Page 62 of Forbidden Bond

I try and fail to muster surprise. Tessa never married Kyle for love. She did it to appease Dad. Because at that time, all he wanted was an alliance with one of the most powerful families in New York. It was nothing more than a business transaction. Still, my heart shatters for my sister. It must kill her, those two years she spent shackled in a marriage she didn’t want. My arms wrap around her.

“I’m sorry, Tessa. I’m so sorry.”

She sniffs. “It’s alright. I walked into this knowing that would be the eventual end. It hurts less when you know.”

“Why did you do it if you knew?”

“Because I was stupid. Spineless. Because I would have done anything to make Dad happy. Because I wanted to protect you.” I flinch at that. “I thought if I did anything he asked, he’d be less inclined to make your life harder.”

My hands shake. “That’s not right, Tessa. We shouldn’t have to sacrifice our happiness for him.”

“We’re not,” she says defensively. Try as we might, the truth is we’re both Daddy’s girls at heart. Deep down, we both know he’s trying his best. He did everything to protect us. We would never turn our backs on him. “I didn’t sacrifice my happiness. Kyle was a perfect gentleman. He made me smile, and a part of me actually did love him. Being with him was easy.”

“Love is so complicated sometimes,” I tell her.

Tessa laughs. “How would you know, Katie? You’ve never been in love.”

I look away and sigh. “Maybe I haven’t. But you have, and we both know it isn’t with Kyle.”

“No,” she agrees, biting her bottom lip. “I started liking Jameson about three years ago. He took me to this party and I got really plastered, so he stayed with me throughout the night and even protected me from some assholes. I always knew he had a silly crush on me, but it was the first time I saw him as more than my little sister’s best friend. After that, we started hanging out more. He would seek me out on campus, bring me flowers and gifts and other stuff.”

“Wow. I must have been really stuck in my own world, because I had no idea.”

“We were sneaky about it,” Tessa says on a laugh. “Plus, we weren’t dating. I thought he was too young. Three years doesn’t seem like that much now, but when he was nineteen and I was twenty-two, it felt like a lot. He asked me out and I said no. I guess I was scared. Then I graduated and we didn’t see each other for months. Until you invited him on that trip to Canada.”

“When you got stuck together,” I murmur.

“Yeah, and we had sex. It was amazing. But I felt awful after. Jameson noticed. He told me that if I was too much of a coward to face my own feelings then I probably didn’t deserve him.”

“Ouch, that’s cold. But typical.”

“Then his mom died and he just withdrew. I couldn’t get through to him at all. Which is when Kyle came in. Dad actively pushed me toward him. Kyle seemed really into me and Dad’s approval made me feel even better about it. I went along with it because it felt like the right path.”

“You broke Jamie’s heart,” I say sadly. “And yours as well.”

“I spent the past two years pretending it didn’t matter. I thought I could ignore everything I felt. But it’s hard to ignore how you really feel. Scratch that—it’s impossible. Eventually, everything will build up until you can’t ignore it anymore.”

“So you’re ending it with Kyle?”

She nods. “We’ll sign the divorce papers before Mom and I go to Paris. I’ll tell Dad when we get back.”

That makes me smile. “Sounds like a great plan. That way he won’t try to stop you.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I told you all that so you’d stop thinking I’m so perfect. I make mistakes too, Katie.”

Probably, but my mistakes are much bigger than hers. She couldn’t bring herself to tell our dad about Jameson and Dad loves Jameson like a son. If he found out about Topher, he’d never be able to handle it. And what makes that knowledge worse is that my sister might not be able to handle it either.

A part of me knows that if it ever came down to it, she’d side with me. With what she’s told me today, I know that at the very least, she’d understand where I’m coming from.

I head over to Topher’s place after I leave, and he arrives about thirty minutes later. He doesn’t notice me standing outside his door at first. His mind is clearly elsewhere and there’s a pained look on his face. When he notices me, the expression vanishes and he smiles.

“Hey. I feel like I should just give you a key at this point, so you can let yourself in if you come around.”

I nod. “That would be nice. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” he replies, eyes light and playful. “What’s up?”

He’s great at shoving down his emotions.

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