Stealing Her (Covet 1)

“Because I finally had everything!” Julian swore. “I was going to be CEO! I found out about the trust fund Dad left you and put two and two together! I knew we could take back what was ours! And then you go and pull this stunt, marrying her just so you can get it! What the hell is wrong with you?”

I gasped at his outburst and then dread washed over me as I turned to Bridge. “Wait . . . what?”

Bridge stiffened. “I was going to tell you, but I didn’t really think it mattered since I married you because I love you.”

Julian looked between us and shook his head. “Unbelievable. Dad said Bridge had to marry you in order to get the trust released to him along with the shares. Congratulations, you married a true Tennyson after all. Liars. All of us.”

“Cheaters.” Bridge glared.

Julian shook his head. “You don’t get it, the pressure he puts on you, the constant attention, women throwing themselves at you.”

I almost plugged my ears.

“Doesn’t excuse cheating.” Bridge gritted his teeth.

“Doesn’t excuse lying,” Julian fired right back.

It was my wedding day.

My perfect day.

I slowly sank into the nearest chair and my dress billowed around me. My chest was tight as I looked up at the two brothers.

Both of them had hurt me.

In different ways.

I squeezed my eyes shut as more hot tears slid down my cheeks.

“I was breaking up with you,” I whispered to no one in particular. “Julian, I was leaving you.”

“You don’t know, then.” He looked away. “I’d turned around, Iz, I was in the car, and I asked them to turn around because I knew a text wouldn’t do it, not this time. The driver pulled a U-turn, wasn’t paying attention, we were hit head-on. I got in an accident, was in a coma, nearly died because I was planning on going back to you, getting down on my hands and knees and begging you to take me back.”

“That’s not how this works, Julian,” I whispered. “You can’t just hurt someone over and over again and apologize and make it all better.”

He let out a long drawn-out sigh. “Even if that person realizes he’s been a jackass?”

“Even then.” I reached for Bridge’s hand. “Both of you . . . I can’t right now . . . Bridge, you should have told me.”

“I know.” His face was crestfallen as I stood on wobbly legs and exhaled. “First things first, you need to figure out what to do tomorrow.”

“What?” they said in unison.

“Sixty percent of the company’s shares.” I said it slowly. “You want to be free of this hatred, start with the man who planted it.”

And just like that, I swallowed my tears, turned around, and started walking out of the room.

“Izzy, wait!” Bridge grabbed my arm. “You can’t leave, we have to talk about this. We have to—”

I shook my head. “If you love me, you’ll let me walk out of this room, you’ll let me go.”

“I’m never letting you go.”

I believed him.

“Just for today. I need time.”

“Okay.” He kissed the top of my head like he always did and repeated himself. “Okay.”

Chapter Forty-Six

BRIDGE

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t look at him. In fact, I was still staring at the door that Izzy had walked through, taking my still-beating heart with her when she left that room.

Empty.

I felt so damn empty.

“For everything.” I hung my head. “I know you won’t believe me, but I tried. I tried to stay away. She thought I was you, and all I kept wondering was, Why does this beautiful woman treat her own fiancé with such hostility? Why am I having to earn her trust when they’re supposed to be getting married?”

Julian didn’t say anything.

I finally turned around and saw guilt in his expression. “She fell for me because she thought you were coming back to her, that the old Julian was finally paying attention. So yes, I took what was yours, but I also fixed what you broke, and I won’t apologize for that.”

He locked eyes with me, but said nothing.

“When you got in the accident, Dad showed up. He did what he does best, convinced me that I had to act as CEO so stocks didn’t drop, told me people were relying on him, relying on you, said the board would look the other way and know the entire time. He basically said the Tennyson fortune rested in my hands while you slept. And I knew this was everything to you, I knew it was everything you had worked for. I knew you’d been VP for two years and were just waiting for your chance. So I took it, with the understanding that the minute you woke up, you’d have it back. Seamless transition.”

“It won’t be seamless, though,” Julian said with a hard edge to his voice. “Because somehow you’re better at my job than I am.”