Page 30 of By His Play

“What’s going on?” I ask, but deep down, I know exactly what it is.

He knows.

Somehow, he’s found out about what I’ve done.

It takes another second for him to turn my way, and the moment his eyes lock on mine, I suck in a deep breath.

He hates you.

“Kian sends his congratulations,” he says, his voice hard and flat, void of any emotions despite the warring ones I can see in his eyes.

Confusion. Anger. Disbelief.

“Kieran,” I say again in place of anything that might be more useful in this situation.

His nostrils flare and his lips press into a thin line. “That isn’t going to help, Effie. How about you explain why my brother is sending me a link to our engagement announcement instead?”

Having my suspicions confirmed makes my knees go weak, and I crash onto the chair I was previously in.

Dropping my head into my hands, I beg for it to stop spinning.

“I’m sorry,” I whimper.

“You’re sorry? It’s all over the fucking internet, Eff. Apparently, we’re having a small and intimate ceremony.”

A sob rips free.

“Look,” he barks, forcing me to lift my head and focus on the screen he’s thrust in my direction.

His cell is going crazy. Every second, a new notification pops up.

When it starts ringing with a call from Kat, the team’s publicist, he pulls it back and immediately cancels it.

“Why?” he demands. “And why didn’t you tell me?”

“I...I didn’t think…I was going to. And then you showed up and?—”

“And you had every chance to tell me what you’d done, but you decided not to?” he asks, hurt clear in his voice. “This isn’t how we work, Effie. We don’t keep fucking secrets. No matter how hard shit is, we talk.”

The tears I’ve been desperately trying to keep in finally spill over my lashes. He watches me with his brow wrinkled and hurt in his eyes.

This isn’t what I wanted. This is the last thing I wanted.

Ripping my eyes away, I look down at my right hand and pull the ring from my finger.

With Grams mostly sleeping or unaware of her surroundings, I haven’t had to put it on my ring finger. It made the lie so much easier to keep up with.

“Th-that’s an engagement ring?” Kieran balks.

After sucking in a deep breath, I lift my head and hold his eyes.

“I didn’t do any of this to hurt you. G-Grams—” I choke, struggling to force the words out. “Her dream was to see us… you know...”

He remains silent, his eyes boring into mine.

“I never should have done it. But it seemed simple enough, and the way she smiled when I told her. She was so happy. All she could talk about was how she could go happy because she knew that you’d always look after me and treat me right.

“It gave her something to focus on. We’d spend hours planning, and she’d lose herself in the excitement of it all.”

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