“You’re wrong. What’s going on between Genny and me is real. She tried to push me away. I’m the one who pursued her. I’m the one…” But the doubts are creeping in like thick fog. Is this why she’s letting me help her when she wants to do everything on her own?
Hudson steps toward me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’ve done everything I can to protect my family from falling victim to her schemes.” His voice is low and gruff, his eyes locked on mine, and I know when he says family right now he means me too. “Don’t make the same mistakes I have. Please.”
It’s the closest I’ve felt to Hudson in a long time—here in this moment as the life I’d envisioned for myself falls apart. Why does Genny really have Pierce Industries financial reports in her suitcase? Who is she planning to share them with? And why was she was messing with my phone that night at her hotel? Was she looking for something? Did she find it?
And what pictures would I find if I looked on her phone? Is it really possible that she’s only here because she’s acting as a spy for Celia?
“You’re wrong,” I say again, shrugging out of Hudson’s grip.
Only problem is, I’m not a hundred percent sure I believe that.
16
Remember when I said I fall in love fast?
Well, I also act fast. Too fast sometimes. Often I start moving before my brain can fully process if it’s a good idea.
Like now.
I’m pedal to the metal the way I storm out of the study and up the stairs to our bedroom. I don’t know what I’m looking for. Standing in the doorway, I scan the room for something—anything—that will prove Hudson’s suspicions are out of place. My eyes land on her phone by the bedside table.
I’m not proud to say I don’t even hesitate. I don’t second-guess. I snatch it up and pray there’s no security code set on it.
There’s not.
Would someone who was trying to fuck me over be so trusting?
There’s only one way to know.
I search frantically through her email—mostly related to Accelecom business. And her photos—there are several of the kids from the day before and even a few of me I hadn’t seen her snap. Then her texts.
And that’s where I find it—a text sent this morning to a number with no contact name. The message includes nothing but a close-up picture of Mina.
Fuck.
My face heats as my blood turns hot. There goes Gwen’s notion that Genny was collecting memories. There is no good reason my date can possibly give for sending pics of my three-year-old niece to some rando number.
Hudson’s right.
He has to be.
That’s the most obvious conclusion. If there are any others, I don’t wait to consider them. With a burst of righteous determination, I toss her phone onto the bed and rush down to the patio. I’m full-on action, my head still trying to fit everything together, and even though I know I should pause to think this through, I can’t stop myself from marching up to where Genevieve is sitting next to Mirabelle and asking point-blank, “Why are you with me?”
Everyone goes suddenly quiet around her, forks frozen in the air, mouths half-open.
I ignore them all, their figures blurring in my periphery as I focus only on Genny, whose brows are perked in astonishment. “What?”
“Why are you with me?” I ask again. My tone, my posture, everything about the way I’m speaking to her is aggressive. Mean. Hurtful.
But I’m hurting so fucking bad right now that everything that comes off of me is poison and sharp.
Her cheeks flush as she gives me a tight smile. “I’m not sure this is the best place to discuss this.”
My mother, in typical Sophia Pierce fashion, pipes in. “Chandler, leave your lovers’ spats to—”
I raise my voice over hers, still addressing no one but Genny. “Is it because of your stepmother? Is she the reason? Did Celia tell you to worm into my life, and in exchange, you’ll get your dream job at Werner Media?”
“Celia?” my mother and Mira say in stereo.
Genny drops her napkin onto her plate and scoots her chair out. “Excuse me,” she mumbles politely to my family before standing and walking away.
Yeah, maybe it is best to continue this elsewhere.
I follow her into the house, dead on her heels. “Did she tell you to play hard-to-get? Huh? Then I’d never suspect a thing. It would be me pursuing you. Brilliant thinking, actually.” I feel the bite of my words as they shoot from my tongue. “Was that your idea or hers?”
She spins around suddenly to face me, and she looks so betrayed that it punches me in the gut. “I do not like the way you are speaking to me. It’s embarrassing and mean, and I don’t have to stand for it.”
But even though I see her pain, it’s not as vibrant as what I’m feeling. I pause only a beat before my next attack. “You can’t even answer me, can you?”
“What?” She throws her hands up. “What do you want to hear? That Celia is my stepmother? Yes, she is. Is that a problem? All this talk about worming into your life and blaming her—I don’t know what to even say to that. Where the fuck did it come from?”
I glance behind her to Hudson standing in the hall outside the kitchen. He frowns sympathetically then turns to leave, giving us privacy.
Genny traces my gaze with her eyes, catching sight of Hudson as he walks away. When she looks back at me, her expression is pinched. “What did your brother say to you?”
I fold my arms over my chest. “He simply told me I needed to look harder at the situation, and I am. And you know what it looks like? Like you’re sidling up to me for your own benefit.”