High Society Secrets (The Sterling Wives Book 2), стр. 42

“Love you, too.”

Clay hung up and took a moment to shut his eyes and breathe. None of this could be real. There had to be a logical explanation. Still, he couldn’t keep thoughts of the last few days, weeks, and months with Astrid from shuffling through his mind. He’d fought so hard at first to keep her away, all to protect himself and his daughter. Had he let a beautiful face cloud his judgment again?

That’s not it. That can’t be it. Everything you feel for her is real. You have to find out the truth.

He tried Astrid’s cell, but it went straight to her voice mail. Clay paced in his office, feeling like a caged animal. He was desperate for Astrid to arrive. All he needed was to see her face and hear her say that this obviously crazy story was a lie.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long. “You were looking for me?” Astrid appeared in his doorway, holding a bakery bag, fresh-faced and gorgeous. The sight of her smoothed his ragged edges. “I stopped to get you a doughnut.”

“That’s so sweet.” He rushed to her and kissed her cheek. This was no time for sweets, but he was thankful nonetheless. “I’ve been trying to reach you. Tara has, too.”

“What? I didn’t get any calls.” She dug her phone out of her handbag, her eyes wide with surprise. “I take that back. You did call me. So did Miranda and Tara. I turned the ringer off when I was at your house all weekend and I forgot to turn it back on. What’s going on?”

Clay quietly closed the door behind her so they could have some privacy. This could be an awkward conversation and he wanted to protect her from office gossip. “We have two big problems. I think you should sit.”

“What in the world? You’re scaring me.” As he suggested, she perched in one of the chairs opposite his desk.

He took the seat next to her. “The first thing is Seaport. There is no deadline extension. It’s this Wednesday.”

Astrid reared back her head and her luscious mouth formed a pout. “No. That can’t be right. I’ll call Sandy and get it straightened out.”

“Tara called the city and she doesn’t work there, Astrid. They’re saying she never did.”

“I have her cell number. I can call her directly.”

“You should probably do that, but I don’t know what good it’s going to do. That doesn’t change the fact that we had the wrong date, and now we have the right one.” Clay was hit with a truly abhorrent thought. What if Astrid was lying? Was she capable? He hated that he was even thinking it—it clawed at his insides—but he couldn’t help the way his brain was wired. Skepticism and doubt had long been his default. Take a breath. She would never lie.

“I’ll call her as soon as you tell me what else is wrong.”

This part was going to be treacherous. He didn’t relish it at all. The pain of losing Johnathon was still fresh for everyone, but especially the wives. He’d heard it well up in his sister mere minutes ago. “Miranda received an email. As outlandish as this might sound, it not only came from Johnathon’s Sterling account, the message itself was written as though it was from him. It says that you and he were romantically involved after your divorce.” Every new word out of his mouth made this sound more impossible, but that wasn’t as much comfort as he would’ve liked. He couldn’t get past this feeling that something was very, very wrong. “It says that you two slept together after he and Miranda got engaged.”

He watched as the color drained from Astrid’s face and her expression fell. Her beautiful facade crumbled. More telling, she offered no defense. He felt like the rug had been pulled out from under him. Oh, my God. Is it really true?

Astrid was sure she was going to be sick. Her stomach pitched. Her head spun. She wanted to curl into a ball, shut her eyes and make this all go away. But the time had come. The day she’d feared so much was here. She wanted to believe that he would understand, but she was so unsure. Everything between them was still so fragile and new.

Craving the comfort of his touch, she reached for his hand, but he didn’t curl his fingers around hers as he normally would. His skin felt cold. In many ways, it felt as if he already knew the truth and had passed judgment. “Let me explain.”

His cheeks colored with what she feared might be anger. “Is it true?”

Tell him and get it over with. “It is.” The confession brought no relief. He dropped her hand. She could see the toll this was taking on him. She’d known all along that this would happen. That was why she’d tried so hard to shoulder the burden on her own.

“I can’t even believe what you’re saying. Why did you do that? When he was about to marry someone else?”

“It was an accident.”

Impatient and exasperated, he stormed up out of his chair and crossed the room, deepening the sense of divide between them. “You realize how ridiculous that sounds, right?”

“I had no idea he was romantically involved with someone else. I was tucked away at home in Norway. When we divorced, I lost so many friends. I didn’t know what he was up to here at home.”

“Even if that’s true, you kept this from my sister? After you two have gotten so close?” He ran his hands through his hair, his eyes wild with anguish. “Is that why you bought her that stroller? Threw her the party? Out of guilt?”

Astrid knew she was in the wrong here, but that was deeply hurtful. “If it’s true? I wouldn’t lie about this.”

“Oh, but you did. You hid this from Miranda. You hid it from me, the whole time we were together. You had