“Didn’t know about that, did you?”
She lifted her chin. “Guess I’m not the only one keeping secrets.”
“Are you kidding?” His face turned red again. “Not the same thing, Katherine. Not even close. I didn’t tell you what your father did because I knew it would hurt you. I refused his fucking offer because the love I felt for you was worth way the hell more than your father or anyone else could ever afford.”
“I know my dad has done some terrible things. Trust me.”
“That’s the thing, Kat. I can’t trust you.”
Those crushing words penetrated her soul. “Yes, you can.”
“No. I can’t.” He took a step toward her. “You’ve proved that over and over again. Starting with lying about your feelings for me.”
“I never lied about that, Matt. I loved you. I still lo—”
“Don’t.” He threw a hand up, his teeth grinding together. “Donotgo there.”
“But it’s true.”
“Goddamnit, Katherine!” he bellowed. “We’re not fucking kids anymore! And I’m not that stupid, naïve boy you fooled into thinking we had something special. That we had a future together.”
“We did!” She willed him to believe her. “I loved you more than anything in the world. All I ever wanted was a future with you.”
Instead of taking her at her word, Matt’s expression turned cold. Emotionless.
“If that were true, you wouldn’t have broken us apart. You would have stayed with me. Marriedmeinstead of participating in some twisted façade with your boss’s gay son.” Matt took a few more steps in her direction. “I may not have had a lot, but everything I had in here”—he pointed to his chest—“was yours. I gave it all to you, and you threw it right back in my face.”
“I did it to protect you!”
The words were out before she could stop them.
“Protect me?” Matt snorted. “From what, the embarrassment I’d face from your father and his stuck-up friends?”
“No,” she answered quietly. “Not from that.”
“Then from what?”
She’d never intended on telling him this part. Never wanted him to know how horrible the genes were that ran through her veins. Now that she’d started, Kat knew she needed to finish. Once and for all.
“From going to jail.”
He laughed. Actually laughed. “Jail? Jesus, Katherine.” Matt ran a hand over his hair, causing those top strands to become mussed. “Are you even listening to yourself? You can’t bear to face the fact that you were a selfish, spoiled teenager who wanted someone better, so you keep making shit up as you go along. Grow the fuck up and admit it already.”
More tears fell, but Kat didn’t bother to wipe them away. Woodenly, she opened her mouth and shared the entire, sordid story.
“My father had us followed.”
“What?”
She licked her dry lips. “He hired someone to follow us back then. The man took…pictures.” Kat wrapped her arms around her waist, the feeling of being violated still fresh, even now. “My dad came to me that morning, about an hour before we were supposed to meet at the pier. He showed me the pictures of us making love in the boat house, along with a written statement he’d signed and had notarized. It was addressed to Commander Jennings.”
He frowned. “My unit commander? Why would he—”
“My father gave me an ultimatum that morning, Matt,” she cut him off. “Either I ended things with you that day, or he was going to send those pictures and that statement to Jennings and demand you be brought up on charges of statutory rape.”
“What?” Matt took a step back, the shock on his face telling. “That’s ridiculous. You were…”
“Seventeen,” Kat whispered. “The legal age of consent in California was eighteen. Still is.”
