Page 39 of Broken Promises

“Holy shit. Declan Monroe is in my house!” he shouts and then immediately stands to shake my hand.

“Callahan,” Belle says. “Did you not hear what Willa just said?”

“That wasn’t a joke?” he asks Willa.

“Nope,” she says, holding up her left hand, wedding ring glittering in the light. Cal’s eyes widen so large, it would be comical if this wasn’t such an awkward situation.

“That reminds me,” I say, digging in the pocket of my jeans. “You forgot your engagement ring, Princess.” I pull out the six-karat oval diamond I bought for her. It came in while she was still on tour. It’s obnoxious and the most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased, but she was right when she said she was worth it. Willa gasps as I slide it onto her finger.

She throws her arms around my neck like she’s giving me a hug. “This thing is huge,” she whispers into my ear.

“It’s a skating rink. So you never forget who you’re married to,” I growl low in her ear before kissing her temple and standingback up. She pulls me to the two open seats next to Kai. She takes the one next to him as I sit on her other side.

“I can do that, Princess.” She’s loading up my plate with everything on the table. “Willa,” I say, grabbing her hand to stop her from trying to put even more turkey on my plate than the massive pile she already put there.

“You’re married to Declan Monroe,” Jo says to Willa.

“Yes. I am,” Willa responds. There’s a tension between the two women that must be pretty new. Willa always told me she likes Jo.

“The married man you’re with is Declan Monroe and not Gideon Banks,” Jo states.

I bark out a laugh. “Why would Willa be with Gideon? He’s married and so obsessed with his wife that I’m not sure he’s aware that other women exist.”

“Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on right now?” Kai says, leaning around Willa to glare at me.

“Yeah, Princess. What’s going on right now?” I’m not going to help her with this. I want to say something that would out all her lies, to hurt her the way I’m hurting. But no matter how upset with her I am, I will never do anything to cause her pain.

TWENTY-ONE

willa

Declan’s handfinds mine under the table. He laces our fingers together and squeezes, letting me know that even though he’s angry, he’s still here for me. I don’t deserve him.

I take a deep breath. “Declan has been my best friend since I was four years old.”

I watch the hurt in Belle’s eyes deepen and it bruises my heart. “Four?” she says with disbelief.

I explain how we spent every summer together. How we spoke every single day once we had the ability to do so. I even tell them about all the games I went to so that I could watch him play and the shows of ours he came to, but I didn’t bring him backstage for.

“Why wouldn’t you tell us about him? Why keep him a secret?” Kai asks, still eyeing me suspiciously.

“I wanted him for myself. I know how it sounds out loud. But he has always meant so much to me that I didn’t want to share him. As a kid, it didn’t matter because we lived six hours apart, and you guys weren’t going to meet, anyway.”

“And as an adult?” Kai asks.

“As an adult, I had nothing that was just mine. So I clung to the one person that had always been just mine.”

“How did that lead to marriage? How could you possibly keep a whole ass husband secret?” Cal asks. “A famous hockey player husband who could really pass more often.”

Declan laughs next to me. The sound alone calming some of my nerves. “Eight months ago, I had a serious wake up call. My life was going downhill pretty fast and the only consistently good thing I had was Willa. When I had the opportunity to sign with Boston and be with her, I took it immediately.”

“I did tell him I’d give a kidney to get him back here,” I admit, smiling at the way Declan is looking at me. He’s speaking to everyone else in the room, but his attention hasn’t let me.

“We dated long distance until I moved here in September. I proposed immediately, and she accepted. We got married the same day,” he laughs, almost to himself. He kisses me quickly on my temple before continuing. “It was the best day of my life.”

I pull on his shirt collar and kiss his lips. Not for show. Just for me, for us.

“Where do you live?” Jo asks him, apparently over the guilt from accusing me of being a home wrecker.

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