Page 80 of Rekindling Desire

Amber laid her hand on my arm.

I pulled my arm away. “The no touching goes both ways.”

“My mom,” she said, “is innocent. She thinks we married and then had a fight.”

“You’re lying. Your mother was involved in the fucking fraud. Does the name Vallencia sound familiar?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I work with a lot of people.”

“It seems as if you’d recall the officiant at our wedding. That’s right, our wedding never happened. Your mother paid Vallencia off with cash and helped get him an extension on his visa.”

Amber shook her head. “None of that is true.”

My voice boomed, echoing through the living room. “It’s all fucking true.” I stopped and took a breath. “Your mother has served Sinclair Pharmaceuticals faithfully for many years. She is facing a choice. Either she resigns voluntarily as an honored member of our executive board, or I’ll take everything public. I’ll drag you and Gloria through the courts. Our marriage will not only be annulled based on the proof that our marriage was a fraud, but the once-respected name of Wilmott will be muddied. I’m sure the good senator would roll over in his fucking grave having the public learn you broke into homes and planted bugs so you could get off on Ella’s and my sex life.”

“That’s not why. Darius thought…” She shook her head. “Believe whatever you want.”

“Darius was the one who put you up to breaking into our homes?”

“Damien, think about this. Even if Mom’s off the board, the no-confidence vote will have to progress. I didn’t want you to find out about the marriage like this. I thought we could make it work. I wanted to help you.”

“You wanted to help yourself. Gloria wanted to tell the world her daughter married a Sinclair. No, not a Sinclair. Me. Damien. We all know Darius isn’t the same catch.” I looked around. “Where is my brother?”

“Not here.”

A sinister smile curled my lips. “Did he leave you when he learned you’d played him? Or doesn’t he have the balls to leave. You left him, pledging to make our marriage work. No, you were doing his dirty work. What does he have on you?”

She looked down at her hands and back up. “I do want our marriage to work. And it can’t if you’re working with her. I agreed that finding incriminating evidence to take to the coalition would get her out of our lives.”

Amber’s focus brought my attention to the ring she was still wearing, the one Darius gave her. “She is Gabriella, and she is very much in my life.” I motioned between the two of us. “Our marriage isn’t happening. And if you wanted that, why are you still wearing his ring?”

She lifted her hand. “It’s beautiful. And I didn’t play Darius. I like him.”

“You like him.” I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Then let’s get our annulment and you two can live happily ever after.”

“He’s not…” She looked pleadingly toward me. “He needs to feel like he’s part of the family.”

“Screwing my legal wife isn’t close enough for him?”

Amber huffed. “Don’t you care about him? He’s your brother.”

“I do. I care that he leaves Dad and Mom alone. I care that he goes on with his own fucking life and agrees that his involvement in Sinclair Pharmaceuticals is over. If he wanted one big happy family, he wouldn’t have spent the last thirty-eight years trying to one-up me or catch me at something and fail at every fucking juncture.”

“That’s just what brothers do.”

I shook my head. “It’s not. Darius has felt incompetent ever since I was born. He knew he could never be me. I had both parents loving one another. You know why I walked out of here that night a year ago?”

“Your note said things moved too fast.”

“My parents,” I said. “I knew that I’d never have what they have, with you.”

Amber looked down. “You don’t have to be cruel.”

“I’m being honest. And as for siblings, Dani and I know what that means. We have one another’s back. We support our parents the best we can. It’s always been a competition with Darius.” I scanned Amber up and down. “I’m sure he thought he hit fucking pay dirt when he landed you. Did you tell him you left me?”

“When Darius tried to run Sinclair, he had too much pressure. He’s ready now.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “Why the fuck are you fighting for him?”

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