She slid the envelope toward me. With trembling hands, I opened and read the results. The words blurred through my wet eyes. Relief and guilt tangled inside me.
“The baby wasn’t his,” I whispered.
“Brianne used him. When I tried to tell your mother, Brianne had already convinced her of her version of events. Your mother said she would never turn Brianne away. I love my sister, but this situation is why we barely speak anymore, and when we do, we leave the past behind us.”
I stared at the report, its black letters sealing a decade of pain. “Archer knows?”
“Of course. Why do you think he’s been so broken? To have the woman he loved manipulate him, lie, keep secrets on so many levels? She was his first love, his first long relationship. It all fell apart, and not because of him.”
“Oh my God. And here I’ve been keeping things from him.” Tears burned my eyes. “I don’t know what to do. I should have told Archer right away. Holden is a friend of his and a potential client. And I just couldn’t stand the thought of this recent round of Brianne drama upsetting him.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, sweetie, but I think you have no choice but to tell him. You really love him, don’t you?”
I hesitated, but she could see right through me. “Yeah. I do. I’ve fallen for him.”
“Then tell him. About all of it. Before secrets build walls between you.”
Her words landed like a slow, painful echo of my fears.
An hour later,I paced my bedroom, phone pressed to my ear, making a call I dreaded. But I need to warn Holden. It went right to his voicemail
“Hi, this is Penny Fair—from Archer’s team. Brianne’s stepsister. Please call me back.”
Minutes later, he did.
“Penny? Hi. What’s up?”
I hesitated. “I need to warn you about Brianne, er, Bree. I don’t know if you realize this but, she’s Archer’s ex-girlfriend.”
A long pause. “His ex?”
“Had he ever told you about her? They were together probably before the two of you met. They had a terrible breakup, and it really affected Archer all these years.”
“Wait. Archer told me once about his ex and the things that happened. Please don’t say she’s…”
“Yes, the same woman, Holden. Brianne lies and manipulates people when it benefits her. I should know; I spent several years as her stepsister. I called you because you seem like a decent man, and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
He exhaled a curse. “Honestly, I get a certain gut feeling about people. Here I’d been, ignoring my own warnings about her. Looks like I should have trusted my instincts. Thanks, Penny. I owe you one.”
“Take care, Holden.”
After hanging up, instead of relief, waves of nausea came over me. I took deep breaths and tried to hold them. Derailing Brianne’s efforts with Holden should have felt like freedom. Instead, it sat in the pit of my stomach like a stone—because I was still keeping it from Archer.
I crawled into bed, suddenly exhausted. Goldie joined me like she could sense I needed emotional support. I was getting up the nerve to call Archer when a text pinged.
Maya: I need to talk. Drinks tonight?
Those four words should come with a warning label.
An hour later, I met her at a pub. She was already halfway through a margarita and had one waiting for me. I slid into the booth.
“Hi. Are you okay?” I asked, taking a long draw from the frosty drink. But it only made my stomach worse.
She winced. “Define okay.”
“I hear you. I’m not sure I have a good definition of that right now myself. What’s going on?”
She glanced around, then leaned in. “You can’t tell Archer.”
