登入~ MARTY ~ I was driving back to Roman's building.I did not plan to. I just found myself in the car fueled by Eva's words. Minutes ago I was driving but now I found myself parking in the garage.The elevator rode up to the thirty-fourth floor and all I could do to escape the thoughts in my head was watch the light in the elevator button.I tried so hard not to think of anything especially about my family, it's not like they want me in their life. When I got to Roman floor, I came out and walked to his large apartment floor. For someone who lives alone, he sure likes spacious spaces… for the first time since knocked on his door. At first, I thought he was not going to answer the door like he did two days ago.“ Coming,” a familiar voice called out, it was Jackson.He was holding a coffee cup and wearing clothes that looked like he had come straight from a shoot. The second he saw me his entire face changed. As if he understood something important was about to happen."Marty, thank
~ MARTY ~ I did not remember leaving Roman's apartment. All that kept replaying in my head was the word "husband" sitting in my brain, sometimes making me break into a smile that I couldn't understand. And there was Luka's smile, and Roman's face when he understood what Luka was saying. But what could make a man as strong as Roman that scared? What am I missing? And I sat in my car, driving through the city at night, my hands shaking so badly I had to grip the wheel harder than necessary just to keep it okay. What was the underlying meaning of Luka mentioning eight years ago? Am I missing something? I could still remember Luka's face, that's why I can't get the idea out of my head that I was missing something. And to make it more fishy, it was eight years ago that Roman's marriage ended. That could not be a coincidence right? I drove to my own apartment first, needing to think, and to sit somewhere that was mine and try to make sense of what Luka had meant. The drive
~ROMAN~"Walk with me,” I said to Luka, willing for him to listen to me.Luka glanced at me, then at Marty, and back at me again. I saw the mockery in his expression but he stepped forward anyway.Marty caught my arm before I stepped out the door."Roman.""I'll call you."He let go. I didn't look at his face like I am supposed to because I already knew what I would find there and I couldn't afford it right now. I walked out with Luka behind me and pulled the door shut and stood in the hallway for exactly three seconds before I started moving toward the elevator.Neither of us spoke until we hit the street. We didn't take our cars, we just walked. The street was loud around us with the flow of taxis and conversation and someone's music playing out of a window somewhere above our heads. I walked until I found a quieter sidewalk and stopped. Luka stopped beside me with his hands in his pockets, watching me with a cold expression."Say what you want," I told him."Say what?""Whatever
~ LUKA ~ When I saw Marty's name trending online for all the wrong reasons again, I immediately blamed my brother. How exactly had he gotten involved with the man he destroyed eight years ago? I had only recently discovered the connection, all thanks to Kieran. Roman's ex-lover had approached me, hoping I would help him find a way to get Roman back. Instead, I found myself uncovering things I never expected. Now Kieran's name was trending alongside Marty's, and every mention of either of them was disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared. I knew who was doing that, it should have made me stop what I was doing but it didn't. I kept anonymously using people to repost anything about them. Am I a bad person for doing all that? Maybe. But every time I saw Roman standing beside Marty, every time I remembered what happened eight years ago, the bitterness came back all over again. Marty should have been mine! My brother had taken him from me and if I was being honest, part of me w
~ ROMAN ~I spent four hours deleting everything that had made him angry. Every post with mine and Marty's names together. Every photo from that bar and every headline about Celeste. I removed them all including the comment thread where strangers thought they had a say over our relationship like it was something to be studied and judged.I deleted it all.It's not like it can really fix anything because once things were online, they never fully went away. But I needed to do something with my hands, and this was what I could control. I made a call to my team and gave them the orders I needed to carry out."I need you all to deep everything worth digging on Kieran," I said. "Everything he does not want people to know. Every mistake. Every bad thing and when you are done release it all."The person at the other end, paused. "That is a different kind of request, boss.” "Yes, I know what it is. But get it done.” "I would like to carry this out but if we do as you request of us, this
~MARTY~ My phone woke me before the sun did.It would not stop vibrating. One message after another, filling up so fast my phone started to hook. I sat up slowly, my body still heavy from the night before, Roman was asleep beside me, turned toward the window, one hand curled near his face like a little kid. For a second, just looking at him, I felt almost okay. My phone vibrated again, and I picked it up.It was not Lisa this time nor was it Kieran. Rather it was hundreds of strangers, all talking at once, all saying the same name over and over under the post of last night.Why is my phone on? Didn't I turn it off before going to bed? I scrolled through the comments, and the cold feeling in my chest grew with each comment. Someone had found an old photo of Roman in a suit, with a woman in white gown beside him, both of them smiling for the camera.Someone else had found the paper to go with it. A real marriage announcement, with both their names printed in black ink, from before
~ EVANGELINE ~The car ride to the gala was silent.Jason sat in the front seat next to the driver. Victoria sat beside me in the back. Veronica was in her own car following behind us.I stared out the window and watched the city lights blur past. My hands were folded in my lap so no one could see
~ EVANGELINE ~The police pounded on the door again."Police! Open the door now!"Jason stared at me with his hand still raised. "You called them.""I didn't," I said. "I swear I didn't.""Liar!"The pounding got louder. "We have a warrant! Open this door or we're breaking it down!"Jason dropped h
~ EVANGELINE ~The next few days were the same nightmare on repeat.Veronica played lady of the house. She sat at the head of the table with Jason and wore my clothes and gave me orders like I worked for her."Emma, I need coffee.""Emma, my bathroom needs cleaning.""Emma, these towels aren't soft
~ EVANGELINE ~ I woke up and my shoulder was screaming in pain even worse than yesterday. The cold cloth had fallen off during the night and my arm was swollen and bruised. I sat up slowly and bit my lip to keep from making noise. I was already late. Getting dressed with one hand took forever.







