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“And you think we should just write a press report and clear it all up?” I questioned, maybe a fraction too harshly, because Tracy instantly sat back.
“I’m not saying you should clear anything up if that’s not what you want,” she said with complete conviction. “If you need me to tell the world the two of you are married, and that’s all there is to it, you know that’s what I’ll do. No questions asked.”
“Not me,” Martha cut in, shaking her head. “I have questions.”
I huffed out a breath. “Of course you do.”
“Starting with… couldmarryingher negatively impact your reputation or future business dealings?”
It was a fair question.
Yet I still fucking hated it.
“I don’t care—”
“Reed—”
“She’s not a fucking serial killer, Martha,” I hissed under my breath, hoping Valen wasn’t listening. I knew the second she got any whiff people were against this, she was going to run. And not because she didn’t want people to think bad of her, but because she wouldn’t want people thinking bad of me because of her.
“Look, she’s got a past. So do I. But that will not be the defining factor in what we do here.”
“Fair enough,” Martha conceded. “Then what is?”
“She is.”
I got up and walked across the diner, sliding into the seat beside Valen.
“I’ll let you two chat,” Dolores said with a grin before making a hasty exit.
Valen and I turned toward each other, and she lay her cheek against the seat as she watched me. “What do we do?” she whispered.
“What do you want to do?”
“Why is it up to me?”
“Okay…” I tried again. “How about you answer this question? When Chad accused you of being married to me, why didn’t you just tell him it wasn’t true?”
She could have.
She could have denied it all.
Let him know I’d been there to give her a ride and nothing more than that.
She was quiet for a minute.
Her fingernails picked at the worn, flaking cushion.
“I know it probably seems like I was trying to get revenge… hurt him like he hurt me.”
“I never said that,” I argued, knowing Valen was strong but not vindictive.
She sat up suddenly, pushing her shoulders back and lifting her chin, like she was giving herself a mental pep talk to get the words out of her mouth. “I think I’m just sodonewith being the one who always has to lose,” she finally admitted, and the fact her eyes were so deeply connected to mine as she shared those hard truths was the only reason I didn’t walk straight out of there and return to Chad’s apartment. There was plenty of time to break Chad’s face, but I refused to break this connection I was making with Valen.
It was becoming far too important.
Shewas becoming far too important.
“I get it. When someone betrays you, the last thing you want to do is give them another nail to hammer in the fucking coffin lid.”
