Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“And now it’s over.” Just like that. Done.
“Con, come on.” He dropped his hand. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What she did was worse than what you did.”
He took a few steps toward me. “No, no, no. Do not throw this away because of what I did.”
“She lied to me, Edric. And she told you to lie to me.”
“Because she was scared how you would react. Scared you wouldn’t forgive her. Scared it would destroy our relationship—”
“I don’t care what the reasons were,” I barked. “If she’d just come to me, I would have broken your nose and your arm and dropped you off at the hospital, and we would have moved on. But she fucking lied to me. The one person I’m supposed to trust without question fucking lied to me.”
“Con, I get you’re upset right now, but dumping Isabella is not the answer.”
“That’s not the kind of woman I want to marry.”
“You love her.”
“And I’ll probably always love her, but we’re done.”
“You’re reacting exactly the way she was afraid you would react.”
“I told her all I want in a relationship is honesty. Instead of giving that to me, she lied to me and told you to lie to me. When I saw you two together multiple times, not once did I assume either of you would betray me. When Antonio suggested it, I told him to fuck off. That was how unwavering my trust was in both of you. But knowing you two were playing me like a damn fool . . .” I shook my head, humiliated that I’d put my trust in the wrong person. “Honestly, if you two hooked up and she told me about it right away and begged for my forgiveness, I probably could have moved forward because that’s how much I love that girl. But this . . . no.”
“Con, come on.”
“No.”
“Don’t throw away the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“She was the best thing that ever happened to me. Now she’s the worst.”
I didn’t need to confront Isabella, not when Edric told her everything and she came straight to my apartment.
I’d been sitting there for an hour, ice over my knuckles, watching the light change as the shadows shifted in the living room.
She pounded on my front door. “Con!”
“It’s open.” I dreaded the conversation because I’d already had it in my head, so it would feel like a repeat. She’d beg for me to stay, sob until she couldn’t breathe, get on her knees and plead—and it wouldn’t change anything.
She burst inside with a look of sheer panic that masked her beauty. “I didn’t know what to do—”
“Tell the truth. That’s always the right answer.”
“I—I didn’t know how you’d react.”
“Then you obviously don’t know me very well.” I tossed the bag of ice on the table and stood up, making her take a step back. “You really think if you’d told me what happened, I’d leave?”
“I—I didn’t know—”
“I think the real reason you didn’t tell me is because you felt something.”
She turned pale, as if she lived in the Arctic Circle instead of the Mediterranean.
“And you were afraid I’d pick up on it—which I would have and which I already have.”
Still in shock at what I’d said but also pained by the truth, she took another step back. “Con—”
“I would have understood, Isabella. We’re twins. Most people can’t tell us apart. How can you be attracted to me and not him?”
“You look the same, but you’re nothing alike.”
“But you still felt something when he kissed you—when you thought he was me—and I would have understood. I wouldn’t have liked it, and I would have been livid about it for a while, but I would have understood. But lying to me and choosing to lie to me for the rest of our lives . . . that’s just fucked up.”
“I’m sorry.” She started to get teary. “I’m so fucking sorry. I was scared and I panicked and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to ruin your relationship with your brother. I didn’t want to risk losing you. I had so much more to lose by telling you than not telling you.”
“When we were at Daiquiri, I asked both of you what was going on—and you lied to me.” I slammed my fist into my chest. “To my fucking face.”
“I’m sorry—”
“I heard you the first time, and I don’t care. You let me walk around looking like a fool. You should have heard me when Antonio suggested you were fucking around with my brother. I nearly punched him in the face. Now I owe him a big fucking apology because he was right on the money and I was too fucking dumb to see it.”
“I did not fuck around with your brother.”
“The fact that you both lied about what happened and continued what I can only describe as an emotional affair feels like you did.”