The CEO(48)

‘You really don’t know,’ he murmured.

She reached a hand out to him, something desperate in her tone now. ‘Please Callum. Tell me. What don’t I know?’

‘There are things you don’t know about your sister. But I’m not the one to tell you. You have to hear it from her.’

Ava sat bolt upright. ‘Please tell me.’

‘But there’s one thing you need to understand. What happened here? How I feel about you? This is about you and me, Ava. No-one else.’

Ava’s heart thudded in her chest. Don’t say you and me. There is no you and me.

He looked back at her over his shoulder, his eyes intent. ‘I want you, Ava. I might even love you. And that scares the hell out of me after what I’ve been through. But we need to start with the truth. Go talk to your sister.’

Something shot right through Ava’s heart. ‘Did you say … you might love me?’

‘Yeah, Ava the Terrible. I might love you.’

‘Well, hell’s bells,’ Ava said. She pulled the cotton sheet around her and crawled over the bed and sat next to Callum. He held his hand to her, palm up, and she put hers in his. This was so like her. Sex first. Holding hands second.

‘How long has this been going on?’

‘Since that day at The Meadows. You were lying on the grass looking up at the sun.’

‘Holy crap,’ she said. ‘I’d better go talk to Lulu.’

‘I’ll be waiting.’

She stood and pulled the sheet tighter around her. She needed to hear it one more time.

‘So you might be in love with me?’

He gave her a sad smile. ‘Yeah.’





Chapter Seventeen




‡


Ava drove directly to Lulu’s, her head a mess, her emotions as tumultuous as a Sydney storm. What the hell was going on? Callum had left Lulu, right? He’d broken her heart, hadn’t he? Or was everything she thought she knew a lie?

There are things you don’t know about your sister.

What things didn’t she know? What goddamn things? And why hadn’t he told her instead of forcing her to drive to her sister’s with a head full of mush from more orgasms than she could remember and these questions?

Was he saying that Lulu was the one who had ended their marriage? Had she hidden the truth from Ava all this time? But why? Ava felt another swell of frustration and guilt. She’d readily hated Callum out of sisterly loyalty to Lulu. Until she’d got to know him, she’d thought him every kind of cruel bastard for hurting her sister.

Even though she had loved him, she’d hated herself for loving him, and had convinced herself to never, ever forgive him.

Ava pulled up abruptly in front of Lulu’s semi-detached terrace and bolted to the red front door. She needed answers and immediately. The love of her life was waiting at his house, having given her the clue to unlocking his heart. And she didn’t want to wait one more minute to be loved by him.

It took a few solid knocks before Lulu came to the door. She was wearing bright purple workout gear and had ear buds draped around her neck. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and her tiny feet were clad in matching joggers. She looked beautiful and serene, as always. And it hit Ava like an avalanche. Lulu’s perfection was all a show, a mask. Her perfectly ordered world had fallen apart and she hadn’t known how to cope with it. That was the secret of her sister.

‘Hey, Ava. What a surprise,’ she smiled.

Ava pinched the top of her nose. Stay calm, she willed herself. This is going to be hard, no matter what the truth is. Lulu stepped forward and hugged her sister.

‘Hey, Lulu,’ Ava said. ‘You got a minute?’

‘Of course. I was just about to head out for a walk but that can wait.’ Lulu ushered Ava inside and closed the front door. ‘Can I get you a coffee? You look like you need one.’ Lulu stood on tiptoes and peered into her sister’s face. ‘You all right?’

‘No to the coffee, but thanks.’ They walked down the centre hallway to the kitchen at the back of the house. It was modern and white, clean and tidy. Lulu had always liked her childhood bedroom to be just so. Ava was beginning to realise she had always liked her life to be like that as well.

‘What have you been up to today?’ Lulu asked as she boiled the kettle and fetched herself a cup, placing it on the pristine and empty benchtop.

What had she been up to? Working. Having sex. The regular.

‘I’ve been talking to Callum and … this is hard, Lulu, but there’s something I need to talk to you about.’

Lulu’s face paled. ‘You’ve been talking to Callum?’

Ava breathed deep. She was here to get to the bottom of secrets, not create new ones. ‘I’ve been doing more than that.’