Page 144 of Dangerous Men
“Did you get lost?” Alec’s amused voice startles me.
I turn, catching the flicker of surprise when he sees the ring in my hand.
“Sorry,” I laugh, though it comes out hollow. “I was looking for socks, and found some photos and I?—”
There’s something strange in his expression as he watches me. His face goes blank. Guarded.
I set the ring back in the drawer, my gaze lingering on the names.Mason Alexander Sterling and Annika Basso.
“I didn’t realize you were married before,” I say looking back at the woman in the Polaroid. I give the photo a soft smile. “She’s beautiful.”
Alec doesn’t say anything.
“When did you divorce?” I ask.
It takes him so long to answer I almost repeat the question.
“We didn’t,” he says.
There’s a sharp note of pain in his voice when he says it, and for a moment, my heart breaks for him. He’s so young to be a widower. I look up to offer my condolences and stop.
Yes, there’s pain in Alec’s face, but there’s so much more there.
Fear.
The truth hits me like a punch to the gut.
“You’re still married,” I whisper.
The room tilts. My hand clenches without me realizing, crushing the photo in my fist.
All at once, the pieces come together in my mind, and I realize just how stupid I’ve been.
Of course he’s married. How did I not see it before? The hotel rooms. The secrecy. Dining together away from thepublic, away from prying eyes. This is why I’ve never seen his home, isn’t it? The one he shares with all his brothers?
I’m not Alec’s girlfriend at all.
I’m his mistress.
“Tell me I’m wrong.” My voice is weak and fragile as glass. “Tell me I’m wrong, Alec.”
He flinches.
“It’s complicated,” he says.
Rage. Hot, blinding rage fills me.
“It’s notcomplicated!” I shout at him. “Tell me! Are you married?”
There’s a long beat of silence before he answers.
“Yes.”
He says more, trying to explain, trying to justify it, but I can’t hear him. There’s a ringing in my ears, and my breaths are too loud. My pulse is thundering in my skull.
I drop the photograph and shove past him, out of the closet.
“Sydney, you don't understand,” Alec swears, reaching for me. “It’s not what you think. Wait, I?—”
