Page 87 of Fragile Heart

Brielle freezes in my arms, her body going stiff between one second and the next. I frown and pull away until my gaze is locked with hers.

“Why would you need to get tested after your husband died?” I ask.

A shadow crosses her face, stealing the gleam in her eyes along with her seemingly good mood. She pulls away from my touch, crossing her arms over her stomach and turning to the dresser nestled on the wall between the bathroom and the closet.

“Can I have a shirt?” she asks, her voice that odd, cautious tone that she used when she first moved back here. “I don’t really want to put on the jeans I wore last night yet.”

Narrowing my eyes, I slip around her and open the middle drawer, handing her one of my rarely worn graphic tees. It hits her mid-thigh, and the sleeves hang nearly to her elbows. Fuck, she’s so damn tiny. She blows out a breath and combs her fingers through her hair, a clear nervous gesture.

She avoids my gaze as she says, “Caleb didn’t tell you? I thought maybe he would after you asked about it at the lake.”

My answer comes through clenched teeth. “Tell. Me. What?”

She shivers but doesn’t say anything else. Unease races through me, weighing on my sternum like a damn brick.

“Brielle, what am I missing?” I intentionally soften my voice, swallowing back the frustration.What had Caleb not told me?

She glances over her shoulder, like she’s about to bolt from the room. I ease my weight onto the balls of my feet, intent on grabbing her and forcing whatever is causing her this much distress out in the open between us. She focuses on me and crosses her arms. The move makes her tits push against the shirt, and my eyes skate over them before going back to her face. She raises an eyebrow but doesn’t quite manage to hide her smirk. Or her blush.

“Why would anyone need to test if they thought they were in a monogamous relationship, Ethan?” she asks after a moment, barely loud enough to be a whisper.

That unease crashes through me until it sits in my stomach, making me nauseous.

He cheated on her?

“You’re joking,” I say, my voice full of dread and shock.

She shakes her head, tears lining her lashes. She blinks them away before they fall.

Goddamn Beta asshole. That’s certainly the type of lying that would ruin your life.

Rage simmers under my skin.

“Disgusting,” I seethe.

She laughs, but it’s hollow. “Yeah, well, that’s not how most people saw it. Not in that tax bracket, at least.”

I run my hand through my hair and down my neck as that rage grows hotter.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

She shrugs. “You reach a certain net worth, and suddenly everyone is understanding of a husband who wanders. Because in those circles, you don’t marry for anything other than securing more power and wealth. If you enter those circles with a wife? All bets on fidelity are off.”

Her voice turns brittle the more she talks, less of the girl I loved visible, buried under this angry, resentful woman.

“Your wife is your eye candy to show the world you have a fantastic home life with your two children. Even better if she’s an Omega you convinced to go on suppressors for ‘her own good.’” Her words grow angrier as she uses her fingers to make air quotes around the words. “You’re seen as powerful and important. But the woman you’re actually fucking and starting a family with is your business partner’s assistant.”

The growl rips up my throat and through the room as I realize what she’s doing, what she’s explaining without actually admitting to it.

“What a goddamn piece of shit,” I mutter.

Fuck, I wish he were still alive just so I could punch him like I did Jake last night.

She tilts her head, the most vulnerable look I’ve seen from her since she moved back flitting across her face, before she turns toward the pile her clothes ended up in. Her hands tremble as she starts picking them up.

I take a step toward her.

“Brielle,” I say. “You didn’t deserve that. Fuck, no one deserves to be treated like that.”

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