He stopped, trying to decide what had happened in the few hours he’d been gone.“Priscilla?What’s wrong?”
She picked up a sheet of folded parchment from the table where she had been working.“Who is Angela?”
His heart stopped in his chest.How did he answer that?
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Priscilla watchedthe color drain from his face and knew there were truth the words.
She’d hoped…
That Eugene was lying?That her husband didn’t have a treasure trove of secrets?Both, she supposed.
Hurt and anger were coursing through her as she stared at him.“Well?Who is she?”
“Miss Angela Mitchell was my fiancée.”
Her hands trembled as she pressed them together to hold them steady.Emotion would not overwhelm her now.“And you didn’t tell me about her because…”
He let out a long breath.“Why didn’t I tell you about the woman who publicly rejected me?”
Priscilla winced, hearing the hurt in his words.But she had a few wounds of her own.“We had an exact conversation about secrets and information.”
“Angela isn’t a secret.”He raked a hand through his hair.
“Then why didn’t I know about her?”
He took two steps toward her.“Because, I’m…” Scrubbing his face he gave her a long look.“I didn’t think it necessary.”
Anger bubbled inside her.“I’ve kept nothing from you.I’ve told you all the details about Eugene, my finances.How do you think it makes me feel that I keep learning these bits about you?What woman wouldn’t wish to know you’d already been engaged?”
“How did you learn about Angela?”
She lifted the paper, holding it out to him.He crossed over to her, taking the paper from her hand and reading the contents.
“Eugene,” he gritted out through his teeth.“I should have known.”
She shook her head.“I would have learned of her eventually.”
“He’s trying to cause trouble.”
“He shouldn’t be able to,” she fired back.
Wyatt reached out a hand, touching her elbow, but she shrugged out of his touch.She wouldn’t be distracted now.“You’re right.”
“Then why not tell me?”She looked away then, picking a spot on the floor to the right to train her gaze.Anything to keep from meeting his eye.
“I’m ashamed that I wasn’t enough.”
Her breath caught as her gaze flew to his, a new pain radiating through her chest.Had this woman been the love of his life?Was that why her loss had hurt too much to talk about?“Ashamed?”
He came around the desk.“She was with me the night I received this,” he said as he pointed at his scar.
A lump of pain formed in her throat.She tried to swallow it down before she spoke again.“Was she harmed?”
He spasmed.“No.But not because of me.I was on the ground being attacked, I couldn’t have protected her any more than I protected myself.”
Priscilla heard the pain in his voice as she tried to understand precisely what pained him so much.“But she was safe.”
