Page 38 of Six Nights in Paradise

He let out a low curse as he sank onto the edge of my bed, taking in the sight in front of him. I could feel how puffy my face was, my eyes nearly swollen shut from crying, my hair matted to my cheek from the tears. “What happened?”

I shouldn’t have told him. He didn’t need to find out this way. I didn’t have any right to drive a wedge between my big brother and his best friend, but I had to tell someone, and Aiden was looking at me like he was seriously considering calling a priest to give me my last rites.

So I gave my confession. I told my big brother everything.

Later that evening, I was curled up on the couch with a bowl of ice cream, watching a movie with Aiden. He’d cancelled his Saturday night plans to stay home with me. Our parents were out of town for one of Dad’s annual work conferences, so I would have been all alone if it wasn’t for him. I couldn’t have asked for a better big brother. He stood by my side when I needed him to, and I leaned on him when it all became too much.

We were on our second Will Farrell movie when the doorbell rang. I nestled deeper into the couch and pulled the blanket up to my chin. I was a mess, and there was no way I was answering the door like this.

Aiden rolled his eyes and stood. “Don’t worry. I’ll get it,” he offered sarcastically. Whoever was there grew impatient and started banging on the door. “All right, all right. I’m coming,” Aiden warned the person on the other side. “Son of a bitch,” he bit out, glancing through the peephole. He flung open the door and immediately took a step forward. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I stiffened. Who was he talking to? Surely it wasn’t-

“Is she here?” That was Dalton’s voice. He sounded desperate.

“Iswhohere,pal?” Aiden said, his voice tinged with a sneer. There was a moment of silence before Dalton spoke again.

“I need to talk to Taylor. It’s important.”

“Anything you need to say to her, you can say to me. Or are we keeping secrets from each other now?”Shit. This was about to get ugly.

“It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not what I think?” Aiden parroted, his volume increasing. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He was seething and I feared for Dalton’s safety, but I didn’t dare move. “I sent my sister on that trip with you, hoping you two couldfinallyhave a chance with each other-”Wait, what?“and what did you do? You fucked her for days and led her on, making her believe you guys had something special, just to come home and go running back into Gianna’s cheating arms.”

What was happening? Did my brother just admit to throwing us together on purpose? He knew this whole time? My head was spinning so fast, I almost missed Dalton’s reply.

“That’s not true. It’s more complicated than that.”

“I don’t care how complicated it is! I just had to watch my baby sister fall completely apart because my best friend tore her heart out and stomped all over it.”

His words made my chest ache all over again. I pulled the blanket up to my mouth to muffle my sobs. I didn’t know how much more I could take.

“She’s pregnant, Aiden.” Dalton raised his voice, clearly over the need to defend himself. “Gianna is having my child. I can’t just abandon her.”

Aiden was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “How do you know it’s yours?”

“What?” Dalton asked, sounding surprised. I hadn’t thought of that either, but it was a valid question.

“Dude, she was fucking somebody else while you two were engaged.”

“She’s too far along. I saw the ultrasound picture. She’s almost ten weeks. She didn’t even know Antonio then!”

“You’re an idiot.” Aiden sighed and I chanced a glance over my shoulder. I could see him standing at the open door but couldn’t see outside. I hoped Dalton didn’t come into the house, because he would surely see me if he did. “She could be lying to you. She called off your wedding for this guy. You think she hasn’t known him longer than two and a half months?”

Dalton didn’t respond. He was either mulling over the possibility or getting ready to throw a punch at Aiden for basically calling the mother of his child a slut.

“Why would she lie about it if it could be his? She broke up with him because she’s havingmybaby.”

“Why would she lie to you?” Aiden repeated incredulously. “Because you’re safe. You have a good job, money, a home. Are you so dense that you can’t see that?”

“Gianna has her own money. She doesn’t need mine,” Aiden countered.

“She has herparents’money. There’s a big difference.”

“What does it matter? It’s still not a good enough reason to lie.”

“Mark my words, James. There’s something fishy about this and you’re going to end up getting fucked over.”

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