Page 74 of Celebrity

“Fine. You want to know why I stayed. I stayed because…” I paused as the door to the library was pushed open.

“I’d like an answer to that question as well.”

“Dev,” I whispered.

He peered at me and repeated his previous statement. “Finish what you were going to say to Veer. I’d like the answer to his question, as well.”

I looked between Veer and Devin, my heart beating out of my chest.

Veer walked up to me and kissed my cheek. “Tell him, little sis. He deserves to know. Maybe it will help you admit it to yourself too. And then you can truly start fresh as a couple.”

Veer turned, walking past Devin and shutting the door behind him.

We remained quiet for a few seconds, gazing at each other before I walked onto the balcony.

I stared toward the river and rubbed my arms as a chill shot through me even though it was at least a hundred Fahrenheit.

This was a conversation that was years in the making, one we’d touched on here and there but never addressed.

Devin approached me, leaning against the balcony railing next to me.

“If not for love, tell me why you stayed.” Pain laced his words. The truth was going to hurt him as much as it hurt me to admit it.

“Because…because I refused to let my father win. I wasn’t going to fail at my marriage as he predicted. He told me we’d never last. He said you didn’t understand me or what my dreams were. That you couldn’t care less about our culture and would push me to turn my back on it, instead of trying to become part of it. He insisted you only cared about your career and your family’s reputation. He predicted our love wouldn’t survive your ambition or mine.” I turned toward him. “I loved you so much, but I’d never have allowed the way things went with us if I wasn’t determined to prove him wrong. I tolerated a marriage like my parents’, all because I was never going to let Papa see that he was, in fact, right.”

He stepped toward me, grasping my upper arms with both of his hands. “But he’s not right. Don’t let his words change the road we’re trying to mend. We can fix this. I won’t ever take you for granted again.”

Why was he so calm? I’d just told him I stayed in our marriage because of Papa and not him.

“Why aren’t you angry about what I’ve just admitted?”

“I already knew why you held on for so long.” He released me and then ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’ve known since we started having problems.”

I remembered the first time I realized our marriage was in trouble. Devin had been angry with me that morning two years ago. I’d taken on a new client who happened to be the wife of a major critic of his father’s. He’d left my condo after a heated argument about loyalties and then returned, threw a stack of papers on the coffee table, and said he was now officially a nominee for federal magistrate judge.

I hadn’t spoken to him for over a month. We lived in the same condo, neither acknowledging the other’s presence. The only way we ever expressed ourselves was in bed every night through angry sex, filled with pain, need.

It was a repeated cycle we visited every time things became complicated.

“That was years ago.”

“You should have left me then. Hell, you should have left me before that. But you stayed. You put up with my crap, no matter how much it hurt.”

“Like when you took that bitch Veronica to all your family events or Judge McGregor to the charity event.”

“Yes.” He hung his head. “I was such a bastard. It won’t ever happen again. It should have been you by my side from the beginning.”

“There’s so much hurt between us. Is it possible to move past it? Is a fresh start going to work or are we kidding ourselves?” Tears streamed down my face as I peered up at him. “I won’t be the woman who let you turn her into a secret anymore. As I told you in Seattle, I’d rather live without you and have a broken heart than with you and be less than who I am.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work. We made a vow on that beach. To love, honor, and cherish each other through thick or thin. Don’t give up on us. I won’t ever let you down.”

“Our lives are going to become insane. I’m going to fight Sanders and Decker. It’s going to get dirty. After what happened tonight with Papa, I have to do this for all those who’ve encountered someone who used their power to hurt them.” I closed my eyes, letting my tears fall. “So please don’t make promises if you can’t keep them.”

“You’re more important to me than anything. When the time comes, I’ll take an indefinite leave of absence and be by your side every step of the way.”

I couldn’t believe what he said. He was going to put his career aside for me. He loved his position. It was all he’d ever wanted. I knew what he’d told his father, but I hadn’t thought he’d stop working.

“That’s not something I’d ask of you.”

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