“How well do you actually know this guy?” Alex planted his feet shoulder width apart and crossed his tattooed arms over his chest.

“I—” I closed my mouth around the hollow words I’d been about to speak. After the Stacia revelation, I wasn’t sure of my answer.

Those uncomfortable few minutes around the dining room table had proven there were some pretty large gaps in my knowledge. While I might have known David’s body like the back of my hand, I was forced to admit a good number of things about him were still a mystery.

And yet I’d confessed to having already fallen in love with him. And he’d let me, even though he’d known he’d been keeping something as monumental as having been married before a secret.

Honestly, I didn’t know where that left us.

I’d put my heart on the line, only to have him betray me. And in front of my family no less. That wasn’t awkward or anything.

“That’s what I thought,” Alex rumbled when I couldn’t come up with an answer. And then he pulled me into a big old bear hug. “You have the worst luck with men, Vick. If I didn’t know better, I might think you were cursed.”

I set my palms to his chest and pushed him away. “If you’re trying to console me, you’re doing a piss poor job of it.”

“Who said anything about consoling? If it were up to me, I’d march us back into that room, grab the fucker, and let you beat him senseless.”

“Isn’t that assault?”

Alex smirked. “Not if he doesn’t report it.”

“Are you always this fast and loose with the law, Officer Witherspoon?”

His tone sobered. “Only when my little sister’s heart is on the line. Not to be a dick or anything, but you should be married with kids by now.”

I pretended to be offended. In truth, I felt exactly the same. When David and I had met, I’d secretly wondered if fate had been saving me for him. Now, I realized how silly the thought had been.

The longer I stood there with my brother, the more I began to question my feelings. Had I really fallen in love with David? Or had I been feeling like a loser because my mom had managed to find love six times while I’d maybe been in love once. Except now, I knew I hadn’t been in love with Andy Morrison. Instead, I’d loved the mind-blowing orgasms he’d given me during our junior year of college.

And as eye opening as that experience had been, sex with David had been revelatory. I’d never known I could come as long, as hard, or as frequent as I had with him.

Back then, I thought I’d loved Andy. What if I had fallen into the same trap with David. What if I simply loved my orgasms after such a long draught? What if I’d fallen in love with his body, and how he used it to bring me pleasure?

I cared for him. That much I could say with one hundred percent certainty. But love? If sex was off the table, would I still feel the same?

I shook my head to banish the questions swirling in my brain. I wasn’t that woman. Not anymore. Today, I was fully capable of distinguishing between sex and love, and I knew deep in my heart that I had real, honest-to-goodness feelings for David.

Feelings I thought he’d reciprocated.

If that was the case, why had he lied to me?

“Nuh-uh,” Alex said, interrupting my internal struggle. “I know that look.” He twirled his index finger in front of my face. “You’re wondering what you did wrong.”

“I am not.” I lifted my chin and held his gaze. If I looked strong in the face of his scrutiny, maybe I’d feel strong when forced to face the rest of my family—and David.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pulling on the roots. “It was a dick move, Vick. That’s on him.”

I felt my chin wobble as I answered. “I know.”

I did. Really. And yet I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d willfully ignored the clues. If I hadn’t actually wanted to know the truth.

David had told me that he didn’t date. I should have stopped the conversation right then and there to ask why. I should have probed further. But I hadn’t. And that was on me.

The truth was, I’d been so caught up in the rush of being with him, so enamored with the idea that I was somehow special because he was willing to date me, that it hadn’t even occurred to me to say something.

“But—”

Alex’s jaw clenched. “No buts, Vick. He should have told you before he slept with you.”

“Do you tell every woman you sleep with your entire life’s history.”

“No, but I do make sure they know the score up front.”

“And what’s that?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest to mirror his stance.

“They get one night with this.” He smirked and ran his hand up and down his body like Vanna White.

While Theo might have been named one of New England’s most promising CEOs, Alex was not without accolades of his own. He’d twice posed for a charity calendar featuring police officers in various states of undress. Since then, he’d established quite the little fan club.

“You’re a pig.”

He laughed. “And you’re a prude.”

“Asshole.” I smiled when I said it.

I didn’t really think my brother was an asshole. Honestly, they were all pretty terrific. I’d won the sibling lottery and I knew it.

He smiled. “Feel better?”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

And then I decided to admit the role I’d played in this whole drama. “I think maybe David did try to tell me … but I didn’t want to hear it.”

I might not know all the skeletons in his closet, but I had the measure of him as a man, and I honestly believed he would have come clean with me. Eventually.

The question that gnawed at my gut as I stood talking with my brother was how long eventually would have taken. Would it have taken David days to bring up his ex-wife? Weeks? The problem was, I couldn’t say.

And that was the source of my unease.

How long would he have let me think that I was it for him … the woman he’d been waiting for?

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“The first night we met he specifically said that he hadn’t let himself get close to someone in years. He told me he’d had bad luck with relationships.” I chewed my lip, recalling the look on David’s face when he’d confessed that he’d never been the one to end a relationship. It was one of the things we’d bonded over.

My brother stared at me for a beat and then his gaze softened. “Fuck. You’ve got it bad.”

“I really do.”

“What are you going to do?”

I honestly didn’t know. Which meant it was time for David and me to have a talk. A long one.

“Come on,” I said, grabbing my brother by the hand. “It’s time to face the music.”

“What did we miss?” Alex asked the moment we stepped through the door. He dropped down into his seat and immediately dove into his food.

Meanwhile, I took up residence in Drew’s old seat since he was now sitting in mine … right next to David, whose concerned expression I refused to meet. Instead, I turned and watched my brother shovel turkey tetrazzini down his gullet like he was trying to win a food eating competition.

I held in my laugh while I waited for him to realize the error of his ways. In three, two, one …

All at once Alex’s mouth stopped moving and he reached for his glass of water, chugging down what was left in three quick gulps, trying to choke down his least favorite meal on the planet. Then, as if nothing untoward had happened, he sat back and waited for someone to answer his question.

Drew leaned forward. “Well, for starters, I just came out.”

Alex’s brow furrowed, and for a minute I was worried he was going to say something insensitive. Not that I was worried my brother was a homophobe. He absolutely wasn’t. But for as great as he’d just been with me, he could also be obtuse about people’s feelings. The problem was, you never knew which Alex you were going to get. “You did?”

The light in Drew’s eyes faded as he swallowed and nodded. “Yes.”

Alex scratched his beard, his confusion evident from the look on his face. “But I caught you making out with Mindy Hammersmith in the barn. You looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

“Making out” was the polite way of putting it. Mindy had actually been down on her knees giving Drew a blow job to end all blow jobs. To hear Alex tell it, neither our brother nor Mindy had noticed him. It had taken him purposefully knocking over a can of nails for them to realize they had an audience.

Drew’s cheeks turned pink and his eyes flicked to mine for support. I gave him a quick nod. I had his back, and I was sure as soon as Alex understood the situation, he would too. “I like men and women,” he explained. “I’m bisexual.”

Alex’s eyes lit with understanding. “Oh! Right. Well, good for you, I guess.”

“You’re not mad?”

Alex laughed and shook his head. “Hell no. I was just confused since … well, um. You know.” He tilted his head and bugged out his eyes. When Drew went from pink to scarlet, Alex continued, “I don’t care who you fuck, so long as you enjoy doing it.”

Drew laughed and said, “Thanks, I guess,” at the same time our mom yelled “Language!” her face contorting into a grimace. “Really, Alex. We’re at the dinner table.”

“Sorry, Ma.” Alex shrugged.

We all knew he wasn’t sorry at all.

Our mom rolled her eyes and pushed back from the table, gathering her and Richard’s empty plates. “I swear, sometimes I wonder about you kids …” she muttered as she headed toward the kitchen, her husband trailing behind her.

Theo spun the stem of his wine glass between his fingers, Drew was staring at Theo, and Alex was staring at David, who cleared his throat uncomfortably. “She was getting suspicious,” my oldest brother explained.

“About Drew?” I asked.

Theo shook his head. “No, about your reaction to David’s divorce, you nincompoop.”

I flicked my eyes between David and my brother, feigning innocence. “What reaction?”

Theo’s eyes flashed with a mixture of exasperation and fondness while David winced. “Really, Victoria. Your face went white and you ran out of here like you couldn’t get away fast enough. It pinged mom’s spidey senses.”

For the first time since I’d re-entered the dining room, I let my gaze land on David.

“I told her we’d been talking.”

My jaw dropped open. “You did what? Why?”

“Relax,” he said, pushing his plate to the side and linking his fingers on the table in front of him. “She thinks I’ve been giving you book advice.”

“You have,” I answered, my lips twitching.

“She was impressed I knew you hated Faulkner.”

I gasped. “You didn’t tell her about the ferry, did you?”

“What about the ferry?” Alex was glaring at David again. After our talk out in the living room, I thought he’d chill out, but it seemed he was back to being the overprotective hulk he always was.

David looked at me, his eyes pleading. “Do you think we can have this conversation somewhere private?” His head bounced between my three brothers. “No offense guys, but this isn’t about you.”

“No offense taken,” Drew said, jumping out of his seat and practically skipping to the kitchen. I hadn’t noticed before how heavily his secret had weighed on him, but now that his sexuality was out in the open, it was like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He looked almost giddy with relief.

Theo and Alex weren’t so easily placated, however.

Theo stared at David for a few moments. If Drew was fun loving and impetuous, and Alex was stern and foreboding, Theo was calm and unflappable. Except right now he looked … flapped. Like he wanted to say something, but didn’t have the slightest idea what.

“It’s okay, Theo. I got this.”

His gaze swung to me. “You sure, Vick?”

I nodded. “I’m sure.”

Alex grunted, and pushed back from the table. “Come on, man. Let’s go raid the liquor cabinet.”

With one last steely eyed glare at David, Theo nodded and stood. “Yeah, I could use a drink.”

When it was just David and me alone, I didn’t know what to say. I pushed my hair behind my ears and tugged on the bottom of my blouse. I fidgeted with my earring. Eventually, David reached for my hand, and I stared down at where our fingers were clapped together, too scared to see what was on his face.

“Victoria.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I kept my eyes locked on our hands as his thumb brushed a path over my skin. Back and forth, back and forth. I tried not to melt under his touch.

“Look at me, please.”

I filled my lungs and swallowed down my trepidation before raising my eyes to find him staring at me, the look on his face so open and earnest. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to, but …”

“It’s okay. I get it.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not okay. I should have said something that first night, but you looked at me like … “ He blew out a breath. “Well, like no one else ever had before, and I didn’t want to be a disappointment. I didn’t want to chase you away.”

“You wouldn’t have,” I said, even as I wondered if that was the truth. I liked to believe I wouldn’t have judged David for having been married once before, but a little part of me wondered if I would have been less excited about the prospect of being in a relationship with him.

Almost as if he could read my mind, he said, “Despite your mom’s many marriages, you still believe there’s a happily-ever-after out there waiting for you. I was scared you’d think I couldn’t give you that, when I’d already failed at marriage once before.”

My stomach lurched. Despite my earlier misgivings, sitting there with David’s thumb gently stroking my skin—with his voice and his words digging deep into my heart—I couldn’t deny what my heart was telling me. No matter how shocked I’d been earlier, I did want to build a future with him.

“I do want a happily-ever-after,” I confirmed.

David’s shoulders drooped. “I see.”

From the dejected look on his face, I knew he didn’t. “I don’t think you do.”

His brows folded down into a deep vee. “I don’t?”

“I don’t care about your past, David. I only care about your future … and whether I’m in it.”

He leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. “You aren’t in my future, Victoria. You are my future.”