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“I had to hide it.” He yanked his ball cap farther down over his eyes. “You would’ve told me to pull back on work, take a holiday.”

Alex pursed her lips.

He looked down. “And you would’ve been right. I just didn’t want to hear it—or slow down. Thing is, my body made that decision for me. By mid-June, I could barely climb out of bed.”

“You should have listened to your body earlier—”

“I know, but the biggest movie of my career was coming up. I should have been feeling like I was on top of the world, right? Nope. I felt completely numb, detached from everything going on around me. I was in a really dark place but didn’t know why. It scared me. I couldn’t see a way out. So, six weeks ago—on your birthday, actually—I decided I needed help.”

“What kind of help?” Alex lifted her sunglasses, leaving them on top of her head.

“A psychologist. I’ve been going twice a week.” He tossed back the last of his water and took a deep breath. “Lex, I have to tell you something…a secret, one Freddie doesn’t even know.”

She swallowed. “Okay.”

“I know you’ll have questions. I promise, I’ll answer every one, but…just listen, okay?”

“Okay.” Alex wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt.

“In 1990, my uncle died. Dad inherited his pub, called Keegan’s…”

Alex nodded. “Yeah…”

Mark looked down at his shoes. “And remember I told you my middle name was Kieran? It’s not…I lied.”