Page 93 of Just My Fake Husband

“I was . . . well, severely affected by something this morning,” Milo says, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I haven’t slept much and I don’t know what came over me. I was already in Denver, and I stopped at the house to see Mom because I wanted to tell somebody, you know? And then I ended up saying something on accident about . . . you and River . . . to Mom and Dad—”

Gabriel tugs at a fistful of his own hair. “Can you just stop talking, Milo?” He takes a breath and says in a quieter tone, “It’s okay.”

I place a hand on Gabriel’s arm but turn to look at his youngest brother. “Obviously something’s going on, Milo, that caused a lapse in judgment. It happens to the best of us.” My gaze darts to Gabriel. I’m not trying to dig up my husband’s recent past here but there’s no use getting after Milo for what was clearly a mistake.

“He didn’t have to say much,” Thomas says. “I was already wary of your marriage from the start, as any sane person would be, so it didn’t take much for me to understand what you two did.”

“What did you do?” Alec also stands to join us, as does Oliver. Henry’s coiled near the door, as if on watch, ready to pounce if things escalate. Which makes sense because of his military and security background. Still, I feel that much safer now, oddly enough.

Celine bursts through the door, out of breath, fly-aways bouncing off her normally pristinely precise hair. Her eyeliner has smudged across one side of her face. “Thomas Tate! What do you think you’re doing?”

Thomas flinches, his mouth dropping open before he recovers. “What areyoudoing, Celine?”

“Ha!” She shakes her head and holds up a key card. “I’m making sure you don’t mess things up more than you already have. Look, everyone just calm down. There were some good reasons they did what they did, okay? And maybe it wasn’t the best thing to do but you gotta give ‘em points for creativity, right?” She swipes at the hair falling in her eyes. “When’s the last time any of you did anything so outside the box as to marry somebody for pretend in order to get back what was rightfully yours? They were thinking of the greater good, I’d say, because if Foundations Financial were to be sold or mismanaged, then—”

“Marry somebody for pretend?” Sebastian’s voice roars. Everyone in the room’s mouths drop open. Drake, stands and lets himself out with a “Right. I’ll leave all y’all to it . . .”

Celine’s eyes are wide. “Wait. You didn’t know?” She turns to Thomas. “You hadn’t said anything?” She shakes her head. “Unbelievable!”

Thomas’s face caves. “Now you’re angry that Ididn’tsay anything?”

“Mom . . .” Gabriel’s dimples flash as he chuckles. “You beat everyone to the punch. You were about three seconds or so too early.”

“How did you know, though, Celine?” I ask.

Celine steps to me grasps both my hands. Her smile is warm. “Hi, River. Nice to see you.” She tilts her head to one side, making her neck long and graceful as she takes me in. “And, please, you’re welcome to call me Mom if you’d like. I know how things are . . . well, you don’t have to, if that feels unfair to your own mother’s memory. But if you’re comfortable with that, I would love it.”

Tears spring into my eyes. I can’t say anything. I only nod, searching her expression.

“Okay, but—” Alec throws his arms in the air. “What does Mom know that I don’t?”

Sebastian swears, his face reddening. “Looks like Mom, Dad, and apparently Milo all know that Gabriel and River got married under false pretenses in order to convince Dad that he was responsible enough to get his job back.”

Wow. It sounds so . . . shady when he says it like that.

“What?” Oliver smacks his forehead. “You lied to us?”

“Wait a minute, okay?” I step in front of the room. My heart is pounding so loudly in my ears I can hardly hear my own words. Things are garbled—I’m under water. “Yes, we did.”

“River, you don’t have to—” Gabriel gently squeezes my upper arm.

“Gabriel, it’s okay. It’s out there. Regardless of how or why, it’s out there. And it’s okay, right?—”

“Right. Because our goals and our plans have completely changed.”

“Now, let’s not be hasty, Gabriel,” Celine has pressed the back of her hand to her chin. “The future doesn’t necessarily need to be discussed right now.” She turns to us. “And I apologize for letting the cat out of the bag.” Her eyebrows twinge together. “I thought your father had already ruined everything.”

“I gave them the chance to discuss this privately, but they refused,” Thomas says.

“But honestly, Mom,” I press. “How did you know?”

Sidenote: It feels good to call her that. I’m beginning to really like the idea of having two moms, one in Heaven and the other one to eat chili cheese fries and drink Cokes with.

And maybe even some other mother-daughter stuff, too.

“I didn’t,” she says. “Not completely. But you know how I love my cozy mysteries and my little detective shows set in the English countryside . . .” She gives up a nervous laugh. “I knewsomething was afoot. You two didn’t do anything wrong. But Stella’s been sort of dropping hints.”

“Of course she has.” Sebastian deadpans.

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