Page 78 of Accidental Fiancé

But he didn’t look at me. He only glowered at Chloe. “Don’t.”

The sneer on her face sealed his fate. She became animated as she spoke. “Don’t what? Tell the truth?”

I knew it. I knew she knew the truth. Fuck. I said carefully, “Chloe, I think we’d both do well to go and cool off, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t. I think you’d feel better if we got some things off our chests. Why don’t you start?”

All eyes were on me. No matter what happened, I wasn’t about to say a peep. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The lounge door that led to the pool area opened, and some of the moms joined the group which only made things worse.

“Well, if you don’t want to start, I guess I will,” Chloe began. “These?—"

“Chloe, can I talk to you in private?” Marcus interrupted.

“No.” She returned her attention to the rest of the group. “I’ve been sitting on this for far too long, and I respect your family too much to keep it inside any longer.”

“Then get on with it,” Marcus’ father said. “We haven’t got all day.”

“I had planned on something a little longer, but for you, Daddy Dino, I’ll keep it short,” she said flirtatiously. Then she pointed at me and Julian. “Their engagement is a lie.”

Chapter 28

Julian

My heart stuttered to a stop the same way time had done when I punched Marcus. I huffed out a thin breath. Chloe was clever in her own way—I still had no idea how she knew the truth—but there were other ways to deal with her. Like making her seem incompetent.

With all the simulated concern I could muster, I asked, “Chloe, are you feeling well? Did you hit your head or something? You’re looking a little green.”

“I’m fine,” she said, a big gloating smile on her face. “You two are the ones who probably aren’t feeling well right about now.”

As much as I wanted to point out how wrong she was, I kept up the faux concern and looked at her boyfriend. “Eh, Marcus, does Chloe take any meds that you know of? Mood stabilizers or something similar? Did she miss a dose? Does booze interact with them? I noticed she’s been hitting the bar a little hard.”

He smirked a little at that. “Can’t say.”

“Hey!” She snapped her fingers at me for attention. “I am not crazy!”

“No, of course you’re not.” I smiled and patted her head, which made her jerk away. “We don’t use that term anymore.Undermedicated, mentally unstable, I’m not sure what the current acceptable word is.”

“It’s neither of those,” Apollo said.

I lifted a shoulder. “Whatever. I’m not feeling politically correct at the moment given what she just said about us.”

“Julian! Stop talking about me like I’m not here!” she demanded like a child.

“You can always leave and make that a reality. The door is right over there,” I said, pointing to it. “Pretty sure no one here would miss you.”

“Your engagement isn’t real! Everyone here should know the truth. How you can lie to your own flesh and blood like this is beyond me,” she rambled, trying to retain the spotlight. “It’s truly awful. But then again, what should I expect from the man who attacked two of my boyfriends like an animal?”

“Chloe,” Marcus started. “I know you’re upset for me, hon, but I’m fine. You don’t need to make a big deal out of this. Guys fight sometimes. We’re cousins, that’s just how we are.”

“No,” I cut in. “That’s not how we are. We’re not kids anymore, and mere words should not be enough to provoke me. I’m sorry I hit you. It won’t happen again.”

He shrugged it off. “I was out of line. I’m sorry I talked shit about… I’m sorry for what I said.”

I nodded once, accepting his apology. “We good?”

“You owe me a beer.”

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