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“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Something personal?”
“Um, I guess. What is it?”
She moved her coffee to the side, like she feared she would knock it onto the floor. “Did something ever happen between you and Grave?”
It was a loaded question, and I was immediately a deer in the headlights. Obviously, she didn’t know how I was connected to the two brothers, that I was a prize in a very stupid pissing contest.
Her eyes narrowed the longer I stayed quiet.
Shit.
Grave obviously didn’t want her to know. Otherwise, he would have already told her, but he was an idiot for thinking this could stay a secret forever. Grave had just bought me an apartment so I didn’t want to throw him under the bus, but I didn’t know what else to do.
“I guess that’s a yes,” she said quietly, her eyes cold.
“It’s complicated…”
She looked away, releasing a distinct sigh. “Did anything happen while you stayed with him?”
“What?” I blurted. “No. Not at all.”
She turned back to me, her eyes studying my face.
“Grave wouldn’t do that. He has his faults, but he’s a very loyal man.”
“How long were you together?”
I wished this interrogation would end. “Our relationship is long over, so I don’t think it really matters—”
“How long were you together?” Her eyes were furious. “You want my help? Then answer me.”
My assumption about her was dead-on. She had it bad for Grave. “You’re in love with him.”
Her eyes were trained on my face like two lasers.
“You don’t want to hear this.”
“Yes, I do,” she snapped. “I asked him about this so many times, and he always deflected. I want to know why he did that.”
“Because who wants to talk about their ex?”
“Answer. Me.”
Goddammit. “Three years.”
Her eyes steadied, and then slowly, the color started to leave her face. “You’re the woman he was talking about…”
“I-I don’t know.”
“He said he was in a long-term relationship with someone…until she left. He offered her marriage and children, but she didn’t want it.”
There was a lot more to it, but I didn’t want to reveal Grave’s worst qualities to a woman he obviously cared about. I didn’t want to tell her the horrible things he did and risk him losing her.
Defeated, she looked away. “It all makes sense now. You left him because you were in love with his brother…and he was in love with you.”
