Kennedy leveled me with a stare. “Call.”
I sighed and tapped the other number I had programmed in my phone for Mason. His secretary picked up on the second ring. “Mason Decker’s office.”
“Hi. It’s, um, Anna. I was wondering if Mason was in?”
“Hello, Anna. He’s in a meeting right now and asked not to be disturbed. Can I have him call you back, or is it an emergency?”
“No. No emergency. I left a message on his cell, so you don’t even need to tell him I called. Thank you.” I hung up before she could say anything else. It was silly. Logically, I knew that, but I still felt so incredibly alone in that moment. I’d reached out, and he wasn’t there. Just another reminder of why letting myself fall was the stupidest choice of all.
And I had promised myself I’d never be that dumb again.
29
Mason
“Earth to Juliette.”
She looked up from her phone, blushing. “Sorry. Grades posted for an exam from my summer classes.”
“How’d it go?”
She looked down at the screen again and shoved it into her bag. “Fine.”
“Which means not as well as you wanted it to.”
Juliette gave me a sheepish grin. “You know me. If I’m not at the top of my class, I’m not happy.”
Understatement of the century. Jules brought perfectionism to a whole new level. I’d never forget her fourth-grade hysterics over getting a B on a spelling quiz. “Maybe it’s time to cut yourself a little slack.”
My cell phone rang, and I moved to answer, but Juliette cut me off. “Can’t we just have some time? You and me, without distractions?”
Anna’s name flashed on my screen, and I itched to answer it, just to make sure everything was okay. But I knew she was safe. Locked behind the Fort Knox of Cain’s security system. If it were truly urgent, she’d call back. “Okay. Where do you want to go to lunch?”
She grinned. “How about that cute little café we went to the last time we were here?”
“Sounds good to me. But before we go, we should talk.” I didn’t want to get into a public space and have Jules create a scene when I brought up Anna.
She made a face. “Conversations that start like that never go well.”
“I’m hoping this one will.”
Juliette sat up straighter in her chair. “Oh, God. She’s not pregnant, is she? Please tell me you’re at least wrapping it up.”
I stared at my sister, trying to figure out where this hatred and ugliness had come from. I’d seen her get vicious before when someone had truly wronged one of us. I’d seen it directed at the aunt and uncle who were supposed to care for us. At the first boy who had broken her heart. At the father Juliette had never known. But at the time, all of that anger had seemed justified.
Now, I wondered if I’d missed bigger signs. Her view of the world had always been black and white. People were either for us or against us. And if they weren’t on our side, she wrote them off. But I’d never seen this kind of anger directed at someone who hadn’t done anything to Jules.
“She is, isn’t she?” Juliette stood and began to pace. “Hell. You’re going to have to pay a ridiculous amount of child support and alimony now. But I know a P.I. we can put on it. I’m sure he’ll be able to find plenty of dirt on her. You’ll be able to get sole custody—”
“Juliette.” I kept my voice calm, even though it was the last thing I felt. “Anna isn’t pregnant, and I’m not divorcing her.” I hoped we’d never have to bring up the subject of ending our marriage. I wasn’t sure I could walk away anymore. Because as much as I’d been transfixed by Anna from afar—her strength and beauty and compassion—seeing it all up close, experiencing it firsthand…I was a goner.
Juliette’s cheeks reddened. “Has she hypnotized you or something? How can you not see everything about her is an act?” She pulled her bag off of her shoulder, setting it on my desk and riffling through it.
“You haven’t given her a chance, Jules. And I think you need to look closely at why that’s the case. I know that I’ve always made you the number-one priority in my life. But at some point, I was going to meet someone, get married, have a family. There’s room in my life for all of you.”
Her eyes filled. “You would put her before me? I’ve always had your back. ‘You and me against the world.’ That’s what you always said. So, what? Now that’s just done?”
Ihadsaid that. Time and again, when struggling to keep my head above water, running on only a couple of hours of sleep, and trying to make sure Jules had everything she needed. “I always want us to be on the same team. But my team has Anna, Justin, and Lyla on it now, too.”
