looks at me for a long moment. “You decided for me.” Her voice gets sharper. “You decided I couldn’t handle it. You took away my choice.”

“Yes.”

“We’ve been through everything together. Bad breakups, career disasters, family drama. And you didn’t trust me.” Tears spill down her cheeks. “That’s what hurt the most. Not Kane. Not even the lying, really. That you looked at me and decided I couldn’t handle the truth.”

“You’re right,” I whisper. “I’m sorry.”

She looks at her cup. Then back up.

“I keep waiting for this to go the way Sidney went,” she says quietly.

I don’t rush to reassure her.

“I know that’s what you’re waiting for. I can’t promise you easy. But I can tell you the difference between me and Sidney.” I hold her gaze. “After Kane, she couldn’t look at you without seeing him. So she let go of both. I am not going to do that to you. You are not the casualty in this story, Sloane. You are the person we were both most afraid of hurting.”

She’s quiet. Then: “Are you sorry you fell for my brother? Or sorry I found out?”

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I hurt you, and I’m sorry I didn’t trust you enough to be honest.” I hold her gaze. “But I’m not sorry I fell in love with him.”

She flinches and looks away.

“Even knowing what it could do to us?”

“Even then.”

Silence. Long enough that I can hear the coffee machine behind the bar and someone’s conversation two tables away.