“I was fired from Henry, Wellsley, & Ford. I know you already know that, but the reason I got fired wasn’t because of anything I did.” I glance down at my lap, taking a fortifying breath before continuing. “I was fired because I refused to sleep with one of the partners’ sons.”
Gage squeezes my leg lightly, telling me he’s here and listening. It contrasts the tension I see coursing through the rest of his body and the anger I see flaring in his eyes. But I’m not afraid of it. I know it’s not aimed at me, but at Brian.
“Paul Wellsley and my father went to college together. They were roommates their first year and ended up pledging the same fraternity. They’ve been best friends ever since. And luckily for them, Paul’s wife and my mom get along famously.” My voice takes on a mocking tone. It’s a defense mechanism, trying to cover the tears I feel building.
I take a minute, my head tipping down to study my hands in my lap. “I guess somewhere along the way, they decided their son, Brian, and I would make the perfect pair. As if living in the Elizabethan era or something, my parents arranged my marriage to Brian.”
“What?” It comes out as more of a breath than a word, and I get it—the disbelief.
“Yeah.” I nod absently, still looking at my lap. “I don’t know why they didn’t tell me or why they waited so long to actually follow through on it. But I guess Brian got tired of waiting.” I lift my eyes to look at Gage. “His parents told him about the arrangement as soon as it was decided, and being eight years older than me, he felt it was high time we were married so he could begin working on getting his heir to the Wellsley empire.” That mocking tone is back, but this time I can’t stop the tears from welling in my eyes. They don’t fall, but I feel them there.
Gage doesn’t move, though I see the anger flare again.
“Brian has been working for the firm since before he graduated from law school, but he’s a criminal defense lawyer, and I worked in family law. Our paths rarely crossed while at work. And personally, while he might have attended the same events I did, we always stuck to our own crowd. When I say Brian and I rarely talked, I mean it.”
“Ava, you don’t have to defend yourself to me,” he says gently.
“I know, but looking back on it, I should have known something was off.” I lift a hand and wipe desperately at my right cheek where a tear slips free.
Gage reaches forward, wiping softly at my cheek. It’s with such care that it almost takes my breath away. He takes hold of both my hands, holding them gently. “You can’t judge yourself for actions made based on the information you have now. There’s a reason they say hindsight is twenty-twenty. Nothing that happened was your fault, regardless of what you know now.”
“He asked to see me in his office one evening. I didn’t really think anything of it, so I went. It was late, but that was normal. I wasn’t even in his office five minutes before he tried to force himself on me.”
His hands squeeze mine, only for a moment, as if he didn’t have control for a second.
“I fought him the best I could.” Another tear slips free, and he wipes that one away, too. “I got lucky. His assistant came in before he could do more than tear my blouse. I didn’t even wait for either of them to say anything before I got the hell out of there.”
A few more tears spill, and Gage’s fingers remain there to catch every one. I give myself a second this time before I continue speaking. When I do, my voice is a little steadier—calmer.
“I went to my parents’ place instead of going home. I don’t really know why. I’ve never considered my parents as all that caring, but I thought they would support me. Or at least bring me some level of comfort, but they didn’t believe me.” I shrug, trying to make myself believe it doesn’t matter more than trying to convince Gage of that fact. “Brian called his parents as soonas I left his office, and his parents called mine before I got there. They spun some story about how I came onto him and was embarrassed that his assistant walked in on us.” I nod, a rueful smile taking shape. “That’s when they told me about the arranged marriage. They informed me that the announcement would be made in the paper after the new year, with the wedding happening in July.”
Gage’s head falls, his grip on my hands tightening a bit. He takes a deep breath, holding it for a second before releasing it. When he lifts his eyes back to mine, I continue.
“I left and went back to Boston, carrying on like nothing happened. Except I made sure I went nowhere near Brian and didn’t talk to my parents. Two weeks later I was fired. Declan called about Nicole suing for custody the following evening, and I got on the next flight out.” I shrug. “You know the rest.”
Gage lifts one hand, pushing the sweater back to expose my bruise. “That’s not all of it,” he says quietly.
“No, I guess it isn’t.” I look back down at my lap, not sure I want to see his face for this next part. “About two weeks ago, Brian called me.” I feel the tension in the air rise. Gage knows exactly what day I’m talking about. “He told me I had a week to come home and begin planning the wedding. He made it very clear the longer I took to return, the worse it would be for me.”
“Ava.” It’s hurt I hear in his voice now, and I hate that I’ve caused it.
My grip on his hand tightens this time. “I’ve never lied to you.” I lift my eyes to his, wanting to make sure he hears me. “I told you there were other factors, and there were, but all Brian’s call did was push me to remember that I don’t cower to anyone. I go after what I want, and that’s exactly what I did that night.”
“Ava—”
“No, Gage.” I take his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. “That night was about me taking control of my life and forgetting about everyone and everything else.”
His eyes bounce between mine, searching for something. I know he’ll find it because I’m not lying to him. Brian might have triggered something in me that night, but Gage didn’t take advantage of me. I wanted everything that happened between us.
“Okay,” he whispers, gently bringing his hands to my wrists and moving them back to my lap. “Tell me the rest.”
“When my dad called a week later, he swore the arrangement was off with the Wellsleys and that he talked to my mother about how she’d been speaking to me since everything first happened with Brian. He swore I wouldn’t have to see or speak about the Wellsleys or the arrangement again. He just wanted me to come home and for us to have a nice Christmas together.” I take a deep breath, feeling the tears building again.
“I figured I needed to pack my apartments anyway, so what was the harm? I could pack and tell my parents about my move in one fell swoop.” I shrug.
“Everything was going fine. I landed in Boston on Sunday and spent all day Monday and most of the day yesterday packing what I wanted and organizing the rest for donation later in the week. When I got to my parents, they were already in their rooms getting ready for the party, so I headed to mine and did the same.” My head falls, and I study our clasped hands in my lap.
“I was a little late coming down the stairs, but Dad greeted me and we joined Mom to greet guests as they arrived.” I shake my head slightly. “About thirty minutes later, Brian’s parents showed up with Brian in tow.”
