Page 13

Chapter Twelve

Monday morning, I woke up with pain shooting down my left leg from my hip to my toes. My lower back and butt were also achy, and it was hard to feel anything but weariness. This was definitely not how I'd envisioned my honeymoon. I had yet to put on my wedding lingerie. I had yet to have sex with my husband. I'd gone to bed before he'd come back from the bonfire, and while I'd sort of heard him moving around and felt him kiss my cheek, I hadn't found the energy to open my eyes. I hadn't wanted to talk to him. I was in too much pain, and I was also too confused about everything going on in my life.

But I would have to talk to him today. It wasn't fair to be talking to Ethan behind Andrew's back. I needed to find a way to trust my husband, and to rebuild that trust, we needed to have a longer discussion.

As I turned onto my back, I put out my hand, thinking Andrew was sleeping beside me, but my fingers landed on the mattress. I rolled over onto my bad side, surprised to see that the other side of the bed was empty, and the sheets were cool. I didn't know where Andrew had gone so early. Although, as I looked at the clock, I realized it was after nine. I was usually up and running by seven. But I wouldn't be running anywhere any time soon.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand, and I reached for it, seeing a call from Andrew.

"Hello?"

"Morning, beautiful," he said, his warm greeting reminding me that I really did love this man, and I needed to get things back on track.

"Where are you? I just woke up and realized you weren't here."

"I met Colin and Jay for breakfast. You were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got thrown from a horse."

"Still in pain?"

"Yes. Quite a bit, actually."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you taking the ibuprofen?"

"I haven't yet, but I will."

"You might need something stronger, Lauren."

"Hopefully the pain will ease with a hot shower. How was the bonfire last night?"

"It was good. But you didn't miss anything that exciting."

"Who was there?"

"There were probably about thirty people," he replied. "Megan had me take some photos with the guests, but she wasn't too pushy about it. She knew I wasn't the big draw on my own."

"I'm sure you were still popular. You're always the life of the party." I paused, knowing I probably shouldn't ask, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. "Was Allison there?"

"Yes," he said. "Along with Jay, Colin, and Harper. Jamie and Brad were there, too. She said to tell you she was thinking of you and hoped you were feeling better."

I'd gotten texts from both Harper and Jamie last night, but I hadn't had the energy to answer either of them. I needed to do that today.

"What are you doing now?" I asked.

"I thought I'd walk into town with the guys, if you don't mind. I figured you might want to rest before our lunch cruise this afternoon."

I sighed, once again reminded of my obligations. But a luxury cruise on a mega yacht really wasn't a hardship, so I needed to change my attitude.

"I can come back to the suite, if you don't want to be on your own," Andrew continued.

"No," I said quickly. "You're right. I'd rather rest up for later today. Is it just the guys, or is Allison going, too?"

"Oh, my God, Lauren. Why are you so stuck on her?" Andrew asked with irritation.

"I'm stuck on her because I keep finding out things about her you haven't told me."

"What are you talking about?"

"A trip to Paris six weeks ago. You said you were going to New York that week, but you went to Paris with Allison."

"I didn't go with her. She just happened to be there. And I wasn't alone; I was with Colin."

"Harper mentioned that Colin had been there. Apparently, he wasn't keeping that as a secret. Why were you?"

Silence followed my accusation, and it felt like Andrew was either trying to come up with a plausible explanation for not telling me about the trip, or he was trying not to yell at me. It really could be either. Finally, he said, "It was a last-minute trip. I was in New York, but Colin got us a meeting with a potential investor in Paris. It was too important to pass up, so we jumped on a plane. Allison was in Paris on her own business, completely unrelated to ours. But we did have dinner one night together—all three of us."

"I get why you didn't tell me before, but we talked almost every night. Why wouldn't you say, guess what, I had to make a quick trip to Paris? Or why wouldn't you tell me when you got back?"

"I felt bad going without you. We'd talked about making that our first trip together, and I thought you would be disappointed that I'd gone without you."

"Were you ever going to tell me?" I asked. "Or were you going to pretend you'd never been there with your friends?"

"I was going to tell you. It just didn't come up. When I got back, we were in crazy, hectic wedding planning and I didn't think about it."

He seemed sincere, but there were starting to be too many moments where he'd thought something wasn't important enough to tell me about, which made me wonder what else I didn't know.

"Who told you about Paris?" Andrew asked. "Harper?"

"No. She told me Colin was there. She didn't know if you were there, too. Although, she thought Allison was."

"Then who told you I was there? Or should I guess—Ethan Stark?"

"Yes, it was him. He stopped by last night to talk to me about the incident on the trail." That wasn't exactly how it happened, but I didn't feel like getting into the various conversations I'd had with Ethan.

"The incident?" Andrew queried. "Why do you say it like that?"

"Because it doesn't look like my horse was stung by a bee. It looks like someone threw a rock and spooked Sally."

"What are you talking about?"

"The video Tyler posted online. You can see something hitting the horse. It was deliberate, Andrew. Someone threw a rock on purpose. I don't know whether it was to scare me or to hurt me, but I don't think it was a bee."

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I saw the video after you left last night."

"And you talked to Stark about it? What's he going to do?"

"Look into it, along with hotel security, I don't know. He's still suspicious of us, Andrew. He thinks it's odd how the two people who barely escaped the hotel fire are now in Victor's inner circle, invited into his private gallery to see his personal collection."

"That's because you work for the company and we're featured in the marketing campaign," Andrew said. "You need to start avoiding this guy. Every time you talk to him you get all worked up about nothing. I don't understand why he makes you doubt everyone else in your life, how he makes you doubt me. For God's sake, we just got married. Didn't your vows mean anything to you? Because they meant something to me. If someone was accusing you of something, I'd be the first one to defend you."

"I have defended you," I said, shocked by his fiery words. "And it's not just you he doubts; it's me, too." That wasn't completely true, but it felt better to say it that way. "I hate that he keeps revealing small details about you that I don't know. I don't want to doubt you. I love you. And I have defended you to Ethan, and then he reveals a detail about you that I didn't know, and it weakens my defense because it makes me look like I don't know you."

"You know me, Lauren. You know what's important. The rest is noise."

"Maybe you need to stop deciding what's important for me to know and be more open."

"Maybe so," he said tightly. "I have to go now. Everyone is waiting for me. I'll see you later."

He was gone before I could say goodbye. I set the phone back on the table. Then I shifted my position on the mattress, ending up on my back, looking at the ceiling, my thoughts a jumbled mess, my emotions all over the place, and the pain in my hip and leg didn't help. It almost felt worse today than it had yesterday. So bad it made me want to cry a little. But as my eyes blurred with tears, I knew I wasn't just crying because of my physical injuries but also because everything with Andrew felt suddenly wrong, and I didn't know what to do about it. I was starting to worry I had married a man I didn't really know. Or maybe I had let Ethan get too far into my head.

Well, there wasn't anything I could do from bed, so I forced myself to get up, taking it slow because every movement was painful. I finally managed to get into a warm shower and stayed there for a long time. Over the next hour, I managed to get dressed and do my hair and makeup, looking far more presentable than I actually felt.

Andrew texted me he'd be back around eleven thirty. Realizing, I still had a half hour to myself, I started to unpack Andrew's bags. It felt like a wifely thing to do. I wasn't spying. I was being helpful.

My mental pep talk didn't really matter as there was nothing more than clothes in Andrew's suitcases. I don't know what I had been expecting. He certainly wasn't hiding a painting in his carry-on. But as I went to hang up Andrew's bomber jacket, something fell out of his pocket, and I stared in surprise at the phone on the ground.

It wasn't the phone he normally used. It looked plain and cheap. I picked it up, my hand suddenly shaky as I stared at the partial text still visible on the screen. It was from someone named Al and read: If you cut me out, you'll be…

I tried to click on the rest of the message, but it asked me for a password, and I didn't know Andrew's password. I tried a few number combinations, like his birthday and mine, but neither worked. Why would it? If he had a second phone, he would make sure it was locked up. He wouldn't want someone to read his private messages.

I sat down on the bed so hard, pain shot up my leg again, but I barely felt it this time. I was numb. Al was probably Allison, and she was angry because she thought Andrew was cutting her out of something. What? What would they be doing together? And it sure felt like the end of her message you'll be… was the start of the phrase that had been written on the wall of the bridal suite: You'll be sorry . I'd thought the message was for me, but maybe it was for Andrew.

Looking down at the phone again, I wished there was a way I could get into it, that I could read the rest of that message, that I could see what else was on the phone. Maybe I could ask Ethan. Perhaps he could get into it, but then I'd have to give it to him. And what would happen when Andrew went looking for it?

I got up from the bed, returned the phone to the pocket of his jacket, and hung it in the closet. Then I zipped the empty suitcases and shoved them inside before closing the door. My breath was still coming fast, my head spinning with questions I couldn't answer. Maybe he just had a second phone for work. But that sounded like another excuse, and if I asked him about it, no doubt he'd come up with a similar explanation, something that would make me feel stupid for even asking about it.

The door to the suite suddenly opened and closed, and I hastily moved into the bathroom and shut the door, turning on the sink, as I pulled myself together.

A knock came at the door, and Andrew's voice rang through the air. "Lauren? I'm back."

"I'll be right out." I let the water run for another thirty seconds, staring at myself in the mirror, feeling like I was looking at a stranger. Was Andrew the person who'd suddenly changed or was it me?

"Lauren, I need to get in there," Andrew said. "We have to leave in fifteen minutes."

His voice pulled me back to reality. I shut off the water and rubbed my cheeks to bring some color back into my face. Then I put on a smile and opened the door. "Sorry. I'm moving a little slower today."

"It's okay." His gaze scanned my face. "You look better. Do you feel better?"

"No. I'm still in a lot of pain."

"I had a feeling…" He pulled a bottle from his pocket. "I took this when I hurt my back a few months ago, and it gave me a great deal of relief. I think you should take one or two."

"I'm not good with strong painkillers. They make me feel sick."

"One won't hurt you, and it could really help." He held out the bottle to me. "Hang on to this in case you change your mind."

"Okay. I'll think about it," I said, moving back into the bedroom. I grabbed a sweater to throw over my white denim jeans and tank top and then put the medication into my bag. For now, I wanted to keep a clear head, and if that meant living through some pain, so be it.

We left the room a few minutes later. Andrew had taken a very fast shower and then thrown on khakis and a polo shirt. He had arranged for a golf cart to meet us in front of the lobby so I didn't have to walk down to the harbor.

He grabbed my hand as we sat down in the cart and gave it a squeeze, followed by his broad smile. "This will be fun," he said.

"I hope so. Who all is going?"

He let out a little sigh. "Should I start with the one person you're most interested in?"

"I assume that's Allison."

"Yes. Victor invited her, not me. They met this morning to discuss her designs."

"Great," I murmured.

"Colin and Harper are also coming, so you'll have a friend there besides me."

"What about Jay?"

"Victor told me I could bring him along, but Jay wanted to kayak. He'd rather be paddling a kayak than sitting out on the water sipping cocktails with a bunch of rich people," he said dryly.

"Maybe he's starting to feel like the odd man out with Harper and Colin spending so much time together."

"I don't think he cares about that."

"Do you think Colin likes Harper?"

"Looks that way to me. But who knows? They seem to be having fun."

"Harper got her heart broken last year. I hope it doesn't happen again."

"She's known him for two days. I don't think her heart is involved," he said.

He was probably right, but I could still remember the joy in her voice when she'd told me she thought she could fall for Colin. Well, she was a grown woman, and she could make her own choices.

As the cart hit a bump, I winced.

"I'm sorry you're still in pain," Andrew said. "I really think you should take the pills I gave you."

"I'll be okay," I said, happy when we arrived at the harbor. It was getting more difficult to talk to Andrew the way I used to talk to him. I wondered if we could ever get back to the way we'd been. Probably not until we got off this damn island. For now, I was going to have to fake it, and I was getting shockingly good at that.