“When?”
“The night before you left for the Caymans,” he answered without hesitation. “He was at your house.”
“Our house, Violet,” Alex snapped behind me.
“Not anymore,” Rhys challenged, taking a step forward.
“What in the hell do I have to do to get the men in my life to be honest with me!” I felt sick as I backed away from them both. I shook my head back and forth, trying to wrap my mind around the level of betrayal I felt in that moment.
“You,” I directed to Rhys, whose eyes shot to mine. “You were supposed to be different.”
“I am different and you know it,” he said firmly. “I’m the only real thing you’ve got,” he said, his eyes turning cold as he watched me.
“I don’t think your fucking qualified to tell me what’s real, Rhys,” I snapped, keeping my voice even though my heart was falling away piece by piece.
?
?No,” he said icily. “I guess your fucking fantasy is just a little safer, right? Don’t worry, Violet, tonight I’ll play the bad guy.” He charged Alex and punched him square across the jaw, sending him to the gravel as he cursed and then glared between us. “You two really should learn how to listen. And, Violet, when you figure out just what in the hell it is that you want, we should talk.”
“Something you are completely fucking incapable of apparently,” I shot back, “honesty.”
The level of hurt I saw in his posture almost knocked me down with guilt. He got in his sedan and left. I turned to Alex, who was still on the ground holding his jaw, then back to Rhys’s retreating car.
Walking to my car, I did not give a damn about Alex or his newly aching jaw. As I was reaching for the handle, he protested.
“Just let me talk to you.” I turned to face him. He was standing now, still cupping his face as a small amount of blood trickled from his lips. I closed my car door and charged him.
“Talk,” I snapped, ready for the answers I had deserved for far too long.
“I’ve always been this way and I’ve always hidden it. When I met you, I fell for you, Violet, I did. I truly loved you, but no matter how hard I tried, it was still there. I still wanted...men. And then I met Chris and it just happened.”
“How long?” I asked, hating myself for it.
“A little over a year,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, his jaw turning purple.
“I knew that.” I couldn’t control my disgust.
“I was going to end it, Violet, I was. Get it out of my system, be a better husband, but I fell in love—”
“Skip it, I don’t care. How did Sandra fall into this?”
“We were away on that weekend retreat to brainstorm for new ideas for the Lux campaign and she brought him. She introduced me to him. It started with him, Violet. I had no idea about—they introduced me to all of this,” he said, pointing at the club. “Everything changed for me. I had no idea how to explain this to you. I was completely selfish. I wanted him.”
“So you and Sandra?” I asked, suddenly feeling guilty for even having the discussion.
“I hate her, but she has Chris, so I stay. She threatens me with outing me all the time to keep me in line. You know my parents. I would lose everything.”
“So you aren’t into—”
“I’m gay,” he admitted.
“And all the phone calls?” I asked.
“At her insistence. And now that I think about it, I’m sure she wanted you to know. She’s sick—”
I held my hand up. “No, it’s you. Blaming her is easy. You did this to yourself and to me. You let it all happen. Jesus, Alex, how could you be so cruel?”
“Violet, just know that I’m sorry. What I did was unforgivable and I’ll always regret hurting you, always.”