Page 26 of Whispers of Wisteria

Dean’s shoulders tensed. “Is he a suspect?”

“Not exactly.” Damen stroked his jaw. “His connection to Eric Richards has been known since Abigail’s first investigation—but the history is clear. But… Bianca’s vulnerable, and wolves are a trigger for her. Let’s distance them as much as possible for now.”

“Ryan would kill for her,” Dean said slowly. “But he can only help if you let him know.”

“We will. Let’s just clear everything first,” Damen conceded. “But know that Bianca might not ever be ready to meet him.”

“It would take a lot for her to be ready,” I pointed out.

“Yes,” Damen agreed. “Until then, we need to address these rumors—somehow. Let’s give it a day and see how the atmosphere changes. Then we adjust.”

I nodded. It wasn’t the most proactive plan, but until we understood how much damage had been done, anything else might make things worse.

5

Bianca POV

An hour passed,before Brayden left for another class. I continued studying until, finally, Damen texted me asking to meet.

I was more than ready. The medicine had begun to wear off, and my stomach was torn between agonizing pain and eating itself from hunger. The only thing that might cure me would be that particular kind of chocolate the onmyoji had given me earlier.

Or just any chocolate in general.

But that one especially.

However, as I meandered past the front desk, I was waved down by the most surprising person.

“Miss Brosnan?” the head librarian, Ms. McKinnen, called out as she lowered her hand. “Or…” She smiled lightly—and a bit mischievously—as her apologetic gaze moved over me. “I suppose it’s Mrs. Dubois now. I didn’t get a chance to congratulate you earlier. Are you waiting for your husband?”

My skin prickled as a chill of disgust passed over me.

It was one thing to refer to Bryce as my ‘husband’ in our small group, but it was something else entirely to hear someone else say it.

We—at least—knew the truth.

But the disgusting reality was that the rest of the world believed we were madly in love.

“Yes, he should be off soon.” I tried to sound pleasant, but I was sure my voice wavered.

I hadn’t expected to be questioned on this topic. But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I only had to keep things as close to the truth as possible, without spilling the beans, of course.

I forced myself to smile despite how weird this brother-husband thing was beginning to make me feel.

If people were talking about usnow, what would the rumors be when our real relationship came out?

Gross.

“Let me just say…” the middle-aged woman began, abandoning the screen she’d been entranced by only moments ago. She pushed a small stack of book returns to the side and leaned forward, and her mouth lifted as the gossip began. “I think it’s just fabulous that he’s finally settling down. I’ve always thought that he was such a shy boy—sweet though, and definitely charming.”

Ew. Bryce was none of those things. He was calculating and sneaky, but in a good way.

There had to be a good way to be sly. Right?

I fought the urge to touch my head.

What was this? Was I growing fond of Bryce? It was hard not to like him. I couldn’t fault him for his evilness either; it could be an excellent trait that showed intellect and passion.

But these things… was that really how the world saw him?