I need to tell you something about Bean. He’s a savant when it comes to numbers. He feels their rhythms. It makes him an unstoppable force in the investment world.
I already know that.
Not everything.
She had yet to tell him the one secret that would end things between them. There were many things in her life she could live without, but there was one person she would never give up. No matter how much she loved Ash, she would never walk away from Forest.
Once Ash learned what she and Forest had been forced to endure, he would leave in disgust. Spencer had called it incest, and while not technically correct, they shared a familial bond. There was no way she could keep both men in her life, not with that history.What man could stomach the closeness she and Forest shared,knowing they’d once been intimate?
Her chest heaved with the pain of the confession. Shoulders curling inward, she wrapped her arms around herself, desperate for a hug. She collapsed to her knees as a sob tore from her throat, and her phone scattered to the ground. Her cheeks froze as the brisk wind chilled her tears.
Heavy footsteps pounded from behind, Forest moving faster than she’d ever heard, but his massive bulk sounded lighter and swifter than she remembered. Stomping toward her were black combat boots and tree-trunk legs that supported a mountain of a man.
“My summer Skye, do not cry.”
“Forest?”
If he was standing in front of her, then who was running up from behind? She twisted and gasped at Ash sprinting toward her.
Ash slid to his knees, out of breath, with his luminous eyes blazing in the light of the sun. Green dragon scales shimmered in the reflected light, the exact shade of his eyes.
“I’m already desperately and forever yours, Skye Summers.” Ash wrapped her in his arms.
Words choked in her throat, but she managed to spit them out, “How did you get here?”
“You have a very persistent brother.”
Persistent?“You need to know?—”
“I already know. And it doesn’t change a thing. I love you.”
How could he?She reared back to stare into his eyes.
Behind him, Forest circled. He lifted his phone. “I’ve been chatting with Lover Boy, my summer Skye. I told him everything while you were fat-finger texting him.”
Everything?
Ash nodded, and through the pain in his gaze, she knew Forest had disclosed their second darkest secret.
Forest grinned. “The two of you totally suck at communication. So, let me sum it up for you. Yes, Lover Boy signed the divorce papers, but the dumbass hadn’t read them. I already chewed his ass off and told him what I’d do if he ever did that again. I also told him you had annulment papers drawn up, but that you aren’t going to sign them. The two of you are a piece of work.”
“Bean—”
He raised a finger. “Be quiet.” He pocketed his phone. “Ash knows about the trial and acquittal…on account of self-defense.”
Ah, at least one of their secrets remained theirs to keep. While she had acted in self-defense, what had happened had been premeditated.
Forest continued, “I told him the rest of it—or at least the CliffsNotes version.”
She tried to speak, but Forest silenced her with a shake of his head.
“I told Lover Boy that, if he wanted you, he needed to come, and he came, my summer Skye.” Forest then pointed to Ash. “Now, don’t fuck this up.”
Ash’s smile beamed. “Never.”
“Good. Now, you rushed into this marriage, which was totally fucked up, but no way in hell will you rush out of it. No divorces. No annulments. No separations. No nothing. You’re stuck with each other for…I don’t know…let’s set a date. Six months?”
He seemed pleased with himself and nodded before continuing. “In six months, if you decide you really made a mistake, we’ll draw up papers and make your separation official. But I’m betting that won’t be necessary.” He shook his head. “Man, this love crap is exhausting.”
