Her hands went to her face, covering it as the tears brimmed, as her limbs trembled with pent-up hurt and fear.
Sylvia’s accusations were only the beginning. Viv had seen it dozens of times. It was her specialty— dissecting the ways one’s life went awry.
The media would take it and run. And heaven knew the media knew no bounds. The picture of the twins said it all.
She shouldn’t have allowed this. She’d been selfish, hadn’t she?
A deep and miserable ache ripped through her core as she considered what it all meant. What she’d have to give up if she were going to protect her boys.
An image of Duke floated to her mind. That gorgeous picture of him on the cover. He’d been standing before the vineyard in a white on white casual suit, a burgundy scarf peeking from the front pocket. He’d been leaning against a copper wine stein with the vineyard at his back, that prize-winning smolder on his face.
It hurt to think of him. Hurt because she knew who he was behind the appearance and the gossip and the public persona he’d let define him. She wanted so badly to help people see the real him. But was that all ruined now? Would the entire interview be dismissed because of what Sylvia said at the gala?
It felt like a double loss.
A complete fail in bringing Duke redemption. And a fail at making the relationship work too.
The fact was, she’d been selfish going into the relationship, hadn’t she? Sure, Viv had taken time to go into things with intent where her own feelings were concerned, but had she taken enough time to think about the boys? About her duty to protect them at all costs?
A cruel ache pushed through her body in a slow crawl as the realization came to full light, even amidst the darkness. Viv couldn’t keep dating Duke. It would be selfish and irresponsible. And as a single mother, those were two things she could not afford to become.
Heck, look at the number of times the Benton family had wound up in the press over the last few years. It was one thing after the next.
If she went away quietly after tonight’s storm, perhaps it wouldn’t go much further. Perhaps the next big scandal would come and push her story to the wayside. Perhaps cruel women like Sylvia with Duke in their sights wouldn’t target her or, even worse, the twins.
Yes, she loved Duke. But good parents made sacrifices for their kids, right?
Even as she worked through it in her mind, an inner voice said Viv was wrong. Said shecouldsomehow still have both.
But that was the selfish side of her speaking up once more.
She’d have to be strong.
She’d have to put the boys first.
And she’d have to let Duke Benton go.
Chapter 22
“Who breaks up with someone in a handwritten letter?” Duke cried, tossing the folded piece of stationary before him.
He eyed his family members one by one—each seated at the roundtable in Betzy’s kitchen.
“A writer,” Mom’s boyfriend, Michael, said.
“Someone who’s scared,” Betzy said.
Grandma Lo lifted a finger in the air. “Absolutely. If I don’t have the strength tonotbuy potato chips, I send someone else to do the shopping for me.”
“Same,” Kat said.
His mom, Claudia, waved a hand over the air. “Ineverdo my own shopping.”
“Pretty good pictures in here,” Michael said as he thumbed through the magazine.
Duke shifted in his seat, trying very hard to not let panic get the best of him. He couldnotlose Vivi now. After something so stupid.
“The note doesn’t say she’s breaking up with you,” James said. “It says she’s…”
