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“Can I take a picture with you too? Both of you. You’re such a cute couple!” she almost squeals.

I glance at Silver, trying to pick up her discomfort, but she seems at ease, maybe because we’re not being mobbed and the crowd is small.

“Sure!” She steps on the other side of the woman.

“I loved how you handled that journalist. They think they can stick their noses everywhere.” The lady seems more confident after another few pictures.

Silver puts a hand over her heart and smiles. “I know, right? How can they even think to ask someone about their sexual life?”

The woman shakes her head and sighs. “Sometimes they have no limits, and no morals either.”

I’m enchanted by how Silver is handling her conversation with a complete stranger for my sake, for my career. She would be a perfect first lady, and the thought makes my gut clench in discomfort. If she sticks with me that long, the marriage wouldn’t feel so fake even for us, not just the public. That’s a thought I don’t want to indulge in.

***

We return home at almost ten in the evening. After our ice cream, we spent the day strolling around the beach and going to dinner at one of the restaurants on the oceanfront. We both enjoyed it and Silver relaxed. Matthew sent me a text congratulating me for approaching the woman at the ice cream parlor and I didn’t bother to correct him. For the first time since I’ve know him, I’m annoyed by his insistent presence.

“Do you want to relax on the patio?” I ask her.

“Sure.” She grabs a blanket and strolls outside as I fill two glasses with red wine. It’s still the end of April and the temperature is a bit chilly at night.

We settle down on the double sunbed and I put an arm around her shoulder as we lean close together and she snuggles up to my side.

After a long moment of silence, Silver breaks the ice. “Can I ask you something? Feel free to not answer if you think it’s too personal. I understand.” She looks me in the eyes.

Her phrasing makes my blood chill, speculating about the topic of this conversation, but she stuck with me all day doing what was best for me. The least I can do is to listen to her question. I nod and she goes on.

“Why do you want to fake a marriage? I mean, when I first met you and you asked me to do this, I thought you were a freak who couldn’t get a woman to stay with him. But now that I know you, I don’t understand why you don’t want to find someone. You’re smart, funny, caring. There is no doubt you’re rich, and that’s a perk, plus you are insanely attractive. You’re the complete package. I can’t figure out why a woman would ever say no to you.”

There is honest curiosity in her voice, no judgement.

I inhale deeply, and for the first time in a long time, I feel the need to tell someone else about Kelsey. I don’t talk about it often, and only with people who already know the story, never a stranger. But Silver is not a stranger, and her presence grounds me. She showed me today that she can be by my side in a real way, even if our relationship is fake.

“I had a fiancé when I was young, and she died when we were both twenty-one,” I explain and then wait for her reaction.

She gasps and puts a hand on my chest, where my heart is hammering. She feels it, but I don’t feel any urgency to take her hand away. Somehow, it’s comforting that she can sense what’s going on in my chest.

“I am so sorry, Raphael. I didn’t mean to pry into such a hurtful memory,” she whispers.

I shake my head and pull her closer.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. Kelsey, Alba, my little sister, and I were very close. We grew up together and we spent a lot of time hanging out. Kelsey and Alba used to go for a run every day, they loved running.” I smile at the memory. “One day, they were crossing a street a few blocks from home and a drunk driver hit and killed them both.” I take a deep breath and I can feel Silver tense besides me.

“Oh my God. Your sister too? I didn’t know you had a sister.” I can hear the pain in her voice and my heart beats harder.

“It turns out that the driver was the son of a rich mogul and got away with it. There wasn’t a trial or anything. Just a slap on the wrist and he went on with his life.”

“Are you serious? Nothing? Not even court-ordered community service?” she asks, dumbfounded.

I shake my head. “I was devastated. I lost the love of my life, my little sister, and a few months later, my mom. She couldn’t endure the pain, so she just packed her bags one day and left my father and me to deal with it. But all of that is what made me decide what I wanted to do in life. Becoming a lawyer or a judge wasn’t enough—I wanted to change the world. I wanted to make laws that punish people for the pain they cause. It was also the day I decided never to get into another relationship. I’m not strong enough to endure another loss like that.” I sip my wine and avoid eye contact with Silver.

She snuggles against me without saying a word and I appreciate that. A lot of people tried to console me when it happened, but nobody understood that there are no words anyone can say that could heal a shattered heart.

We stay there in silence for a long time, hugging as though we could glue the pieces of our broken lives together. I don’t know if we can ever heal from what’s happened to us, but the fact that my heart isn’t exploding in my chest when I hold her tight makes me want to never let her go. My world is spinning less since she walked into it, and that thought is terrifying.

I study Silver as she asks Cindy questions about the people we’re going to meet in a few minutes. Her eyebrows knit together when my assistant explains something, her mouth pouting in an adorable expression. She looks beautiful wrapped in a silky blue dress that falls elegantly at her knees.

“Are you done drooling over her?” Matthew’s voice brings me back to reality.