Page 98 of The Unwanted Wife

“Don’t cry, baby, please.” I wipe away the moisture, then cup her cheek. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to. I was sure I’d be able to handle the meeting with you, but seeing you, talking to you, brought back all the guilt I associated with you, and it all snowballed from that. First, the kiss on your eighteenth birthday?—”

“I kissed you,” she reminds me.

“And I kissed you back.” I tip up my chin. “You were a kid?—”

“I was eighteen. An adult.”

I firm my lips. “You were my best friend’s little sister. And I took advantage of you.”

“Oh, please, you didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to then. Or now.”

I shake my head. “I thought I’d be able to resist you this time around. My idea was to meet you and tell you I had the money to help your business.”

She scoffs. “I never would’ve accepted it. Not after the way you walked away from me on my eighteenth birthday. You never spoke to me again, until?—”

“Until the day I came to your place to tell you about your brother. A day that caused you so much agony, you wanted to block it out of your memory.”

She swallows. Anguish clings to her features. Every part of me insists I take her in my arms and hold her close to console her. I lean toward her, then stop. If I do that, I won’t be able to stop myself from carrying her back home and keeping her there until we’ve sorted things out, and... That would be unfair to her. After everything I’ve said and done, which has complicated both of our lives further, I owe it to her to come clean on all of the facts.

She tugs on her hand, and I release it.

"And the proposal to marry me? What was that about?"

"I saw the opportunity, I took it. I thought we could help each other. I thought I could use the money I had toward some good, while keeping you close. I did not...did not...mean to...”

“Fuck me?”

“To fall for you all over again. I realized living under the same roof as you, there was no way I could keep my distance. Not when everything in me wanted our arrangement to be real. Not when I realized I’d known you were the woman for me from the moment I kissed you.”

She rubs at her temple. "Did… Did Ben know how rich you are?"

"He knew I was independently wealthy, thanks to the investments I made. I was lucky in that. I didn’t need the Davenports’ money. But when Arthur asked me to return after I left the Marines, I figured, why not? It was a way of getting to know my half-brothers. I figured that this was my way to—” I look away, unable to complete my sentence.

When I look back at her, she searches my features. "What are you not telling me? Are you going to hide something else from me, after everything that’s happened?"

I shake my head. "No more lies. No more omissions. I’m going to use my position within the Davenport organization to implode the company. This is my revenge for what they did to my mother."

"So, the reason you’re here is because you wanted to get vengeance for what happened to you and your mother?"

I peer into her face. "The reason I’m here is because of you. Everything else is secondary."

"And yet, you never told me about my brother."

"I tried,” I protest. “Then, I had to wait until the right time. I had to wait so it wouldn’t hurt you further. When you woke up at the hospital, the doctors realized you didn’t remember what had happened before the accident. But you hadn’t suffered a hit to the head. When they spoke to me, they concluded it was because of the emotional trauma you’d suffered. That, combined with the physical shock of the accident, had resulted in you temporarily blocking out the news of your brother’s death. They told me your memories would come back to you, but I had to let it happen on its own."

"So why didn’t you meet me in the hospital? Why weren’t you there for me?"

"I… I felt responsible for what had happened. For not being able to save your brother. For being the one to tell you the news. I figured, if you saw me, I’d serve as a reminder of what had happened. The memory was so new, even if you had repressed it. You were so fragile then. I discussed it with the doctors, and they agreed that if you saw me, everything related to your brother would rush to the fore. It was too soon. They advised me to give you a little time to recover. And to be honest, it was a relief… Because I knew that every time I looked at you, I’d feed the guilt I felt over what had happened—and I wouldn’t even be able to tell you."

"You didn’t have those concerns when you walked into the bakery and asked me to marry you?"

"A year had passed since the death of your brother. I figured you were in a stronger place. Also, I checked in with your doctor."

"The one I’ve had regular check-ups with since the accident?"

I rub the back of my neck. "It wasn’t easy getting him to… agree to talk to me, but I was persistent."

She stares. "You threatened him?"

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