Instead, he seemed perturbed, possibly on the verge of becoming angry.
I took a seat on the opposite side of the wrap-around couch, getting as far from him as possible. And suddenly, I understood why someone would need such a massive piece of furniture—to distance themselves from others without sacrificing the comfortability of the sofa.
“Well? Are you going to answer my question now?”
Honestly, I couldn’t remember which one he was referring to. So playing dumb didn’t take much effort when I shrugged and said, “I’m going to need you to repeat it for me.”
“Why didn’t you get dressed before going next door?”
Oh, yeah. That’s right. That question—the one I specifically didn’t want to answer. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any way out of it this time, so my only option was to come up with something fast and pray he believed it. “She was outside, and I didn’t want to lose my opportunity by taking the time to change out of my pajamas.”
“How did you even know that she would be able to help you?”
“What is this, a deposition hearing? What’s with all the questions?”
He finally put down his phone and looked at me. “I’m simply trying to understand the extent of your interactions with others. Don’t forget, Tiffany will come back, and when she does, all the people you’ve befriended will get a nasty dose of reality. I’m sure you don’t want that. And I, for one, don’t need more rumors to deal with—on top of the ones about her appearance that I already know will spread like wildfire.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Ty. I’ve made sure to keep up the sham around others, including the neighbors. She won’t be shocked when Tiffany treats her like garbage. The ones you should worry about are the women I have to film with.”
His brow furrowed in concentration. “Why should I worry about them?”
“I’ve been blindsided left and right by these women—namely, Serenity.”
“I’ve already told you—”
“Yeah, and I call BS on what you told me.” I was beyond frustrated by this entire thing. In a way, I felt like Ty and my sister had sold me a lie. They made the situation sound like paradise when, in reality, it was a battlefield, and I was left to fight someone else’s war. “Either Tiffany is saving face with you by downplaying it all, or she really is delusional and believes that her infidelity is some tight-lipped secret. Because, I’m telling you, Ty, Serenity knows something.”
He was quiet for a moment, taking deep breaths while contemplating my obvious concern. “Okay, maybe she does know something, but I highly doubt it’s enough to do any harm. As long as you deny any allegations that are made and play dumb, you’ll be safe. Just get through this and then let Tiffany deal with it when she gets back.”
“That would be fine if Serenity didn’t know anything. And since I don’t know the whole story, I can’t say how much she knows, but I get the feeling it’s enough to make this whole thing blow up in my face. I can pretend to be my sister while shopping or having lunch in town, but I draw the line at tabloid drama. If this gets out—and based on the things Serenity has said, I believe she’s working on some grand reveal—then I’m gone. I won’t stick around and defend her name against rumors of infidelity.”
“What else has she said?”
Jacoby had done an excellent job last night at taking my mind off the anxiety-inducing dinner party. But now, Ty was making me conjure it all back up. “Right in front of Jeannine, she accused me of being at her house before. Of course, I played dumb, and Jeannine backed me up by explaining that they’d just moved in, and last night was the first time anyone had been over. But Serenity wouldn’t drop it, claiming that she’s friends with one of the neighbors and heard about Tiffany’s car being spotted in the driveway several times.”
“Well, that’s a blatant lie. Tiffany said the affair ended a while ago.” Ty was fully aware of who my sister was and what she was capable of, so I didn’t understand why he continued to believe the things she told him over the things I had heard. There was no way he was that naïve when it came to her.
“I guess that’s one way to look at it. Another way would be that it wasn’t as long ago as she wants you to believe