Page 132 of My Favorite Secret
“I hoped you would see reason if I just had the chance to speak with you and explain everything rationally.”
“There’s nothing rational about any of this, Tyler,” I shout. Heat rises up my neck and my hands flex at my sides, agitated and furious. “Harper needed the truth. Now you’re getting married. Where the fuck has this marriage come from? What happened to it being the three of us?”
“You and Harper are the most important people to me,” he insists, sounding so goddamn desperate. “You have to believe me, Felix. When I proposed to Harper, it wasn’t my intention to push you away. I thought we could all still?—”
“You thought we could all still be together?” I laugh, bitter and breathless. “You think I’m going to be the side man who secretly fucks your wife while you get to be with her publicly?”
“Give me a chance to talk. I was trying to do the right thing?—”
“Bullshit. The right thing. How the fuck does that lead you to marrying my girlfriend?” I yell. “The whole time I was away, I trusted you to take care of Harper. But you’ve turned her against me. She doesn’t want anything to do with me. You’ve stolen the most precious thing in this world to me. You’renotmy brother. You’re a piece of shit and we’re through. You don’t ever fucking talk to me again, do you hear me?”
I grab Harper’s hand, pulling her to my side. I’m furious with her too, for believing I would leave her. For so easily committing the rest of her life to Tyler. It’s insanity after everything we’ve been through together. I wasn’t even gone that long. How could she have moved on so quickly?
“You and I need to talk in private,” I tell her.
Tyler steps in front of me, blocking my path. “I know you’re angry, but we haven’t finished talking. I need to explain. I wasn’t trying to take Harper from you.”
Harper shakes her head. “Let me talk to Felix alone.”
The way he looks at her is so protective. He doesn’t want me alone with Harper because he knows our connection is strong and I’ll change her mind about this engagement.
After a long moment of hesitation, Tyler steps aside. “Call me if you need me. I’ll come straight to you. Again, I’msosorry, Harper.”
“I’ll be fine,” she murmurs, eyes on the ground.
I lead Harper away from the pool house, through the gardens, and into the maze, to the one place that feels sacred between us. I turn corner after corner, ducking under tangled vines, navigating our way through the labyrinth until finding our spot. The last place we made love.
“Remember this spot? Remember the connection we shared?” I grasp her shoulders, furious. “How could you think for even one second I would willingly leave you?”
“I didn’t want to believe it at first. I was adamant you wouldn’t leave me. But as time went on and I never heard from you…” She sniffles. “Felix, I missed you so much. I didn’t understand why you couldn’t contact me. Not a phone call or a text. I heard nothing from you.”
I release her shoulders and groan, trying to figure out where my letters ended up. Did Tyler hide them from her? Was it my father? It had to be one of them if they were so determined to keep the truth from her.
Maybe I should have suspected something was wrong when I received no letters in return. But I thought the worstthat could have happened was an issue with smuggling the letters back to me.
With a sigh, I lower my hands. “What the fuck are you doing with Tyler? End the engagement.”
“I can’t. I don’t want to.” Her hands rest on her stomach and more tears fall. “I’m pregnant.”
My blood runs cold. The world spins.
I stare at Harper in stunned silence, my mind reeling as I try to process her words.
Pregnant. With Tyler’s baby.
She’s not showing. She can’t be far along.
This is why they’re getting married? I don’t know how to handle the information. The three of us never discussed what would happen if a pregnancy occurred, but I assumed we would have worked through it together.
We could have worked through anything. Until Tyler went and fucked it all up.
He claims he was trying to keep her safe. He alluded to us continuing as a trio. But he has dealt witheverythingin a horrendous manner and this relationship is no longer about the three of us.
It’s about them.
Their baby.
Their marriage.
