I grimace as she uses the one word I’ve been keeping from my mind. She’s wrong; it’s not incestuous, not really. But—
“I cannot believe you’ve done this to me.”
“What?” I say, surprised. “I haven’t done anything toyou—”
“What am I going to tell Michael?”
An icy feeling snakes its way up my spine. “Nothing! Please, you don’t have to—”
“Of course I do! He’s my husband. I can’t keep this from him. You don’t realize what an awful position this puts me in.”
Shit. She can’t tell Michael. It’s one thing forherto be mad at me, but if she tells Michael I’m in trouble.
She shakes her head, gazing at me sadly. “I hardly recognize you, Harri. Ever since you got here you’ve been acting differently. At first I thought it was really cool that you were coming out of your shell, but now I find out you’ve been lying to me for weeks and sleeping with Michael’s brother. Hismarriedbrother.”
Every word from her twists the knife. I suck in a trembling breath, my airway burning.
“Honestly, what iswrongwith you?” Her eyes glisten with tears. “I don’t even know who you are anymore.” And without waiting for me to say anything, she turns and heads back into the reception hall, slamming the door behind her.
I stand there for a moment, focusing on counting my breaths.In, out, in, out. I cannot spiral again.In, out, in, out. Slowly, somehow, I blink back my tears enough to pull myself together.
Okay. It’s okay. I know she’s upset, of course she is. I would be too, if I were her. But she doesn’t know the full story. She didn’t mean what she said—of course she didn’t—she just needs to know all the facts and then she’ll understand.
I open the door to the reception hall, my gaze seeking Luke. He’s already looking at me in the doorway, his eyes flared with concern. I gesture surreptitiously for him to come over and he glances around, then wanders across the room, trying not to draw attention to himself. He slips into the corridor, closing the door behind him.
“Are you okay?”
“Alex has figured it out.”
The color drains out of him. “What?”
“She thinks—” My words catch in my throat and I pause, trying to calm down. “She thinks I’m a home-wrecker, that I’m trying to break you and Dena up.”
“How did she find out?”
I shrug helplessly. “I… I don’t know. She saw us at the table and put it all together.”
Luke wipes a hand down his face. “Oh. Shit.”
“I’m sorry,” I mumble.
“No—” He reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “I’msorry. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that.”
“I think she’s going to tell Michael. I know you didn’t want to, but if we just tell them…”
He looks at me pleadingly. “I really don’t want to do this right now.”
“I know,” I reassure him. “But we could ask them not to tell your dad, right?”
“It’s not just that. I can’t tell my brother,on hiswedding day, that I’m getting divorced. Come on, Harri, you must be able to understand why I don’t want to do that.”
“Yeah, I do. But that was before… I mean, Alex already knows something is up now. I wanted to tell her the truth, but I didn’t. I thought it should come from you.”
His hand drops from mine and a frown stitches across his brow. He rubs the back of his neck, a muscle ticking in his jaw, and for the first time I feel a flicker of apprehension.
My hands shake and I try to hold them still. “I know the timing isn’t ideal.”
“No kidding.” His frown deepens as he glares at the carpet. “Fuck.”
