“No, it’s fine.” Rosalyn shook her head. “Please…go.” She sank back to the bench.
Albert grabbed the cap, fumbling to replace it as he dipped his hat and left.
Cade waited until his figure was all but out of sight before he sat back next to Rosalyn, flexing his fingers that he hadn’t realized were curled in fists. “I always wondered how famous you really were. Guess that answers my question.”
Her face was still pale, her chuckle forced. Something wasn’t right. And she didn’t even know his news. Would she clam up when he told her what he’d learned about her marriage? The pressure to have her tell him whatever this secret was first, before he risked shutting her down, fisted in his chest.
He let his arm rest behind her on the back of the bench, his fingers lightly grazing her shoulder. Providing a point of contact, something concrete. For both of them. “Rosalyn, who did you think Albert was?”
She stared at the clover growing near their feet.
“Come on, it’s me.” Nerves bunched in Cade’s stomach. “Just tell me.”
“Fine.” She swallowed, let out a half-choked laugh. “I thought he was with the Mafia.”
* * *
One day she was going to stop shocking Cade every time she opened her mouth.
To his credit, when she dropped this bomb, he didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, he went still on the bench, to the point that she stared at him until he finally blinked and she became certain he was breathing.
“Okay.” A muscle jumped in his jaw and he nodded. Didn’t laugh. Didn’t panic. Didn’t doubt her.
That was the greatest gift he could have given.
She released a sigh, her pulse still struggling to slow after the false alarm. Birds chirped, killing the silence that landed between her and Cade.
Cade’s arm pulled free from around her on the bench, and it wasn’t until that moment she realized how much that light graze on her shoulder had comforted her. He leaned forward, bracing his arms on his knees. “Is there more about that you want to tell me?”
She hesitated, and he held up one hand. “On second thought…” He angled to face her, still bent forward, chin propped on his fingers. “Let me go first. I have a confession.”
Uh-oh. Though honestly, after her last two, how bad could his be?
She crossed one leg over the other, settling in. “I’m listening.”
“Something I remembered from law school niggled at me after you told me about Blaine.” He winced, looked at the ground. Scuffed his shoe through the grass. “So I did some digging.”
Even though she’d asked him not to? Her chest tightened. “Go on.”
“I have all the proof on my computer upstairs, if you want to see the proof, but Rosalyn…” His voice trailed off, and he held her gaze. “I don’t think you’re married.”
Even the birds quieted for that one.
She waited. Afraid to hope. Annoyed he’d ignored her request, but also—what if he was right? He spoke with such confidence. “Can you explain?”
“Of course.” His shoulders relaxed, and he sat up, an easiness filling his countenance now. “First, I saw that Blaine hadn’t filed for an annulment in the US. He filed for a marriage certificate.”
“Right.” Rosalyn frowned. “He said he had to do that step before we could file for the divorce. Something to do with the international complication.”
Cade’s eyes softened. “I think he lied.”
She started to defend him, then realized Blainewouldlie. The only reason she wanted to defend Blaine was to defend herself and the bad decisions she kept making.
Cade continued. “Whatistrue is that there’s a clause on marriage certificates that reference whether the marriage was entered into under duress.”
She sucked in a breath. Duress. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
“You can file to contest the marriage. And with the origin of the marriage happening overseas,andwith the fact that you and Blaine have never co-habited, I’d imagine it wouldn’t take much to get it approved. Any decent lawyer could help with that.” Cade frowned. “If you want to have it approved, that is.”
