Arthur retreated to the far side of the room. The silent stare held a world of hurt and something I had no name for.
“We need to talk about shit, that’s what I mean.” I released one hand and pointed at the picture. “If you’d asked about it when you’d first found it, we’d be past this already. You wouldn’t have spent so much time worrying over nothing.”
“You could have stayed here instead of running away.” Ryland, in a rare show of abject seriousness that rivaled Arthur, sat on the corner of the desk, stretching his legs out and crossing his ankles. “Assumptions get you nowhere. Truth does. Questions do. All you had to do was ask. There’s no shame in asking.”
“And if you’d asked, everything would be all right now.” I wouldn’t have drowned myself in alcohol. Months of lying awake at night feeling desperate and alone. It sucked. I’d never felt anything like that before, and I never wanted to again.
Hannah started to smile. “You’re right. I just…” She shrugged. “I worried you would think I was using it as a ruse and did it on purpose or something.”
“Why the fuck would we think that?” Ryland asked.
Hannah flung her hands out. “I don’t know. I was scared and upset.”
“But it’s over now, right?” I stepped closer and hugged her. She curled into me in that familiar way, fitting her head beneath my chin and locking her arms around my waist.
“Are you all bloody insane?” Arthur stalked over, his hands deep in his pockets, his jaw hard enough to carve ice. “Nothing is over. It’s just beginning.”
“What are you talking about?” Ryland intercepted Arthur halfway across the room. Arthur glared at me. The look was a warning that I ignored.
“None of this is right. We never should have slept with Hannah.”
“Why?” Hannah’s question puffed out in a raspy breath.
“Why?” Arthur stabbed a finger into Ryland’s shoulder. “We swore to protect her, that’s why. We promised Henry that we would do anything to look out for her. We failed.” He poked Ryland again and Ryland let him. He knew better than to try it on me. I’d poke—or punch—right back. “We failed her, then we fucked her. We’ve been fucking Henry’s fucking daughter.”
Hannah turned to stone in my arms. I’d already realized the point Arthur made, but he seemed to be taking it a little too much to heart. “Bit late to be torn up about that now. We didn’t know.” I had no idea Hannah could stiffen further, until she did. It was like holding a tree trunk.
“Nothing about this is okay. Not one bit of it. We know now. We cannot take back what we’ve done, but you can take your fucking hands off Henry’s daughter and give her the respect he would demand. He’d be appalled at all of us.” Arthur’s face went bone white, even his lips turned bloodless. “We are all a bunch of horrid wankers.”
Stunned silence took over every inch of the room. Even the space between me and Hannah grew turbulent with Arthur’s outburst.
I had no intention of letting her go.
19
HANNAH
Ianticipated the moment Scott would release me, tightening my core to keep from falling closer to him as desperation swept through me. Arthur was right. I was Henry’s daughter. We’d had sex. But knowing the truth about Mom and Dad made everything else feel insignificant as far as blurring the lines between having sex with my dad’s best friends. Or at least, it did for me.
Arthur’s cursesassaulted my ears. “It’s unthinkable.”
Really? Hurt scored my heart and sent an ache into my bones. Scott kept holding me. I would’ve fallen otherwise as Arthur’s rant continued. I’d been so relieved to find out we didn’t accidentally commit incest that nothing else mattered.
“Arthur, I think that’s enough.”Ryland approached him and he slapped Ryland’s hands away. He looked at me before turning his back on me, his eyes filled with such disgust that tears blurred my vision.
Didhe hate me that much?
“He’sthe oldest and the most traditional,” Scott whispered into my ear. “This is a shift in what he considers a family dynamic.”
“I don’t understand.”My voice muffled in his chest.
“We’ve dishonored Henry.”Arthur turned back to face us. Both hands dove into his hair. He grabbed it by the handful and pulled. “If only we’d known who she was.” He couldn’t seem to even look at me, staring right past me to look at Scott instead.
“I’d still have done it.”Scott’s voice vibrated against my cheek.
I raisedmy head to meet his sincere gaze. One side of his mouth tipped up in a slight smile. “Thank you,” I mouthed.
He nodded oncebefore turning his attention back to Arthur. “What’s done is done.”