She wasn’t surprised he eyed her strangely. Scrunching her face, she tried to find a way to explain it.
‘The night my mother died she’d asked Edward to drive her to her meeting. She hated driving at night—she always said the lights dazzled her. But that night he had a work meeting, and he didn’t want to drive back home to collect her, then back to the office for the meeting, only to return to pick her up. So she drove herself.’
‘He blames himself,’ Lukas realised. ‘So why do you blame yourself for his accident?’
Oti didn’t move. She hadn’t known Lukas had been able to read that in her.
‘Your father used your brother as leverage against you for years. That’s more than just being a good sister. That’s guilt.’
She tried to swallow, a thick ball of emotion wedged in her throat.
And then Lukas whispered to her, ‘I’m on your side, no matter what, Oti.’
She choked back a sob. ‘You’re right,’ she managed. ‘Edward blamed himself for our mother’s accident. And I blamed myself for Edward’s. The night of his crash, that Christmas Eve, he was coming to pick me up. I’d gone to a party with some old friends—more acquaintances—but Rockman’s son was there and I panicked.’
‘The one who attacked you?’
‘It was the first time I’d seen him since that holiday, and I was scared. I called Edward and he said he was an hour away but to hold on and he’d come and get me. The next time I saw him, he was in a coma. I believe the report that stated the accident wasn’t his fault, but there’s a part of me that wonders if he was maybe speeding. Just to get to me.’
‘I wish you hadn’t had to go through any of that, Oti,’ Lukas said fiercely, after what felt like an age. ‘You deserve better.’
‘So did Edward. Look at him. If the operation is successful, he’ll regain some use of his arms. But that’s it. He’ll never be back to how he was. And it will always have been my fault.’
‘No, not your fault,’ Lukas growled. ‘It’s Rockman’s fault. If he hadn’t assaulted you...’
There was such fury in his tone that it almost made Oti feel safe and comforted.
‘So why did you marry me, Lukas? I mean, I realise that paying some obscene sum of money was to secure my brother’s company—but whose idea was it for you to marry me?’
It took a moment longer to answer, as if he wished he could give her another answer. Or maybe that was just her imagination.
‘It was part of your father’s price. He wanted the money, and you married off to me.’
It wasn’t a surprise; she’d always known it. But still, she couldn’t help but wish it was different.
Oti struggled to keep her voice even. ‘Why agree? It seems like a high price.’
‘It did,’ he agreed, making her heart kick at his choice of the past tense. ‘At the time.’
‘Oh?’
‘It has been a lot more...enlightening than I’d anticipated.’
She didn’t need to lift her head to hear that he was smiling.
‘So what do you get out of it, Lukas?’
‘I get the truth.’
That did surprise her. Pulling out of his arms, she sat up so that she could look directly at him.
‘What truth?’
Another pause, though he held her gaze, clearly weighing up whether or not he was finally going to share his secret. Oti didn’t realise she had been holding her breath until he finally began to speak.
‘I told you about my mother. I’m not going into that story again.’ His voice was a study in control, and she hated it. ‘But I didn’t tell you about my father.’
‘You told me that you didn’t know who he was,’ Oti said carefully.