The Arrangement Anthology 2(74)

“Mine are fine. Thanks.”

Bryan glances around quickly and leans in to say something in my ear, something that he doesn’t want anyone else to hear. But when Sean comes through the door, and sees us, he practically erupts. Bryan reacts by kissing my cheek and grinning at Sean. “Your fiancé is smokin’ hot and freezing. Stop being a jackass for two seconds and take care of her, or I will.”

Sean is ready to take Bryan’s head off, but his cousin walks away laughing before anything else happens. “Sean.” When I say his name the anger melts off his face and he looks down at me. “I ruined your jacket.”

“It’s okay.” Sean runs his fingers through his hair, making water splatter on the floor. “I’m sorry, Avery.”

“Don’t tell me, tell him.” I point at Trystan, who just walked in. He’s in the process of stripping his shirt off, revealing ripped abs and a necklace with a ring hanging on it.

Trystan looks up and dabs his wet shirt to his cut. “What?”

Sean’s jaw locks tight and I think he’s going to lose it, but he doesn’t. “I shouldn’t have said that, Scott. My apologies.”

Jon is standing next to Trystan. His eyes go wide and his chin hits the floor. A second later, Jon and Trystan stare at each other. Then, Trystan smirks and holds up his hands. “If you try to hug me, I’ll have to kick your ass again.”

Sean tries not to grin. “Asshole.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

I jab Sean in the ribs. “You can’t apologize to someone and then call them names. What’s wrong with you?”

Jon swats his hand through the air and laughs. “We’ve been trying to figure that out for years. Good luck.” Jon and Trystan disappear into the office after locking the front door.

Mel brings me dry clothes, and then Sean and I sneak into the back and find a table. We close the door. I’m afraid and furious. The emotions are battling within me. Sean sits at the little black table. It’s covered in nicks and has names carved into the top. It’s been repainted with black lacquer over and over again. I don’t sit down. I press my finger to the wood and say, “Tell me why I should stay.”

Sean’s silent for a moment and then replies, “Because I love you. Because you love me.”

“And yet, you act like this. You had a business associate kidnap me. They drugged me, Sean!”

“It was the best way to protect you. I’m sorry it didn’t work and the fucker is still out there. I won’t let him near you, even if you don’t want to be together anymore.”

I’m so frustrated that I make a noise in the back of my throat and tug at my hair. “Don’t you see? I want to be with you! I want to be your wife and share your life, but you can’t seem to grasp the concept of sharing. I don’t want to be forced to be someone I’m not. I’m not okay with you hiding things from me, so tell me the truth, and tell me now or this is over.” The ultimatum. There, I said it, even though I didn’t want to… Things can’t go on like this.

Sean takes a long slow breath and lowers his gaze. He stares blankly, and asks, “What do you want to know? Ask and I’ll tell you, but realize you may not like the answer.”

I slip into my seat opposite him. We don’t touch, even though both of us have our hands on the table. I can’t look him in the eye, but I manage to get the question out. “How many fiancées have you had, including your late wife?”

“Four.”

He’s right; I didn’t want to hear that. “And I’m the fourth? And the third is a fake, and the first was Amanda. So who was the second?” A sinking feeling fills my chest as I watch him. It’s clear that Sean doesn’t want to tell me, but he does.

“Your employer, Miss Black.” His blue gaze flicks up to meet mine. I gasp when he says it. “And she was the first, not the second.”

My lips part in shock. The guy Black mentioned, the one she regretted parting ways with, was Sean? “You dated Black when she was a call girl?”

“Yes, but I had no idea, and when I found out my moral ass couldn’t condone her actions, so I left. When I’m in New York, she sets me up with a girl from her company and we act like nothing ever happened between us. I was so young then, barely out of high school, and she was so worried that I’d leave and she’d have nothing. Her fear spawned the reality.”

I don’t know what to do with this information, so I stuff it in the back corner of my mind. Black mentioned she made a mistake when we first met. There was some guy that she lost because of the job and she seemed to regret it. Was she speaking about Sean? I can’t even fathom the notion. She’s older than him by at least five years. How’d they even meet?