She opens and closes her mouth, perhaps deciding on how to answer. Her silence fills the void between us. Eventually, she finally answers when I stare at her, waiting for her to tell me the truth. “I shouldn’t have agreed. I just … I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything. I told them both that they needed to tell you.”
I grumble and snarl at Harper. “Yeah, well, neither decided to do that. Instead, I had to find out at the party, when Nova announced her love for Ashton.”
“She what?” Harper’s eyes widen.
“She proclaimed she was going to marry him. Ironic, considering Ashton practically did the same thing in that damned house and said he was going to marry you.”
Harper rubs at her temples. “Ashton only said that because your father orchestrated the marriage. He wanted you to be free and me to be wed into the family to keep my mouth shut about that poor kid.”
“Not the same thing.” I pace the length of the bedroom. I can’t sit still, and I certainly can’t lie down. “Ashton proclaimed his love for you long before you and I even had our first kiss.”
“I-I don’t even know what to say to that, Luca. I’ve never had feelings for Ashton.” Her brow is pinched, and the longer I stare at her, the more my body reacts, wanting her, craving her touch.
Her voice is soft, sweet, captivating, like a siren’s song, luring me to her.
I reject it.
I keep pacing, forcing distance between us because that’s the only thing keeping me rational and not giving in to temptation.
“My point is that Ashton doesn’t fall in love. This thing with Nova, it’s going to blow up, and when it does, we live together. What then?”
Harper climbs out of bed, the jersey loose over her curves but hanging just above her thighs.
She looks strikingly hot and sinful.
I inhale sharply, desperately pushing thoughts of Harper naked from my mind, because I know she’s wearing nothing underneath that jersey.
“I’m sorry I kept the truth about Ashton and Nova from you. I wanted them to tell you. I told them they needed to tell you?—”
“And when they refused, you should have come to me yourself. You’re my wife!”
Harper momentarily closes her eyes for a brief second and exhales through her mouth. She’s trying to remain calm. I can sense that I’m rattling her, and I smirk, knowing that I have that power over her.
“I may be your wife, Luca, but you don’t love me. You never have. You can’t demand that I don’t keep secrets from you when you’re keeping secrets from me.”
She steps closer to me, but I take a step backward, stumbling into the dresser against the wall. I push off it and shift my weight, turning to keep away from her but also not be backed into a corner or wall.
“What secrets have I been keeping? Because I’ve been brutally honest with you.”
Her hand reaches out first, her fingers grazing my arm, and I yank my body away from her reach. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” she asks, her voice soft and sweet. She’s anything but innocent.
“Try to coax me into forgiving you. I can’t forgive you, Harper. I won’t. Not this time.” Heat coils around my heart, and I move farther from her reach.
“Instead, you’re going to hate me forever? It wasn’t my secret to tell, Luca. Are you going to never talk to your wife again?” Her eyes flicker, and it’s obvious she’s hurting. I hate being the cause of that pain, but she caused mine first.
Maybe it’s childish.
Should I forgive her?
She’s not the one shacking up with my sister.
“Ashton never should have touched Nova,” I growl, redirecting my anger at him. But he’s not in the bedroom.
I storm out of the bedroom and head down the hall. If Nova and Ashton are sharing a bed together, I’m going to kill him.
“Luca, wait.” Harper hurries to catch up to me, her voice a harsh whisper. As I rush past Zeke’s door, I realize why she’s keeping her voice down, and I grimace.
