"I actually learned something shocking, and I'm still reeling from it." I drop my volume even lower, and Duke leans in further to hear me. "Peter Bravo is Penn Bellamy."
Duke is well trained in how to school his reactions, a talent needed when he is in meetings and boardrooms. But his total nonchalance, the flicker ofnothingin his eyes, tells me something I wouldn't have guessed.
He already knows.
"I figured it out after the night at King's Ransom," he says, his volume matching mine now. "I'm wary of anybody new showing up. Due diligence is important in my work, and it bleeds into my life."
"So you looked into him?"
He nods. "It was incredibly easy, which tells me he didn't go to many lengths to truly hide his identity." Duke sits back, giving our server space to deliver our coffees.
"With a side of real whipped cream for the bride," she says, smiling jauntily at me. I thank her and spoon a dollop on my creamy coffee.
"You're injured," Duke says, bringing his black coffee to his lips.
"Healthy as a horse," I respond.
"Emotionally," he amends, placing his cup on the table. "You're most indulgent when you feel injured. You ordered your normal egg and bacon breakfast, but you added a side of cinnamon swirl pancakes. That's a dead giveaway."
"I guess I am injured," I say, stirring my spoon in my coffee, watching the whipped cream melt into the hot liquid. "Not only was Peter, er, Penn lying to me, but so were you." I sip the sweetened caffeine, nearly groaning as it hits my tongue. I needed this, and Duke knew it. "Why didn't you tell me as soon as you knew?"
His fingers, still wrapped around his mug, tighten. He hesitates, and now I'm seeing Penn in the middle of the night, refusing to tell me why he left. There's something here, a piece integral to forming the puzzle so it makes sense to me, but neither Penn nor Duke will speak it. And it means they share the same secret, or at least facets of it.
"I wasn't sure what him being back would mean for you. For us."
"Duke, that's not right. I deserve to know."
"Of course you do." Duke slides out from his side of the booth, and I scoot over to make room for him beside me.
He loops an arm over my shoulder, and I lean into him. He smells the same as he has for years, something clean and citrusy with a hint of pine. He smells like my friend. Into my hair, he murmurs, "I need to know, Daisy, if him being back changes things."
I think of Penn, of what he said in the middle of the night.I don't know how much longer I'll be in Olive Township, but it won't be forever.
Then I think of my mother, of the last time I saw her, the way she gasped at the sight of me in her dress at my fitting.
"No, Duke. Nothing has changed."
My head dips with his strong exhale, as if he'd been holding his breath while he waited for my answer.
Duke has skin in the game, too. It's not only my mom we're supplying with a manufactured happily ever after for her daughter. It's Duke's parents, too.
Our server delivers our food, placing both plates on one side of the table. "Look at you two," she coos. "Can't bear to be apart, even when it's only a table's distance."
"Very true," Duke says, pressing a kiss to my hair.
There's a twinge of something in my chest, somethingnot good.
Until now I've been apathetic towards Duke's kiss. It was a non-event. It went part and parcel with what we're doing. But the feeling inside me now? It's a real problem.
At the press of Duke's lips was the inclination to recoil.
Because it's Penn I want, even if I am furious and hurt.
My heart refuses to line up with my mind.
Stubborn bitch.
Chapter 30
