Page 57 of Keeping Kaitlyn

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him to take me with him but I swallow the words.Damage controldoesn’t look like turning up with a wife after nearly six-weeks of hiding from a crime you didn’t commit. Especially when a man nearly lost his life in the commission of that crime.

“How is he?” I ask, trying to remind myself that this isn’t about me. That there are more important things that Went has to worry about. “The man?—”

“Brian Maxwell.” Went gives me a faint smile. “He’s gonna make it. His doctors are expecting him to make a full recovery.”

“That’s good.” Relief floods my chest—for Went and for Brian Maxwell. “When? When are you leaving?”

Went frowns again. “In the morning.”

Nodding my head, I push a wobbly smile onto my face. “Oh…”

“I’m coming back, Sunshine.” Leaning in, Went kisses me again. “I want you to be here when I do.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me.” Sweeping the pad of his thumb across my cheekbone, Went watches me intently. “Promise me you’ll stay.”

Licking my lips, I give him another smile. This one slow and steady. “I promise.”

THIRTY-TWO

WENTWORTH

2019

I startat the beginning and tell Conner everything. That Kait’s father owned the ranch I hid on after everything that went down with Brian Maxwell. The kind of man Tom Barrett was. What he had planned for her—a forced marriage to a man who was all too willing to mete out a lifetime of punishment for crimes she’d been blamed for but didn’t commit. That I fell in love with her and couldn’t leave her behind.

“Married?” He says it quietly, the frown that settles into his features tells me what he’s thinking about. That not too long ago, he and Kait wereinvolved.It doesn’t matter to him that he didn’t know. Even though he’s slept with plenty of married women during his tenure as the Gilroy family whore, he'd never sleep with a woman who belonged to someone he considered family. “You and Kait were married.”

“Yeah—for about five weeks.” Giving him a brusque nod, I look away. “I know.” I tell him, reminding myself that he didn’t know about Kait. No one did. It’s not his fault that whatever weird twist of fate that brought her to Boston, also dropped her into his lap.

Con’s frown deepens into a scowl. “You know what?”

“That the two of you…” Fuck him for making me say it. Rubbing a rough hand over my mouth, I drop it on a sigh. “Kait said?—”

Still scowling, Con shakes his head. “Kaitlyn saidwhat?”

“That she approached you for sex at Gilroy’s and you turned her down.” I can’t keep the disbelief out of my tone because I know him. Know who he was before Henley came back into his life. Indiscriminate bathroom sex with strangers was his stock and trade. “She said you ran into each other a few months later, when she worked at Ryan’s hospital and she asked you out for coffee and you said yes. After that, the two of you went out a few more times but then Henley came home for good and that was the end of it. She said the two of you never so much as held hands.”

“And you don’t believe her.” It’s not a question but I answer him anyway.

“I’m saying it doesn’t matter,” I tell him, doing my best to keep my tone even. To keep calm. To keep myself from reaching across this table and separating his head from his shoulders. “Kait and I were over a long time ago. She’s free to?—”

Con starts to laugh, long and loud. So long and loud that more than a few people, scattered around the crowded restaurant, start shooting us nervous glances.

“Want to tell me what the fuck is so goddamned funny?” I snarl at him, my patience and altruism suddenly at an end.

“Yeah…” Leaning back in his seat, Conner swipes the tears off his face and keeps laughing. “You.” Dropping his hand, he braces it on the tabletop and takes a deep breath in an effort to get himself under control. “You’re fucking hilarious.”

“I just gave you a pass for fucking my ex-wife and you think that’s funny?” I need to get up. Leave. Get away from him beforeI do something that gets me 86ed from the diner and possibly arrested.

“No…” Shaking his head, Con reaches for his coffee cup and takes a drink. “I mean, that part is mildly amusing—mainly because it never fucking happened—but it’s not why I’m laughing.”

I make a rough, angry sound in the back of my throat. “Wanna tell me why youarelaughing, then?”

“Sure…” Still chuckling, Conner picks up his fork and knife to tackle the steak and eggs Tina delivered a while ago. Stabbing his ribeye, he cuts off a piece before looking up at me. “I’m laughing because you said you and Kaitlyn are over.” Lifting his fork, Con jabs the hunk of meat dangling from its tines at me before shoving it into his mouth. “andthat’sfuckin’ hilarious.”

Watching him chew, I feel my chest go tight and my scalp start to tingle. “Maybe you missed the part where I said she divorced me.”

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