An Unlikely Deal(62)

"Darcy," Ava says quietly, shooting a quick uncertain glance in my direction.

I nudge her leg under the table to let her know I can handle this. "That's true."

"Is it also true that your family is quite … wild?"

Wild doesn't begin to describe some of my siblings, but if she has something to say, she can just say it. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Your brother Elliot-your twin, actually-has a certain reputation. I looked him up. Sex tapes, marrying a stripper, and I'm sure that's not all."

"Darcy!"

"Your mother has the right to know," Darcy says blithely.

Ray gives me a sympathetic look. "Darcy's mom was worse with me."

Ava slumps in her seat, and I reach over and pat her hand.

Darcy continues, "Then there's Ryder Reed, the actor brother, who of course has his own playboy reputation."

"So are you saying that I'm like two of my brothers?"

"I didn't say anything of the sort. I'm just pointing out some of the things I found out about you."

"Actually," I say pleasantly, "you haven't found anything about me. You've discovered something about two of my siblings. And you've conveniently left out my oldest half-brother, who has never had a scandal attached to his name, and my half-sister, who does quite a lot of work in charities and other social programs."

Darcy assesses me. Very deliberately, I push my hair out of my face so she can see the scar. The sight of my imperfection elicits a gasp.




 

 

I give her a cool smile. "Anything else you'd like to know? My dating history? My blood type, maybe?"

"Actually, yes," Darcy says, refusing to be cowed. "Faye Belbin."

Jesus. Did Ava tell them about her too? "She's an old friend and a business partner."

"That … isn't how it looked. We saw photos," Ray interjects.

"She came with me to a few social functions I couldn't really attend alone. I didn't think Ava would want to take time off from school to go to those things, most of which are mindlessly dull. Now I see that I should've asked."

Ava stands up. "Does anybody want more food?"

Darcy and Ray shake their heads.

"Then we should clean up," Ava suggests-rather more forcefully than necessary-to Darcy. "Ray cooked."

Darcy shoots a long look my way before nodding. She gets up to join Ava, but says, "Lucas, you're a guest, so please sit and … perhaps enjoy some coffee if you'd like?"

Ava shakes her head subtly, while glancing meaningfully in Ray's direction.

I hide a smile. "If you wouldn't mind."

Sighing, Ava takes the pitcher and pours me a fresh cup. "Tried to warn you," she murmurs before turning away.

She and Darcy take stacks of empty plates and head to the kitchen. Ray studies me, his expression bemused although there's a hint of smile on his lips. But it's more of an "I'm trying to decide what I think about you" smile rather than genuine friendliness.

"Ray, I know you have something you want to say. Let's get it out of the way."

He steeples his hands and leans back in his seat. "I'm trying to decide if I can trust you with Ava a second time. You left her when she was vulnerable and needed you."

My face heats. He's not saying anything I wouldn't if our positions were reversed. But at the same time he only knows things from Ava's point of view.

Needing to convince him that I didn't ditch her, I say, "At the time, I was stuck in the hospital after a motorcycle accident. I didn't know she needed me … much less that she thought I'd abandoned her."

"If you didn't want to break up, why didn't you come see her when you were out of surgery?"

"She left a box with my nurses. It had all my stuff in it."

Ray's eyes sharpen. Obviously he didn't know this part.

"Yeah. A pair of sunglasses I'd left, a book she'd borrowed. And all the things I'd given her during our time together. What would you have thought?" I give him a little time to get the picture. "Then there are my scars. I have them on other parts of my body as well, and they're not particularly pretty. All from the accident. So I figured that maybe she didn't want a guy who was all mangled up." 

Ray nods, but his forehead is furrowed. "Okay, I get it. But in that case, why are you back now?"

"In spite of my best efforts to stay away, I happened to discover where she was, and I couldn't stop myself anymore." I lean forward, holding his gaze. "When she left, she took something from me."

Ray goes very still. "What do you mean?"

"Ava took all that was warm and good in my life. After she left, I … well, I couldn't really feel much of anything."