Page 86 of Fake Dark Vows
I twist the diamond ring around her finger and make a mental note to get it made smaller. “Whatever he told you, the wager was his idea. I know I should’ve shut it down before it went anywhere,” I add when she opens her mouth to speak, “and that’s my bad. But I honestly didn’t believe that he stood a chance.”
“Of cracking me?” She shakes her head. “Damon’s words.”
I rub my hand across the stubble on my chin and picture myself with my face buried between her legs. “Honestly, I knew that you were too good for him. I knew you’d be horrified that he would even try with Kelly and the kids there.”
She sucks in a deep breath and looks at me. “Has he always cheated on her? Or were they happy to begin with?”
I down my mimosa and refill my coffee cup with the steaming black liquid. I’ve not had enough caffeine yet to soak up the brandy. “I don’t know. I … avoid them whenever possible.”
She’s quiet, and I remind myself that this is what I wanted, the chance to tell my side of the story. This isn’t about Damon and Kelly.
“Why did you agree to it then?”
“I guess because there’s always a part of me that doesn’t want to appear weak, especially where my brother is concerned.”
“Why? What has he done to make you feel this way?”
I shake my head. “It isn’t so much what Damon has done.”
“Who then?” Her eyes are boring into me like she can see right inside my skull to the thoughts scrambling backwards to resume their hiding place.
She picks up her coffee cup, instinctively tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and I notice the faint bruises around her neck.
“Did I do that?” I slosh coffee over my fingers in my haste to set it back down on the table.
“What?” She follows my gaze to her neck and quickly tugs her hair back over her shoulder to cover the marks. “No. It’s nothing.”
“The other night. I was drunk. Did I… Did I hurt you, Rose?”
We were both drunk. She wanted it as badly as I did. It didn’t occur to me until now that I might’ve pushed things too far. My breakfast starts churning inside my gut.
“No, Brandon.” But she doesn’t look at me, and that’s all I need to know.
I drop onto my knees beside her seat, and take her hand in mine, the diamond hard and cold to touch. “I’m so sorry, Rose. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“I…” She shakes her head and tries to withdraw her hand, but I don’t let go.
“Please believe me, Rose. I would never willingly hurt you. If I did that during sex… Well, I promise it won’t happen again.”
She swallows hard. When she speaks, her voice is tiny, a fragile thing that I could snap between my hands with zero effort, and the responsibility weighs heavy on my shoulders.
“You didn’t do anything that I didn’t want you to do, Brandon.”
Even so, she trusted me enough to agree to this crazy situation, and I’ve let her down, massively. “Do you want to go back to New York?”
“What?” she blinks back tears and peers at the people lounging by the pools below. “No. I… We’re on our honeymoon, remember?” She attempts a smile.
“Somewhere else then? Get away from here, start afresh.”
“Brandon, I don’t need to get away from here. I-I just want to be with you. It doesn’t matter where we are.”
I raise her hand to my lips and kiss it, just like in the old movies my mom used to watch from an era when guys were gentlemen who took their dates to dance halls, and gossip was little more than the neighbor who forgot to sweep her porch. “Whatever you want, Rose. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
Her face is glowing again, alive, happy, and I realize that this is the Rose I want to see more of. “No more wagers then, Brandon. No more secrets.”
I rise and go back to my seat, finishing my coffee and peering down at the perfect blue pools below. “Pool loungers today?”
“Yep. Casino tonight? We’re in Vegas, and I haven’t even seen a roulette table.”