“If it’s all so innocent, why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“Probably for the same reason you haven’t told me everything about Simon’s past and what made him develop DID: because it doesn’t affect me; it’s not something I need to know. That you haven’t told me isn’t personal, is it?”
No, it wasn’t personal. As our relationship was a sham, I saw no need to tell him things about people who didn’t affect him. And that worked both ways, didn’t it? I was okay with that. The problem here was that he’d lied to me. “The night you went to the club, you told me you were going to o-Verve.”
“And I did. Before coming home, I paid her pimp a visit.”
“You knew I’d assumed that the meetings simply ran late. You let me believe that.”
“Not out of some wish to deceive you. I’ve lived alone for a long time, Vienna. There was no one to care where I’d been or when I’d be home; no one who’d want a rundown of my movements. If you’d outright asked me why I was home late, I’d have told you because it was no big secret. But you didn’t ask, so I thought you didn’t care. I’m not a man who’ll automatically explain where he’s been—I’ve never had to.”
Okay, yeah, I could understand that. But would he have really told me the truth if I had asked questions? I just wasn’t sure. My emotions were all over the place, and I couldn’t seem to reason everything through. “I don’t know if I believe you.”
“It’s understandable that you’re not so quick to trust what I’m telling you. I lie, I scheme, I manipulate. I’m not a good person. But my word is gold—I never break it. Which was why Hugh made me vow to watch over Lacey,” he added in a put-out tone.
He tilted his head. “Why do you want out of our agreement, Vienna? You didn’t just demand answers from me, you threatened to walk. It’s the second time you’ve done it. As if your first instinct is to run from me, which tells me you want out. Why?”
Truthfully, I wanted “out” because I was swimming in emotional waters with Dane—that could only lead to me drowning, given that he could never give me what I needed even if he wanted to.
“Why, Vienna?” he pushed. “And don’t say it’s because you’re tired of Travis and Hope’s antics—you’re too strong for them to break you.” His gaze flitted over my face. “Is it because your last engagement didn’t end so well? Owen might not have cheated on you, but he did betray your trust by hurting you the way he did.”
“This has nothing to do with Owen.” But I wasn’t going to tell Dane the truth of why I wanted out, so I gave him another truth. “I’m sick of lying to the people I care about, Dane. Sick of living a lie. I didn’t anticipate just how hard this was going to be, and that’s on me.”
He narrowed his eyes. “There’s more to it than that.”
Motherfucking warlock.
“You clearly don’t feel ready to let go of your anger yet, but ask yourself honestly—do you think I lied to you about the pictures? Do you think that was one big bullshit story I just told you?”
I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say that his story didn’t add up or something. But I’d have been lying, and he’d have known that. I licked my lips and took a long breath. “No.”
“But you still want to walk out, don’t you?”
I gave a slow nod.
“Why, Vienna? Tell me.”
He was such a tenacious bastard. Knowing he wasn’t going to drop it, I decided to give him an understated version of the truth. “It bothered me a lot more than I thought it would.”
“What?”
“The thought of you with another woman.”
He frowned. “You think the thought of you with another man doesn’t bother me?”
“I don’t know, Dane. I just know that this whole situation is a lot more complicated than I’d expected it would be. I’m not a runner. I face things head-on, but … Look, I don’t think I’m the best person to play the part of your wife.”
“You’re the only person who I’d want to play it. We’ve come this far. No matter what shit went on around us, we forged ahead. We have to do that again now, Vienna, because I can’t let you walk out. You knew I wouldn’t.”