“It was a set-up, Remy. I needed to get you away from Cash long enough to get him on board with my proposal.”
“You set me up…?” My voice sounds tiny, swallowed up by denial and misbelief.
“I’m so sorry, Remy. I know it doesn’t count for much, but… I was desperate.”
“Desperate?” I whisper. “You let me believe… I thought that he… they… how could you do that to me?”
“Remy.” There are tears in her eyes. Crocodile tears, no doubt. People like Isabella and George feel no compassion towards anyone else. They’re self-serving. They’re… “It’s the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”
I try to stand up and think better of it. The room is still swaying. My head is still banging away at its own concert. And I’m wasting time here with this woman when I should be with Cash and Bash.
Cash isn’t engaged. My heart is skipping even though I’m holding out on relief until I hear the words from his own mouth. Until I can get away from Isabella Leone and erase her and George Quinn from my life.
“A few hours. That was all I needed to get away from George and state my proposition to Cassius Murray. You were not drugged, Remy. I wouldn’t do that to you.” She sounds sincere, but then again, I bet a Great White shark smiles when it approaches thesurfer in deep water. “It was an antihistamine. Prescribed by my doctor to help me sleep.”
She doesn’t even flinch when she says this. As if that will make it all better. As if I’ll forgive her for slipping antihistamines into my drink to knock me out… and oh my God… I’ve figured out how she did it. Tom. He brought a soda to the booth after Cash left. He was in on this whole crazy scheme too.
A few deep breaths to regulate my heartbeat. “I’m pregnant.”
Isabella nods. “I know.”
I freeze. Wide-eyed and certain I misheard her. “You knew, and you still made that choice.”
Isabella stands as if she can sense that I need some space between us and is aware that standing is difficult for me right now. I’m not giving her any bonus points for sympathy now after her recent confession.
She talks while she’s pacing. “Do you love Cash?”
“I…” Why should I even answer this? “I don’t think that’s any of your business?” I sound like a teenager keeping a secret from the mean girls in school.
“You’re right, it isn’t. But the next question is. What would you do for the man you love? Would you die for him? Would you kill for him?” She speaks slowly, pausing between questions to let them sink in. “Could you walk away from Cash Murray right now and pretend that you never cared about him?”
Could I?
I don’t even need to consider my answer.
My heart beats frantically to stop me from saying the words out loud, because once they’re out there, I have to own them. “No, I couldn’t.”
Isabella stops pacing and nods. Her face is pale, her eyes huge and dark, but there’s a faint flush on her cheeks now that wasn’t there a moment ago. “Neither can I, Remy. I can’t walk away from the man I love and pretend that I never cared about him.”
I frown. “But you’re trying to get George out of your life?”
“I’m not in love with George Quinn.” She shrugs. “I’m in love with a man called Alessandro Bonetti. I have been since I was sixteen years old.”
“But… Why did you agree to marry George? Do your parents know about Alessandro?”
“Yes, they know about him, and they gave me no choice.”
I try to think of a suitable argument, one that she could present to her parents to change her mind about her arranged marriage to my ex-boyfriend, and I can’t think of one.
How would I feel if my mom forced me to marry a man that she and my father chose for me? Even before I met Cash and Bash, I would’ve rebelled, cried, yelled, packed a bag and run away before I was in too deep. But now… The thought makes me feel sick.
I can’t choose between the twins, and plenty of people will find that notion repulsive, but it is nowhere near as repulsive as the thought of sleeping with another man. Another man I’ve been forced to marry. A man I must pretend to care about in public to keep up appearances for my family’s sake.
“What are you going to do?” I ask.
“I’m going to get George Quinn out of my life, and I’m going to marry the man I love.” She smiles.
