Page 130 of Lucas

Cora laughs. “Regrets it? You can’t regret loving someone, Ava. It’s not like you can just flip a switch and turn off your feelings. Could you stop loving him just because I told you to?”

“No,” I admit, the truth of it settling heavy in my chest.

“Exactly. And for someone like Lucas, who’s always thought love was just a manipulation tactic, a weakness... I’m sure it was hard for him to say it. If he told you he loves you, believe me, he’s thought long and hard about it. He wouldn’t throw those words around casually.” She leans back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“It was a pretty intense night,” I say, knowing Lucas hasn’t told her about the conversation he overheard. He said he needed time to process it, to calm down, before he confronts his father for an explanation. Only then will he tell the others.

“Yeah, I bet.” She waggles her eyebrows. “Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want those mental images in my head.” She throws up her hands, laughing.

Grateful for the change in subject, I seize on it. “How are things going with Arlo?”

“Fine.” She shrugs, her smile dimming a bit.

“Just fine?”

“Yeah.” She purses her lips, a small furrow appearing between her brows. “I don’t know. Actually, not as good as it was before. He’s been pushing to join Lucas’s friend group a lot lately. I asked Lucas to include him once, and he did, but Lucas said it was weird and he didn’t really want Arlo tocome again. So now I’m stuck in an awkward position between them, and I think Arlo is pissed at me about it.”

“Why would he be mad at you for Lucas not wanting him there? How is that your fault?” I frown, not understanding.

She shrugs again. “I don’t know. I think he feels left out, you know? He doesn’t have any family, and he wants to bond with the guys. And now he thinks I’m the one keeping him from fitting in.”

I nod, empathy welling in my chest. I know what it’s like to live without family, to crave that sense of belonging. “Do you want me to talk to Lucas about it?”

Her eyes light up. “Oh my God, yes. Could you? You wouldn’t mind?”

“No problem at all. I’ll ask him to give Arlo another chance.”

I pick up my phone. “Shit. Looks like my battery died. Remind me later?”

She nods. “Thank you, Ava. You’re the best. I’ll try to talk to Dad too. Get him to give you a chance. You should come to our family dinners. You are part of the family.”

Her phone chimes with an incoming message. She picks it up to look, and I watch the color drain from her face, her eyes going wide.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” I ask, alarmed by her reaction.

She lifts her gaze to mine, her expression stricken. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“What’s happened?” I demand again, my pulse racing.

Wordlessly, she hands me the phone.

I stare down at the screen, my stomach plummeting to my toes. It’s a picture of Lucas kissing a gorgeous blonde woman,his hands gripping her ass as they stand outside what looks like a hotel. They look intimate, lost in each other. I try to force a smile, but it feels brittle and false.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

But even as I say the words, doubt coils in my gut, cold and slimy. We made love twice last night and again this morning. He told me he loved me.

Cora zooms in on the photo, squinting at the details. “I don’t think this is a recent picture. No, it can’t be. He wouldn’t do that to you.” She sets the phone down, conviction ringing in her tone. “I know my brother. That’s an old photo.”

She’s right. Sort of. He wouldn’t do that to Valeur.

She doesn’t know about the infidelity clause in our contract, about what would happen to Valeur if he gets caught cheating. There’s no way he’d risk tanking his company for a fuck. And so publicly too. He’s not that stupid.

This has to be an old photo from before our wedding. It’s just surfacing now. It has to be.

My racing heart slows, the tightness in my chest easing. I’m pretty sure it’s nothing. He doesn’t like cheating.

“Call him,” Cora urges, pushing her phone toward me. “He’s probably seeing this too and freaking out, and your phone is dead.”