Page 60 of Gravity of Love
She hadn’t been able to speak to him alone. As much as she wanted to make an excuse and say that she was going to go downstairs and get some water, she was scared to be alone with Liam. She didn’t trust herself. All she had to do was get through the next week, get her mom married, and not be the cause of The Sterling Men World War III.
“Can we please talk?” Tristan asked.
“Sure.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on?”
“If you were so concerned, why didn’t you come to California to find out?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean if it was so important for you to know what was going on, why didn’t you show up before now to find out?”
“You said you wanted space.”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’tsayanything.”
“Exactly. Silence is very loud. And also, when I saw that you were at your grandma’s, I figured you just wanted to sort of, you know, reset.”
She sighed. This was exhausting. If they were going to spend the next week pretending to be a couple, she was not going to tiptoe around the fact that she knew he’d inserted his penis in other people.
“Cut the shit, Tristan. For once in your life, just stop. You didn’t follow me out here because you werehappyI was gone. Admit it. You were relieved to have the townhouse to yourself.”
There were several beats of silence. She could practically hear the gears turning as Tristan came up with his strategy for rebuttal. It was draining being in a relationship with a lawyer known for his rock star litigation and mediation skills.
“Sometimes it’s good to have alone time,” he reasoned. “And space in a relationship can be healthy.”
“That’s not what I…you weren’t alone. I know about you and Emmanuelle.”
“Who said…” He turned onto his side towards her. “I don’t knowwhatyou’ve heard, but?—”
“I haven’t heard anything. No one told me anything.”
She could feel him staring at her, but she kept staring straight up at the ceiling.
“Well, then what are you talking about? You know I wouldnever?—”
Oh, for the love of…
“Isaw—” She turned her head. “—with my own eyes.”
He was shaking his head. “Whatever youthinkyou saw?—”
She reached over to the nightstand, grabbed her phone, pulled up the screen recording she took, pressed play, and turned the screen towards him.
He stared at the X-rated video, and she watched him mentally scramble to come up with how he was going to spin this. He was a master spinner, which was the reason she’d screen recorded the video. She didn’t want to deal with him serving her a feast of lies. This was irrefutable truth he couldn’t BS his way out of.
“I don’t know who sent that to you, but you know it’s crazy what they can do with AI. And Emmanuelle’s ex was so bitter.”
“Wow.” She stared at him in disbelief. The sincerity in his eyes was actually terrifying. If shehadbeen sent the video, and if things in their relationship hadn’t felt off for years, there was a really good chance she would have bought the AI story. “You know, I’m actually sort of impressed. You are areallygood liar.”
“I’m not lying. I love you, Mouse.”
She hated that he still called her Mouse. She didn’t mind that her mom did, or her brothers, even Zee did from time to time, but for some reason, it bothered her thathedid.
“No one sent it to me. It was on our iCloud. It came up in memories while I was doing the Gonzales intake, so they also got an eyeful.”
Frankie saw a flash of defeat in his eyes before he closed them. In one instant, his entire demeanor changed, and she knew she had him. She wasn’t delusional to think his surrender had anything to do with a single video. If she had to guess, there were most likely more videos. She hadn’t mined for more infidelity gold, but from the look on his face, if she had, she knew would have struck it rich.
