Page 97 of Accidental Groom

The look on his face is nothing short of absolute confusion. “Married?” he asks, recoiling slightly. “Elena was never married?—”

“To Ross Emery,” I add.

Silence hangs as he blinks at the camera. “I—what?”

“Do you know him?”

“Yes, but she was never married to him,” Ralph says in bewilderment. “She lived with me until she married you. She grew up with Ross. They were friends.”

“They were more than friends, apparently.”

“Let me ask Gail?—”

“I have the fucking record in front of me,” I snap, lifting the phone for good measure. “You don’t need to ask your wife anything. It’s staring me in the face.”

He blinks rapidly. “Why would she do that? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why the hell do you think I’m asking?” I bark, pushing up out of my seat and leaning forward into the camera. “Two years. No-fault divorce, Ralph.”

His face drains of color. “This puts the entire contract in jeopardy?—”

“I don’t give afuckabout the contract!” I shout. “This isn’t theoretical. There is a record. This isreal. And you know what? You should’ve told me. Fuck,sheshould have told me. What thefuck?—”

“I didn’t know!”

“You’re herfather?—”

“You’re her husband!”

The words slam into me with a force I’m not entirely ready for.

Ralph adjusts his tie, smoothing the knot like it’ll steady his voice. “If this gets out, you understand what it means for this? For us? Legally, financially, publicly? If the press gets wind?—”

“Fucking let them.”

“You think they won’t eat her alive?”

“They already have, months ago,” I growl. “She’s suffered before at your own hands, being passed around from son to father. This is her fucking fault if it happens again.”

“You don’t need to speak to me like that.”

I point at the screen. “Don’t. Don’t you dare patronize me right now.”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re at home, right? Go ask her about it. And tell her to call me while she’s at it so I can explain to her how much she might have screwed everything overagain.”

“She’s nothere,” I snarl. “She’s in fucking Philadelphia, of all places.”

“Philadelphia?” Ralph’s brows shoot up. “Why?”

“I have no idea.”

“You didn’t send her?”

“No,” I say bitterly. “Why?”

“Last I heard, that’s where Ross lives.”

My head spins on a dime toward Matthew. “Is that true?”