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When the door slams behind her, it shakes the entire penthouse. My knees won’t hold me up any longer. I only just make it to the living room sofa before I collapse onto it, dissolving in tears.
How could he not have told me?
TWO
ANA
He took me away from Alexandre for this. He never even told me—
If I could stop to think, I would know that the thoughts and emotions swirling around my head don’t make sense. But I can’t think anything through. All I can see is Saoirse’s beautiful, angry face in front of me, her engagement ring glinting in the apartment sunlight, her voice in my head over and over again.
I’m Liam’s fiancée.
Who the fuck are you?
Father Donahue—
Viktor and Caterina’s wedding—
Charity case—
Are you fucking him?
I can hear her, plain as day, and all I can think is that Liam should have told me. How could he think I’d never find out? Had he planned on marrying her in secret, keeping me somewhere else like some secret mistress, never telling Saoirse and me about each other? It seems so different from the Liam I know, the man who says he loves me and who I’ve been falling in love with more and more every day, the man who risked so much to come and get me away from Alexandre.
Alexandre.
This morning, it had been easier than I’d expected to refuse him, to hang up on him. To fight off the feelings I still have for him. But now, with this betrayal fresh in my mind and my heart aching with more pain than I’ve felt since the night that Alexandre was the one to betray me, all I can think is that maybe I’d been wrong to brush him off so quickly.
He’d said that Liam had secrets.Was this what he was talking about?I can’t imagine how he knows, how he could possibly know something so intimate about Liam’s life, but I want to know. I want to know if this was what he was trying to tell me about, warn me about, and if so—
I feel like I’m in a dream as I pick up my phone, like an out-of-body experience. I hit the button to call back the number that had called me this morning, wondering if it will even go through, if he called me from someone else’s phone or a burner he’d thrown away. But it rings once, twice, and then a third time, and I hear that deep French accent that sends shivers of fear and desire down my spine all at once come over the line.
“Anastasia?”
“How did you know it was me?” It always feels odd to hear him say my real name, not my nickname. He only ever said it when he was angry with me or in the throes of desire, or sometimes when saying he loved me. It sends such conflicting feelings through me—it reminds me of being afraid of him and how much pleasure we shared together. It ties my stomach in knots just thinking about it.
“I saved this number,petit, of course. What is it? Have you changed your mind about seeing me? Have you called to say that you miss me?” There’s a pause, and I know he’s waiting for me to speak, but I can’t. My throat feels closed over with panic, my chest tight and aching. My hands are shaking so badly that I can hardly hold the phone, and I know I’m on the verge of losing it.
“Petit, you sound upset. Tell me where you are, and I will come to get you. You shouldn’t be alone in such a state. You know I can care for you—didn’t I, in Paris? I can keep you safe,petit—”
“You said Liam had secrets,” I blurt out, the words coming out strangled. “His fiancée. Was that one of the secrets you were talking about?”
“Ah, so you met the lovely Irish princess. Saoirse O’Sullivan, I believe her name is?” The name sounds odd in his French accent, nothing like how Saoirse had pronounced her own name.
“Yes.” I feel a fresh wave of tears welling up, and I press my shaking hand against my mouth, sinking off of the couch and onto the floor as I try to keep myself from bursting into sobs all over again. “Was that one of the secrets? Alexandre, tell me, please—”
“I love when you say my name like that,petit.So sweet, begging me—”
“Alexandre—”
“Yes.” His voice is slightly more clipped. “Yes, it was.”
“Are there more?” I clutch the phone tighter against my face, feeling myself starting to shake all over.What else could there be? What else is Liam keeping from me?I hadn’t wanted to believe Alexandre this morning. I’d thought he was lying, to convince me to come back to him by shaking my trust in Liam. But if he’d been telling the truth about this, he could be telling the truth about others.
Has Liam been lying to me about more than just Saoirse all this time? Keeping more things from me?
“You should ask Liam,” Alexandre says tightly, and I can tell that he’s displeased that I’m so concerned with Liam. “Since the two of you are soclose.”
