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She steps closer to me and leans in like what she’s about to say, she doesn’t want to be overheard by her bodyguard or the store workers. “Fine, if you must know,” she begins, “that day in the stairwell… Well, if it wasn’t obvious, I realized that I might have very confusing feelings for you.”
My mouth drops open. I’m so stunned that I can’t even find the words to reply with. All I can do is stare at her, gaping.
“Oh, come on, Giselle. I’m not an idiot. I know you knew this. Don’t look so surprised. Besides, it’s not like anything could happen. You understand that, right? Even if it was in private. I… I’m never going to leave my husband. And it just…” She stops talking so she can giggle nervously. “Well, it would never work. It would be far too complicated, especially given who we are in this industry.”
She seems like she’s ready to be done with the conversation as she steps away and resumes browsing through some expensive soaps, but I’m not done.
“Eliza… I—”
She interrupts. “I’m happy you’re with Steve. It’s the way things are supposed to be. Especially if you’re happy.”
10
BRENNAN
Ihave absolutely zero plan as I drive to my brother’s house. I have no idea what I’m gonna say to him, and I have no idea what he’s going to say back.
He’s mybrother. I’m supposed to have his back. I know that’s what he’ll think. I know he’ll expect me to take his side. To say everyone else is lying.
I just can’t do that. I no longer believe him.
I enter the code to his gated house and drive up the circular driveway. Then I put my car in park and climb out, my head spinning as I make my way to his front door.
When I pound on it and turn to look back at my car, I can see another vehicle parked outside of the gate. It’s probably the paparazzi, or maybe even another woman whom Derek is beating up.
When I hear the door unlock and open, I turn back to it. There he is. He stands shirtless and sweaty before me, like he was just running on the treadmill, and his face bursts into a wide grin when he realizes it’s me.
That grin.
It does something to me.
“Hey, little bro—”
Before I can let him finish his sentence, I punch him square in the jaw. Of course, he only stumbles back a little bit; he’s much stronger than me, and I don’t get a lot of practice punching people. Unlike him.
Derek gets a wild look in his eyes as his face turns red, and he grabs his jaw. “What the fuck was that?”
But I don’t want to talk. So, I step inside his front door and punch him again, this time, in the stomach. He doubles over, but only for a moment. Then he lets out a raging roar and tackles me, and the both of us fly out his front door and tumble onto his lawn.
Maybe it’s the fact that I did wrestling in high school and he didn’t, but I’m somehow able to roll myself on top of him. Then I deliver another blow. Right to his temple.
“Brennan! Stop!” Derek cries underneath me. Then his lip splits when I punch him again. “Are you crazy?!”
I can barely hear what he is saying. I can barely control what I’m doing. All I know is that I’m angry. All I know is that I want him to pay. That I don’t want him to get away with this.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I yell as I punch him again. It hurts my hand like hell, and I finally roll off of him. He’s in too much pain to try to get back at me, so we both lie there on the grass in agony.
My face feels wet, so I touch my cheek to see if it’s Derek’s blood, but when I pull my hand away, I realize it’s a tear. I don’t even know when I started crying.
“Brennan,” Derek manages to croak.
Right now, there’s nothing he could say to me. And I realize as I slowly get to my feet, that there’s nothing I want to say to him, either. Nothing I do is going to change what he’s already done.
11
DAMASCUS
Inever thought I would be one of those people who goes to an ice-skating rink around Christmas time with their significant other.
