Page 127 of The Redemption of Remy St. Claire

Understanding dawned. “You still love her.”

“Of course I still love her.” He spat out the words. “You don’t stop loving someone because they’re addicted. You just get tired of fighting for them. You get tired of fighting them. I did everything in my power to get her sober.”

“And she has been. For almost four months. Maybe you should’ve given her a chance. Maybe we rushed into this marriage…”What are you saying?Remy couldn’t stop the words coming from her mouth. He’d just admitted he still loved Sissy. How could she compete with that? “If you found her, right now, you could fix this. It was just one hit. You could go back to her and tell her you made a mistake. You could tell her…”

“What the hell are you talking about? God, listen to yourself.”

Desperation clawed at her. “She’s going to die, Rusty. She has a death wish. I can’t live with that on my conscience. If there’s any chance for you to open your heart to her, you need to do it.”

He propelled himself off the couch. “Did you take some pills along with her? You’re talking crazy. There iszerochance I’ll take back my ex-wife.Ex, Remy. As in former.” He ran his hands through his hair again. “Was this the only time you met with Sissy, or has this happened before?”

Remy tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “She approached me a couple of weeks ago when I was on a lunch break. I didn’t tell you because, at the time, it would’ve served no purpose.”

His gaze intensified, penetrative. “What did you talk about?

“She did most of the talking.” This was one of those times she desperately wanted to lie but wouldn’t. “She threatened me.”

“Threatened how?”

“She said she knew things about me. She threatened to go public.”

“And you thought I didn’t need to know this?” His voice was pure sarcasm.

“I sensed the threat was empty—and I was right. She didn’t say anything today. She didn’t reveal any earth-shattering secrets.” Why was he being so unreasonable?

“What if she had? How would you have dealt with it?”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.” She held up her hand. “Look, let me get changed. I should tell you the entire conversation so I don’t accidentally refer to it at a later time.”

“That’s a lawyer thing, right?” His tone made her uncomfortable.

“I believe honesty is the best policy, yes. If that makes it a lawyer thing, then yes, that’s accurate.”

“Honesty is the best policy. God, Remy, what a load of bullshit.”

“What are you talking about?”

He paced back and forth while panic built within her. Something was wrong. Something beyond her sharing a meal with his ex-wife.

“Were you ever going to tell me that Calleigh is your daughter?”

“She’s my sister.” She wanted to put conviction behind the words but couldn’t.

“Now who’s lying?”

His words dripped in sarcasm and, in that moment, her whole world fell apart.

“How did you know?” He had to be bluffing because no one knew the truth.

“I can add. He raped you in May. Calleigh was born nine months later. You said you quit your job at the corporate law firm because you were no longer interested in business, but that wasn’t it at all, was it? You couldn’t hide your expanding waistline.”

She froze like a deer in the headlights. She was that deer. The transport truck was bearing down on her and there was nothing she could do about it. “My parents and the doctor are the only ones who knew. Now my parents are dead, and Dr. Raymond will never say anything.”

“What’s your point?”

She gazed out the window, hands clenched in her lap. “Calleigh can never know. How could I explain to her that I gave her up for adoption? That I couldn’t care for her? It’s killing me, you know. Not so much because I’m reminded that my mother isn’t here, but because I am her mother. Promise me, Rusty. Promise me she’ll never know.”

“You’re so in my face about honesty being the best policy. Your whole life is a lie.”

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