Page 38 of Dare to Need

With a flick of my finger, I tapped the bathroom light off and walked into our room. The French doors to our balcony were wide open, the curtains hanging heavily in the still night air. Garth wasn’t in the suite, so I headed toward the balcony.

As I walked passed the small breakfast table, his laptop screen lit up the surrounding area with a bright blue glow. An email was open that had the Studio 628 logo in the bottom left corner. My gaze darted to the open doors. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was out there.

Alarm bells started ringing as I looked back to the open email.I shouldn’t be doing this. Every voice in my head urged me to walk away, to not invade his privacy. But I ignored every one of those voices as I leaned over the chair and started reading through the short email.

Dear Garth,

We are very sorry to hear that you have withdrawn your decision to show your pieces at Studio 628. We have heard about your father’s illness and we hope he has a speedy recovery. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support you during this difficult time.

Warm regards,

Studio 628

I stifled a gasp, drawing my shaky hand up to cover my mouth. He withdrew his decision to show his art? What the hell? He’d talked about his art taking a back seat for a while as he learned the ropes of his father’s company, but I’d never imagine he would have sacrificed his biggest dream to do that.What was he thinking?

Flexing my shoulders back, I took in a deep breath.One thing at a time.I couldn’t postpone telling Garth about the subpoena any longer. But it was beyond my control to repress the anger I felt boiling under my skin. Yes, his father had suffered a near-fatal heart attack and yes, there was still a lot Garth needed to sort through regarding their relationship. But he was already sacrificing so much of himself and the past decade of hard work to take over his father’s business when it was the last thing on earth that would make him happy.

Now, he was relinquishing the one dream he’d fought for, for years. I was furious, both for him and at him. Reading that email made me question if he wasn’t spiraling out of control. Letting himself fall victim to circumstance instead of being the fighter I knew he was.

Suddenly, everything we’d shared tonight felt like a stale lie. The man I thought had unleashed himself—who’d bared his truth to me—was just a temporary facade. A mask to wear to pacify my concerns while he slinked back into the protective shell he’d put on the moment he received that phone call.

My mind was reeling with frustration and hurt. I just wanted him to be honest with me and I couldn’t help but feel that every turn we made there was a newly crafted lie waiting for me. After everything I’d faced with Connor, I was tired of being lied to. I just wanted the truth from the man I loved.

But first, I would have to reveal my own truth—a secret I admitted I’d kept hidden for too long already.

My arms were straight as rods, my hands tightened into fists as I stalked toward the balcony. When I reached the threshold, I took in another deep breath in an attempt to squelch the rising heat of my anger. I shook my head. It was no use. I’d be coming in hot for this conversation and there was nothing I could do about it.

The humid, sticky summer air coated my skin the moment I stepped onto the terrace. My heart banged against my ribcage when I saw Garth in the corner of the balcony, leaning his forearms against the railing, swirling a tumbler of amber liquid. While he stood only a few feet from me, I knew he was far away in his thoughts, just as I was. Wringing my hands together, I made my way toward him. There was no more time to wait, even if my legs were screaming at me to run in the opposite direction. I wanted to savor what we had found together tonight instead of stomping all over it with problems that seemed almost too big to fix. But that wouldn’t happen. Not now that I knew his secret.

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat just as he turned to look at me. The sharp angles of his face were illuminated from the bright city lights, dancing all around us. He took me in for a swift kiss, his lips were cold against mine despite the heat in the air. Notes of vanilla and oak lingered on my lips as my tongue rolled between them. Part of me was surprised he was still drinking after our glasses of wine at dinner. He’d never been one to overindulge himself. But then again, we weren’t exactly in our normal circumstance at the moment.

“I need to tell you something.” I took a few steps back, afraid that if his body was too close to mine, I wouldn’t be able to get out what I needed to say.

Those green and yellow orbs swirled with curiosity as he waited patiently for me. I unfurled my hands and dropped my shoulders.Here goes nothing. “I’m not sure if you’ve been keeping up with the Florida news since we’ve been here, but Connor is now suing the professor he slept with. Or at least, his parents are suing her.”

A muscle ticked in Garth’s jaw, but I continued on. “I’ve been subpoenaed by his lawyer as a witness in the case.”

My words hung stiffly in the air between us, like a lightning rod about to be struck any moment.

“What do you mean, you were subpoenaed?” The muscle in his jaw was working overtime now and I was afraid he might break a tooth from how hard he was clenching his jaw.

My tongue was like sandpaper, scraping against the roof of my mouth. “A few days ago, a woman stopped me on my way into the hotel lobby after I’d grabbed us coffee and bagels. I don’t know how she knew we were at this hotel, but she called my name and handed me a Manila envelope. It said that I was being subpoenaed to appear in court as a witness to the case.”

“And you’re just now telling me this, Eva?” His tone was deadly as his words cut through me like a knife. The regret of not telling him sooner started bubbling to the surface. But so did my anger of the secrets he’d been keeping from me for so long.

“I know I should have told you sooner, but you were so upset about your father and I—“

He cut me off. “You what?”

I narrowed my gaze at him. “I didn’t want to add to your burden!” My breaths quickened.

“Have you spoken to him?”

“Who?” I asked, incredulously.

“Connor.”

He couldn’t be serious. My mouth popped open, completely taken aback by his question. “Are you seriously asking me if I’ve spoken to Connor?”

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