Page 89 of Only Ever You

He pushes past me, and I grit my teeth before pushing the door shut and turning toward him. “There’s nothing you can say that will change anything.”

Lucas chuckles. “You look as bad as Pippa does. I’m glad to see that. If you didn’t, I’d think you didn’t still love her.”

I clamp my jaw together.

“Deacon, I know you love her. And I don’t know why you left, but there are some things I want to tell you as I’m trying to make sense of all of this.”

Running my tongue across my teeth, I pause before responding. “It’s done, Lucas. Pippa and I are over.”

He shakes his head. “No, you’re not.”

I turn my back on him. “You can leave now.”

Silence falls heavy on us. And I drop myself onto the couch once more.

He mimics the movement, taking a seat beside me. “Your mother groomed me. I was twelve when it started.”

My throat tightens. “What?” The word comes out in a croak and for a moment my head feels light, like I’m about to faint.

“It started with little comments. How mature I was. How I seemed older than other boys my age.” He knits his fingers together and shifts his gaze to meet mine. “Then the touching started. Nothing too obvious, but a brush of her hand on my arm at first. Over time, she grew more confident and, dude, your mum was hot.”

I drop my gaze.

“By the time she slid her hand into my pants, I was fifteen and ready to go. But she told me she didn’t want to cross too many lines until I was sixteen. I was staying the night at your place and went downstairs for a drink. She gave me a blow job. I thought I was in heaven.” He lets out a hollow laugh. “A year later, we had sex. I really did think I was such a big man because she told me I was, when really I’d been abused.”

He falls silent.

I scrape my nails over my palms. “So, why did you keep sleeping with her?”

“The last time was when you caught us. After it all sunk in, I can’t even begin to describe how much shame I felt. It was like everything hit home at once.”

Shaking my head, I meet his eyes. “No. She told me you were still sleeping together.”

“When?” His brows knit, and a sick sensation rolls over my stomach.

“The night before the wedding.”

He narrows his eyes. “She came to see you the night before the wedding? I thought it was made clear to her that she was to stay away.”

I shrug. “I thought so, but she insisted. She told me you’d been sleeping together all this time and that Pippa knew all about it.” Huffing out a breath, I glance down at my fisted hands and then back at him. “Lucas, I loved your sister so much, but to find out the secret she kept from me—something she knew would hurt me.”

Lucas runs his hand through his dark hair. “You really believed your mother? After everything she did to hurt you and your father?”

“Well, I?—”

Reality hits me like a ton of bricks.

Mum did what she does best—she lied to me.

I believed every word she said.

“There were photos of the three of you having a cosy little lunch.”

Lucas’s eyebrows arch. “Ha.” He nods.

“So you don’t deny it?”

He pins his bottom lip with his teeth while eyeing me up. “I had lunch with my little sister while you two were home for Christmas. Remember that?”

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