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“My marriage is none of your business,” he said, but anything other than a flat-out denial was firm confirmation.
“How could you?” she asked softly, looking at me with tears in her eyes. “How could you do this to him?”
I shrank back, her words cutting deeper than if they’d been filled with rage and resentment. Maybe I hadn’t been the one to suggest it, but I’d agreed to it. I’d willingly taken years of his life for myself—for my own ends.
“Enough,” Zeke snapped and stepped in front of me, taking my hand in his. “It was my decision, Addy. My offer. My choice.”
Her head shook, a tear spilling onto her cheek.
“You don’t have to understand my decision,” Zeke declared, pulling me tighter to his side. “But you do have to respect it. And my wife.”
Without waiting for her response, he led me through the restaurant and back to his car. Only then did I start to gulp in air to compensate for the way I’d been holding my breath.
“Zeke…” I looked at my husband.
Husband.
Stared at him and searched for the answer to her question.How could I have done this to him?My mouth dried, and my throat tightened. I knew what I was getting out of this marriage, but what about him?
What if she was right? The accusation in her eyes that claimed I’d taken advantage of the most selfless man that ever lived.
Why had he done this? Why had he married me?
“Don’t, Kenzie.” His gravelly voice was pained, and he took my hand again to bring it to his mouth, meeting my eyes as he kissed my fingers. “We’re only talking about this once I have you in my arms.”
A pang shot through my chest. I wanted Zeke Williams in spite of all the guilt coursing through my veins…. But maybe Addy was right. Maybe this marriage was a mistake.
CHAPTER16
ZEKE
“Zeke, what are we doing here?” she asked, trying to hide the quiver in her voice but failing.
She hadn’t said a word as I’d driven straight through town—straight past the apartment—and brought us back to my property. She hadn’t said a word because she’d been silently crying—trying to hide her pain from me.
There weren’t many times in the course of our lives when I’d wanted to throttle my twin sister, but tonight was one for the books. I understood Addy’s shock—her hurt. I understood how it must look to her and the sacrifice she thought I’d selflessly made.
But she couldn’t be more wrong.
I swung the Jeep around so that we faced the ocean, the surface dark with the reflection of the night sky, and then shut off the engine, my thumb drumming on top of the steering wheel as I tried to find the right words to say.
Of course, my sister would connect the dots as soon as she learned about Jake. We’d worked with too many women in similar situations for her to not recognize the lengths a woman would go to get her child back—or the lengths I’d go to help her.
But this was more than that… and that was why we were here. Weeks ago, I’d brought her to my property because I wanted—needed her to focus on a different future. One that didn’t involve worrying about Jake’s future or worrying about what Stan would do to compromise it. Tonight, we were here because she deserved the truth. My truth.
“I’m sorry for what Addy said, Kenz,” I began.
She didn’t move in the seat. The only reason I knew she even blinked was because it triggered a tear to trickle down her cheek.
“You shouldn’t have married me.” She finally turned to me, her eyes puffy and her cheeks red. She’d been crying the whole way here.
Fuck.“No.” I reached over, swiping the tears from her cheeks like I could just as easily erase her hurt. “No, Kenz. You’re wrong.”
“I never should’ve asked it of you—”
“You didn’t ask, I did,” I growled.
She let out a soft whimper. “I never should’ve put you in that position because of course you would ask, Zeke. Of course, you would do anything to help me because that’s what you do. And I… I agreed because I was only thinking of Jake. I never thought about what I was costing you.”
