Chapter 4

"Kieran, I'm so sorry. What I did to you was unforgivable." Evander's voice cracked. "You can hit me or yell at me all you want. I won't stop you. I deserve it."

I just looked at him. "When did it happen?"

That was all I wanted to know.

Evander's face crumpled with guilt. "That night Selene and I got drunk. One thing led to another, and we slept together. We used protection, and afterward we took extra precautions. I swear to you, Kieran, we never thought she could end up pregnant.

"I don't know what went wrong. Maybe something failed. Maybe we were just unbelievably unlucky. But she's pregnant anyway."

He hadn't told me a single word about any of it. All this time, I'd been the fool.

I'd kept telling myself Selene was still the same woman I loved, trapped behind memories she couldn't reach. I'd trusted Evander just as blindly.

He was my best friend. The one person I never thought I'd have to worry about. Whatever happened, I'd believed he would never betray me. Now I finally understood how wrong I'd been.

The excuses. The hope. The faith I'd placed in both of them. I'd been the only one still holding on to any of it.

While I was waiting for everything to go back to normal, Selene and Evander had already crossed a line there was no coming back from.

Evander suddenly struck himself across the face. "I'm a terrible friend. I betrayed you. I betrayed everything I ever promised you. I screwed up, Kieran. I made one selfish, unforgivable mistake.

"Just say the word. I'll talk to Selene tomorrow. I'll tell her we can't have this baby."

"No."

Evander stopped and looked at me in disbelief. "No, I'll do it tonight. I'll go talk to her right now and… Wait, what did you say?"

"I said no." I pulled his hand away from where he'd been clutching at my jeans. "The baby didn't do anything wrong."

Evander's eyes widened. For several seconds, he just stared at me, unable to make sense of my answer. "But what about you, Kieran?"

Selene walked in at the worst possible moment. She stopped in the doorway, her eyes immediately dropping to Evander kneeling at my feet.

Evander scrambled upright. "Selene, wait. This isn't what it looks like. I tripped, that's all. Kieran was just helping me up."

Selene wasn't listening. Her gaze landed on the red mark across Evander's cheek, and something in her snapped.

She grabbed a nearby stool and swung it into the glass panel of the kitchen door. The glass shattered with a deafening crash.

Then she stepped in front of Evander, shielding him from me as though I were some kind of threat.

"Do you seriously think I'm stupid enough to believe that?" She glared at me. "Kieran Ashford, you've been living under my roof for six months. You haven't paid rent. You've eaten our food. Evander has bent over backward trying to help you.

"And this is how you repay him? By hurting him? Were you hoping you'd hurt me too? Hurt my baby?"

Something inside me broke. I lowered my head before Selene could see my eyes beginning to burn.

When I spoke, I somehow managed to keep my voice steady. "You're imagining things. Evander's my best friend. If the two of you are happy together, then I'm happy for you."

Selene didn't answer immediately. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment, sharp and searching.

At the time, I couldn't be certain what she was looking for. Now I understood. She was trying to figure out how much I knew. Whether I'd discovered that her memory had returned months ago.

Evander quickly stepped between us. "Selene, seriously. Kieran didn't do anything. Don't blame him."

Selene took a moment to collect herself before speaking again. "Fine. I'll let what just happened go. But I want you out of this house tonight. "I'm pregnant now. I don't want someone who isn't family living here anymore."

Evander went rigid. He turned toward me cautiously, watching my face as if he expected me to argue.

I didn't.

"Okay." The answer came easily. I turned around, walked to the spare bedroom, and started packing.

Evander followed me all the way to the front door. "Don't worry, Kieran. I'll talk to Selene tonight. I'll convince her to let you come back."

"Don't bother." I didn't give him a chance to argue. I wheeled my suitcase out the door, pulled out my phone, and called a realtor I'd worked with before.

"I need to put a house on the market as soon as possible."

Selene had spent so long pretending she'd forgotten our life together that apparently she'd forgotten one rather important detail too.

The house she'd just ordered me out of was mine. My parents had bought it for me as a wedding gift. And my name was the one on the deed.