Page 43 of If You Give a Billionaire a Bride

“I would have, but I figured Everly wouldn’t want me to make a scene, so I took a different route with better results.”

I explain how I bribed the hotel security manager to send me the surveillance footage—which I sent to Van, a friend who works on the IT team at Stafford Holdings headquarters. He tracked down the man who harassed Everly. It turns out Larry Hansen is a mid-level manager at an accounting firm in Atlanta. Or should I say he was? My family’s network is pretty damn impressive if I do say so myself.

“And what, that gives you an excuse to take advantage of Everly?” Theo spits his question.

“I would never hurt her, and you damn well know that,” I state. “I took her to a piano bar to catch up and reminisce aboutthe good ole days.” I rake my hand through my hair. “Remember the night of senior prom when Everly and I hung out alone?”

“Yeah,” he says with apprehension.

“She was upset about her breakup with Jacob, and I wanted to comfort her however I could. We made a marriage pact on a Willow Creek Café napkin and agreed that if we were both single in our thirties, we’d marry each other.” I realize how silly it sounds when I say it out loud. “After one too many drinks, it came up and one thing led to another…” I trail off, reluctant to say the rest.

“Spit it out,” Theo demands, frustrated at how long it’s taking me to get the point.

I might deserve his anger, but if Everly were here, I doubt this conversation would be spiraling out of control.

“We got married at a chapel on the Strip.”

“So the announcement in theGazettewas real?” Theo’s voice is deadly, his dark eyes narrowing into slits.

“Yeah, Everly and I got hitched.”

Before I can process what’s happening, he grabs me by the collar and slams me against the nearest wall.

“You son of a bitch,” he snarls in my face. “How the fuck could you do this to Everly? She’s not a disposable plaything for you to use and discard. Don’t you think she’s been through enough after what Landon did to her?”

“Why does that name sound familiar?”

“He was Everly’s douchebag fiancé.” Theo’s voice drips with disdain.

Everly was engaged?

Now that I think about it, I recall him mentioning Everly’s snooty boyfriend a few years ago, but he left out the part about them taking their relationship to the next level.

“What did he do to her?”

Now that Theo has had some time to release his anger, I push his hand off me and step to the side, putting some space between us.

“She caught him banging his assistant at his apartment when she stopped by unannounced. Now it makes sense why he didn’t want to live with her until after the wedding. He was using his place to hook up with other women,” Theo says.

Everly’s distrusting behavior makes so much more sense now. The barriers she has in place are to protect herself from getting hurt, because the person she should have been able to trust above anyone else betrayed her. I can’t imagine what she went through in the aftermath and the strength it took to build herself back up.

No wonder she’s been so wary of me. She assumed I was a playboy who toys with women’s hearts, just like her lowlife ex-fiancé.

“Damn, I wish I knew sooner,” I say.

In the past, Theo and I didn’t talk much about Everly, but now I wish we had.

“She asked me not to tell anyone, and didn’t want to be pitied.”

That tracks, but it must make for a lonely existence without a support system she can confide in.

“I have something to say, and you’re going to let me finish before you try slamming me against the wall again. Got it?” I raise a brow, waiting for Theo to respond.

“Fine, but make it quick,” he snaps.

He’s never been one for patience.

“My crush on Everly started in the tenth grade. Hell, you threw me up against a set of lockers just for looking at her the wrong way, so your reaction now doesn’t surprise me.” I massage my sore shoulder. “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either of you.” I hold his gaze and say withconviction, “Everly and I are both adults, and I’m not forcing her to stay married to me. So you can either get on board or explain to her why her brother isn’t willing to support her decision. After everything she’s been through, the least you can do is trust her judgment.”

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