“No, you—”
“Ihadto.” His raised voice startled the birds in the trees, sending them flying away in a great flock.
A line formed between her brows. “Because of the accident? It colored your feelings for me.”
“No.” He licked his lips. His heart was beating fast, his blood rushing in his veins. It felt... it felt so right.Tell her.“I didn’t end things with you because my feelings changed for you. The last time we stood here, I loved you. I honestly did.”I never stopped loving you.
No, too soon.
She didn’t look impressed. “You loved me but—”
“My father made me.”
Livvy drew back. “What?”
Nicholas ran his hand over his mouth, the words tasting like betrayal.
Family came first.
He knew that shouldn’t apply when that family was abusive. His brain was at war with the reflexive instincts that had been honed in him since he was a child.
He had to overcome those instincts. The questions in Livvy’s dark eyes demanded honesty. “My father made me do it. He made me break up with you.”
“You mean he disapproved of us being together.”
“It wasn’t only disapproval.” How could he explain a lifetime of dysfunction and resentment and emotional manipulation? “Brendan hated your dad. Despised him.”
“For driving that night.”
“Partially.”
Livvy’s gaze was hooded. “Eve said there were rumors my dad and your mom were having an affair.”
He jerked back. “Eve said that?” He hadn’t known Eve was aware of those rumors, though of course she wouldn’t have discussed them with him.
“I assumed she was trying to hurt me... but that’s what people believe?”
“Some people,” he admitted reluctantly.
“That’s foolish. My father would never have cheated.”
Nicholas wasn’t as certain about his mother. His parents had displayed a near-perfect image of marital bliss for the world, but he could remember the fights. He couldn’t blame Maria if she had gone elsewhere to find affection. “I don’t think my mom would’ve betrayed Tani like that. There were a million innocent reasons for them to be on that road, in that car together.” He’d believe them too, even if it did mean a lot of questions went unanswered.
Sometimes all the questions couldn’t be answered.
“Is that the other reason Brendan hated my dad? Was it the rumors?”
Nicholas raised one shoulder. “He does hate any kind of negative gossip, but honestly, I think he despised Robert even before the accident. Your dad got promoted to co-CEO with John. My dad had to technically report to both of them.” Roberthad been an outsider, neither Chandler nor Oka, yet he’d leapfrogged over Brendan, who had occupied Nicholas’s current subordinate position at the time. Nicholas had always sensed a barely hidden resentment in his father’s attitude toward Robert. “After Robert died, Brendan transferred that anger and resentment over to your whole family. He wanted you all gone. He got rid of Tani by taking the shares, but then there was us.”
“When you said your father made you break up with me, what do you mean? Specifically?”
“He put financial pressure on me.”
“He threatened to disinherit you?”
His jaw clenched. “Not me.”
Her eyes went wide. “Eve?”
