“I don’t know,” Hannah said. “Not accuse me of being little more than a paid escort.”

Her mother opened and closed her mouth. Hannah could hear the correction that she didn’t say—the “paid” is implied in escort, honey.

“You’ve never done an impetuous thing in your life. It’s just not in your nature. You’re a planner. So no, I don’t believe you fell in love and decided to get married in six weeks without telling anyone but Kate. And don’t even try to tell me that Kate didn’t know. Let’s just say, for today, I accept your version of events.”

It was the best she was going to get. Hannah sat down, curling her legs underneath her. Physical therapy had paid off—not that it mattered now. Telling her mom about the Will and Madison situation might help. She had years of life experience to bring to the table. But how to start? Hannah played around with several openings. Finally, noticing her mother’s growing impatience, she just threw it out there. “Will and I—we got married so fast. We’d been friends for so long... but I just found out he lied about part of his past.”

“Meaning?”

Hannah clasped her hands. “His ex-girlfriend cheated on him—I knew that. But he didn’t tell me that the ex-girlfriend is Madison, his brother’s fiancée—my soon-to-be sister-in-law.”

Her mother nodded. “So, he omitted the details.”

“Yes. And to make matters worse, Madison and I were friends. Or I thought we were. But I caught her telling Will she was still in love with him.”

Her mother put a hand on top of hers. “What did Will have to say to that?”

“He didn’t really get a chance to respond.” Hannah laughed bitterly. “Their conversation ended kind of abruptly.”

“What did he say when you talked to him about it?” her mother asked.

Hannah sighed. “I haven’t spoken to him about it.”

“At all?”

“No. I came home, got Binx, and came up here.” Hannah stared down at her hands, for once not speckled with ink. Band-Aids covered three of her fingers—stupid cardboard boxes. “I couldn’t talk to him then, and now, I don’t know what to say to him. I feel like such an idiot.”

“Sounds familiar,” her mother said with a small laugh.

Hannah met her mother’s gaze. “Like mother like daughter.”

Her mother fidgeted on the couch beside her before straightening and wrapping Hannah’s hand in her own. “In this case, I don’t think that’s a good thing.”

Hannah wiped away the tears brimming in her eyes. This was how it should’ve been—not weeks of silence. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I think...” Her mother paused, and a battle played across her face as she decided what to say. “Did you know that Dad smoked when we first met?”

“You’re kidding,” Hannah said. She wasn’t sure where this was going, but her mother wouldn’t have handed out that information lightly.

“I knew he smoked. We ran in the same circles,” she said with a shrug. “But he’d told me he quit—was quitting. And I believed him. To his credit, he never smoked around me. About a month after we got engaged, we were talking about the wedding. I joked that he was allowed the customary cigar with his brothers. He declined and said something like it hadn’t even been a year since he’d last touched a cigarette.”

Hannah did the math in her head. Her parents had dated for two years before they got engaged. “He lied about smoking for a year?”

“Yes, he did.” Her mother put a gentle hand to Hannah’s face. “Relationships are built on moments—a million moments big and small and in between. And I decided—over lots of tears and wine—that I wasn’t willing to throw all those moments away over this new information. I don’t think I would’ve left him had I found out he was still smoking, and he’d lived in a fraternity house where everyone around him smoked. I should’ve known. I did know but turned a blind eye. That’s not to say I wasn’t hurt. It was something we had to work past, but that’s what marriage is.”

“So, you think I should forgive him?”

“I think you should at the very least talk to him.” Her mother sighed. “You went in knowing he had a broken heart. That much he didn’t lie about. Would you have made a different choice if you’d known the identity of his ex?”

Hannah tried to reconfigure her acceptance of the pact with the knowledge that Madison was his ex. She would’ve had different questions, more questions. She hadn’t even asked about his ex. For all she’d known, Will’s ex was still in his life—perhaps a coworker at Wellington Thorne, a family friend that he had no choice but to still see. She hadn’t asked.

“You’ll figure it out,” her mother said, patting her shoulder. Hannah sniffled. Her mother clasped her hand between her own. “You will. Just don’t let your anger at Madison cloud your anger for Will. They are two different hurts. Make sure you remember that.”

Hannah tucked herself into her mother’s arms, her head resting on her shoulder, somehow still the perfect fit. “I’m glad you’re here, Mom.”

Chapter 42Will

For Will’s whole life, he’d been groomed to sit on the executive board and help run Wellington Thorne. Jon would always be the heir, destined to take over after Grayson stepped down, but Will would become his brother’s trusted advisor as general counsel. When that future started to seem less likely, he’d been set adrift.  Hannah had righted his world and set him back on track. She hadn’t even had to try.

But after two straight days of board meetings, Will almost wished he had been barred for life. The meetings were tedious, and it had become clear in the first five minutes that Will was not going to get a word in edgewise. Jon had barely spoken, and he’d been on the board for four years. Jon and Will might be the future of Wellington Thorne, but the table of old men running the show wasn’t about to let the younger generation set the pace. Not yet—and certainly not while the tension between Jon and Will was palpable.

It was usually Will glaring at Jon, but for the past two days, Jon had sat across from Will, a permanent scowl on his countenance. Will had wanted to ask him what the issue was. It should have been a welcome surprise to find Will here in his rightful place when Jon had spent so much time trying—and failing—to spend time with his younger brother. Will could guess at his brother’s discomfort, but Madison couldn’t have been that reckless. In telling Jon even half of the truth, she would both implicate herself and threaten the tenuous hold she had on the Thorne name.

Will walked out of the board room at the next break, stretching after hours of sitting. He felt Jon’s eyes glued to his back. Even Jonathan had noticed, giving his eldest son no less than two reproachful glares in the last hour. But Will couldn’t care less about Jon’s turmoil and why it was directed at him. Jon certainly hadn’t cared about Will’s when he’d asked him to give a speech at the wedding. If Jon expected Will’s marriage to magically absolve him of all his crimes, then his brother would need to get over whatever slight Will had unintentionally spun into motion.

“William. My office. Now.” Jon’s voice was fierce and left no room for rebuttal. Will hesitated only a moment before turning on his heels and following his brother.

Unlike Will’s enclosed space with solid walls and privacy, Jon’s office had glass spanning the front and did little to keep sound from slipping through into the larger office. This was a mistake. Will felt it deep in his bones. He sat down across from his brother, who paced behind his desk.

“What in the world is going on with you?” Will asked when his brother showed no sign of standing still.

Jon stopped midpace. His eyes bored into Will, fury rising behind them. He clenched his fists, and his voice when he spoke was ragged with anger. “You kissed my fiancée.”

Will sprung to his feet, the fight in his fight-or-flight response winning out despite Jon’s threatening stance. He clenched his hand in an imitation of his brother, his own face turning stony. Madison had finally started her war.

“Madison told me how she came to you after our fight. After she told you she was letting you go for good, you kissed her.”

“And you believed her?” Will’s voice rose at the incredulity of Jon’s statement and his staunch belief that Madison, the same woman who had cheated wholeheartedly on Will, would be telling the truth.

“It’s more than obvious that you still love her.”

Will laughed, a cruel undertone curdling the sound. “I stopped loving her the moment I saw her wrapped around your dick. I saw her for what she was then—a liar and a whore.”

He’d known his words would have an effect. He hoped it would feel like a punch to the gut and wake Jon up from his blind love of a woman who didn’t know how to love him or possibly anyone. But when Jon’s fist connected with his face, Will was caught by surprise. He put a hand to his cheek. Nothing was broken, but it was still tender. He stepped back from his brother’s rage.

“You’re such an ungrateful pissant,” Jon said, also taking a step back. “I backed you with Grayson so you could get your seat on the board. We kept your stupid secret from Hannah. Madison even became her friend, fixed her knee, put her in our fucking wedding. Madison did everything you asked even though it hurt her. She felt we owed you after everything.”

“You do owe me, you asshole.” The words spilled from Will. “You stole my life.”

“Boys!” Jonathan’s sharp voice caught both of their attention.

Will came back to reality—they were doing this at Wellington Thorne, in a glass box. They knew better. But he didn’t care anymore. “You took everything from me,” he said, his voice rising. He grabbed Jon by the lapels and pushed him back against his desk.

“William,” Jonathan hissed.

Will ignored his father. He wasn’t hiding for the sake of the company or appearances—today or ever again.