Page 33 of Deal with Mr. Cruel

As much as she enjoyed being at Jonas’s condo, which was surprising to her, she still loved having this place to come to. It was a little escape for her. An escape from seeing Jonas fresh out of the shower. An escape from smelling the sweetness of his cologne. An escape from him looking at her like he really wanted her.

Each day she had a harder and harder time pushing down her feelings. She was afraid she was going to burst and do something erratic. Like tell him how she felt, or grab him and kiss him. She shook her head. Why did she ever agree to this?

Her phone vibrated on the table. Nico. Again. She sighed. She had been avoiding him. It was becoming difficult to be around her brother when she was keeping this from him. She had never kept anything from him. The secret was getting harder to carry. She didn’t know what would be worse, though. Keeping her marriage to Jonas under wraps, or seeing the look on her brother’s face when he found out she was married to the one man he hated.

Maybe he would come around to Jonas. He did seem different. He had kept his promise of coming home on time, even though he did seem a little stressed last night. Mae tried to pry gently, but he just brushed off her questions. He had a meeting with Nate Brockton. Maybe it hadn’t gone well.

As the evening went on, he eventually loosened up. They had ordered their favorite pizza and sat out on the patio, watching the sunset. She had felt so comfortable. So happy. It was hard not to get wrapped up in their charade. Was it even really a charade when no one was watching?

“I thought I’d find you here,” she heard Nico’s voice call out from behind her.

She spun around on her stool and looked at him, surprised. “Nico! What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you.” He took the seat next to her.

“Okay?” She never saw her brother this serious.

“I know, Mae. I know everything.”

She felt an unease in the pit of her stomach. She looked at him questioningly.

“When were you going to tell me youmarriedJonas?” He gave her a pointed look.

“What? How did you—” She shook her head, and covered the rings on her left hand.

“You can stop hiding the damn rings. I saw the diamond from the door of the coffee shop.”

She looked down at her lap as he grabbed her hand gently. He studied the ring for a moment.

“So, it’s true,” he said quietly.

“I was going to tell you.” She didn’t meet his gaze.

“Why? Why him?”

“Why not?”

Nico let out a mean laugh. “Let me count the ways.”

“Oh, likeyouhave the best track record,” she said defensively.

“I never actually went through with any of them. I didn’tmarrythem.”

“And that makes you any better? You never follow through with anything. At least I took a chance.”

“On the worst guy ever.”

“He’s not like that.” Mae shook her head.

“What? He’s not a power-hungry asshole?”

“You don’t know him.”

“Then enlighten me.”

“I don’t need to explain anything to you.”

“You’re making a mistake, Mae. Well, actually you’ve already made it.”

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