All I wanted to do was walk out that door and never look back. Take Rowan, Ophelia, and Vander far, far away from Paxton, away from the world. To a magical island like my mom had lied about. The one she said Izzy and I were born on, where peace surrounded us, and nobody could hurt us again. That’s what I cried myself to sleep with, thoughts of a better place. A place with no pain.

I woke to the alarm on my phone, hands searching amongst the covers for the shrill noise. My eyes remained closed while I shut it off, thinking about the time. Six-thirty. Paxton would be expecting his breakfast in thirty minutes. Fat chance of that happening. I rolled to my side and curled into a little ball, but sleep never returned. If he thought for one second I was about to get up and send him off to work with a healthy breakfast, he was crazier than me. I didn’t get up. I lay there and thought about what I had learned. It only made me want to know the rest of the story, yet it didn’t. I should have let it go. I should have told Mi no.

The sudden urge to cry took over when I felt the ache in my chest. My hands fisted the sheets as I rolled to my stomach, burying my face into my pillow, crying like a wounded bird. The sound of my whimper echoed through the quiet room as the pain moved to the pit of my stomach. It felt hurt like nothing I’d ever felt before. My broken body, a brain injury, and a loss of memory didn’t even hurt like that. I was devastated.

Rage instantly took over all the agony when I felt his hand rub my back and his voice softly speak my name. “Gabriella?”

My bare feet hit cool hardwood in a split second. “Don’t say my name like that. Don’t say my name period.”

“I don’t know how to fix this.”

“You never cared about me. Ever. Where’s Rowan’s mom? Why isn’t she in her life?”

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I can’t lose you, Gabriella.”

The bed kept me from ripping his face clean off his head. “You already lost me. Where is she?”

“Texas.”

“Why?”

Paxton shrugged his shoulder and replied with a stupid answer. “She lives there.”

Words spewed from my mouth as quick as the tears ran down my cheeks. “Fuck you, Paxton. Tell me. Tell me why she doesn’t see Rowan. Tell me why she just walked out of her life like that. Stop with all the fucking lies. Tell me.”

His eyes left mine and moved to the floor, but not one explanation came out of his mouth. Not even a lie.

“You wouldn’t let her, would you? You kept her from seeing Rowan. Didn’t you, Paxton? Is that how it was? You walked all over her too, didn’t you? Only she sacrificed her only child to get away from your controlling ass. Is that how it was Paxton? She left you, so you punished her with Rowan?”

Still no words, but the truth is, I didn’t need them. The silence was enough, and I knew that I was right. Rowan’s mom got the hell away from him. The smart one. That’s what she was. I was the idiot, the stupid little fish, feeding off his hook, the one who spent the last six years of my life in hell with a man who had his own mommy and daddy issues. Ones that I would never know about, because he would lie.

“Go to work, Paxton. I don’t want to see your face.”

“What do you want, Gabriella? What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing. Not one fucking thing. Leave.”

I turned to the ocean and the glass door, to the dark sky, away from him and his stupid sad face. Façade. That’s what it was. An act. Paxton could have been the star of my new Lifetime movie. He was great at it. Oscar worthy. My eyes closed with the click of the door, and I willed myself to stop crying. It wasn’t even like I should have been surprised. I mean the guy finger banged me while I was in ICU. Why I thought it was ever different was beyond me, and stupid. Paxton didn’t change, I did.

Two beeps and a blink from the keypad beside my door guaranteed that he had left, setting the alarm on his way out. I walked out, hearing the garage door and then his truck. His anger showed in his tail lights and then the roar of his engine. Paxton revved the motor and squealed tires until I couldn’t see him, his truck fish tailing down the lane.

“That’s nice idiot. Go kill yourself. That’ll make it all better,” I audibly spoke, watching while he peeled out of the driveway, acting like the two-year-old that he was.

I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself. I had so much to think about, so much to figure out, yet they all mixed in one spinning cycle. I didn’t know where to start. I spun in circles, focusing on one major detail after another, never stopping on one. Regardless of how much I hated Paxton, regardless of what happened to Izzy, regardless of what I did with Lane, I had to think about Vander. He had to take precedence over it all.

With a new sense of direction, I heated water for tea. That was my plan, and I intended to tell Paxton so myself. He could like it or not, I didn’t much care. I’d gotten this far by myself, I could keep going. I didn’t need him. I didn’t need him for anything. Not one.

I spent my day doing normal everyday tasks, washed a load of towels, mopped the kitchen, floated in the pool with the girls, took them to dance, and then met Mi for lunch. Chuckie Cheese kept Rowan and Phi busy while I told Mi everything. Every last detail.

“He’s never loved me, Mi. I was never anything more than a toy to him. Why did I marry him? God! Why was I so stupid? You should have seen him. I actually stopped the video at first because he was so ready to attack. I was terrified that I was going to see something that nailed me to a cross, that said what a bad person I was, but I didn’t. I went to Lane for help because he was a phycologist. Because I wanted to please my husband and I couldn’t. You know the part that really hurts, Mi? He kept saying it, trying to get Lane to join him. Lane tried to tell him that he didn’t want to, but Paxton kept it up, telling him how much he was missing out, until he finally did. I’m so mad at him right now,” I explained to Mi while she listened with big eyes and no words.

“Don’t say it like Lane didn’t have a choice. I mean he could have walked away like a decent human being. He’s just as guilty as Paxton. Stop selling yourself so short. If you don’t respect yourself, nobody else will either. Lane’s a douche. What about Vander? What next?”

I sipped lemon water through my straw and turned to Rowan, yelling for me to watch her do a backward flip into the ball pit. I gasped and tried to tell her no, but she did it anyway. “Good job, but don’t you do that again. That’s not very safe,” I scolded while my heart settled and I turned back to Mi. “Someone is coming to our house from the state on Monday. I don’t know what happens after that, but Paxton was sure we’d get him. We just have to go through the red tape first.”

“And then what? Are you going to stay with him? You know you own half of everything, right? Half the house, the money, the business?” Mi questioned while feeding me options.

I chuckled and looked to the girls, both laughing, living in their happy little moments. “We’re talking about Paxton Pierce. I’m sure I signed a prenuptial.”

“Not technically. I mean you are still really Izzy, and a simple blood test can prove that. He would have to pay you child support, but you wouldn’t have to go through all the divorce stuff. He can’t prove that he married you, but you can prove that he fathered your child.”

“That would blow his top. I can see it now.”

Mi turned to the weird alarm on her phone and stood. “So? Blow it. I gotta get back to the hospital. Babies never care about my lunch. They think they can just show up anytime they want. Message me later and let me know if you want the next one.”

“Thanks, Mi. I’ll talk to you later.”

Mi waved to the girls, telling them she had to go bring a new baby into the world, and she would see them later. I watched her leave and sighed a heavy breath, got up, and cleaned up our trash. If I started now, I could get the girls out of there by two. Twenty minutes or so. Luckily we had one more stop, per their request. That would help.

Rowan of course did better than Ophelia. She slid into her sneakers and stood beside me, while I bribed Phi. “We’re not going to have time to stop at the bookstore if you don’t come on,” I coaxed.

Rowan helped with that one. She’d been waiting for the new Scoop book to come out ever since we read the first one. Like six weeks now. “Come on, Phi. Don’t you want to read Scoop?”

I personally wanted to read Scoop. Sarah and Scoop were a team, working together to help animals find a good family. Scoop was a talking dog, but the story line was cute, and it taught many worthy morals. Each book focused on a new kitten or a new dog. The next one was called one last kitten, a misfit left behind. That worked to get them out of there, but somehow I got suckered into two books each by the time we made it to the bookstore.

Rowan made sure I held onto her copy of Scoop while she and Phi sat at a little table reading big picture books. Never mind the whole stack, she didn’t want them to sell out before we left. I unconsciously browsed the boy’s section, choosing a yellow tractor with a big bucket full of dirt. I smiled and tucked it under my arm, giddy inside at the thought of reading it to him.

“Hi, how are you?”

I turned to the familiar voice with a frown and no words.

“Scoop,” Lane said with his copy in the air. “Chance has called me three times already.”

I still couldn’t talk. My mind filled with visions of what I’d learned, and words from Mi. He didn’t have to participate. “Why did you want Nick to keep going? To keep hypnotizing me? You weren’t trying to help me, were you? It was for your benefit. Wasn’t it, Lane?”

Lane’s face dropped, his smile disappeared, and his tan flesh turned white. “What are you talking about?”

“I know. I watched it. I know what you did to me. The first time I ever met you. I know it all,” I said without even thinking about it. I had to, and I had a right to.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Gabby,” he said one more time, a failed attempt for me to believe another lie.

“Why can’t you just tell me, Lane?”

“Gabby, I helped you. I’m not the bad guy here. I did everything I could to help you, don’t you dare say this was all for me. It wasn’t.”

“Why, Lane? Why did you want to help me?”

Lane took a deep breath and sat in one of the little wooden chairs below a window, knees to his chest. “You came to me. I never came to you.”

I sat beside him and probed for him to continue. “For what?”

“Where’s Chance,” Ophelia asked from across the room.

I placed a finger over my lips, reminding her to use her quiet voice. She whispered it next.

Lane quietly told her she was getting her hair done with her mom.

“It was the only time you had ever talked to me about what happened that night. I’m so sorry, Gabby. I know I said that a million times before your accident, but I mean it. I was drunk, young, dumb, I’m sorry.”

“Why did I come to you, Lane?”

“We were all at your house. I used to watch you guys,” Lane said in a faraway tone.

“What do you mean? You watched us? That’s a little creepy.”

“I’m a psychiatrist. I watch how people interact everywhere I go. I was fascinated at how happy you both looked, yet I knew it wasn’t real. He could look at you from across the yard and then to his feet, and you would go to him.”

“Okay, so?”

“Yeah, we were all over at your house. The girls were floating around the pool with drinks except you. You were by his side. I had just told the guys a story about our new guy, Nick, about how I had been watching him erase memories from trauma victims. You heard all the stories I shared about how amazing he was. You came to me because you wanted what happened to you erased. You told me that you couldn’t enjoy sex with your husband because of the rape. I didn’t mean to keep digging, Gabby. It just happened,” he explained. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you’d just gone through that. I’m sorry. I wish I could go back and unlearn it all.”

I ignored the apology, coaxing him to continue. “And then what?”

Lane shrugged his shoulders and exhaled. “After I heard how you described the rape, and then what Paxton and I did to you, I wanted to know more. It was like black and white. You were sad and hurt when you talked about the gang, yet three days later, you were numb. I just thought you were drunk, too. Not numb from a gang rape. I got carried away with your story, with your relationship with Paxton.”

Suddenly, I was mad. I felt violated. “I trusted you.”

Lane set his book to the chair between us and rubbed his face. “I know. I’m sorry. Nobody wishes more for a redo than me. That’s what I would use it on.”

“Why?”

“That’s when I started coaching you on leaving him. That’s when Nick and I started helping you plan your new identity. All of that was going to be gone, you were supposed to take the girls and live happily ever after, Gabby. Not this.”

I looked past him to the girls with a deep breath. “Why can’t you just answer the question? What did you learn?”

“You didn’t watch all the videos?”

“No, only one. I gotta psyche myself up to go through that again. Who knows what’s in the next one, right?”

“Gabby, stop. Just stop with all this. I swear I’m not lying for my own protection. It’s for yours and your family. How did you get those videos?”

“What do you mean my protection?”

“It’s not a threat, Gabby. It’s a warning.”

I didn’t even bother getting that explanation. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. “You think he’s abusive? You wanted me to get away from him because of that, or something else, Lane?” I questioned. There was still something hiding in his mind, but what? Why?

“You deserve better, Gabby. The girls deserve better.”

“Paxton is great with our girls,” I defensively protested. Why I felt the need to protect the bastard was beyond me, but it was the truth. He was an amazing father.

Lane stood with that, and shook his head. “Of course he is. I’m sorry for being a part of that. I’m sorry I did that to you, for everything that I’ve done to you.”

“Lane.” I said while holding up his copy of Scoop, stopping him in his tracks. “He doesn’t hit me,” I said for whatever reason. I guess I didn’t want Lane to think badly of him.

“I know everything he does, Gabby.”

I kept it subtle when I spoke, pointing out the facts. “Because you illegally found out.”

“Goodbye, Gabby. I hope you find the happiness that you’ve been searching for. You really do deserve it.”

Lane took his book and walked away. Out of my life, again. I shook my own head, back and forth at the craziness, and then gathered my troops. I had a casserole to bake and a fake life to live, no time for sulking in silence.

“Come on girls, we have to get going.”

“Can I have this book, too? I like it,” Rowan questioned.

“I said two. If you get that one, you have to put one of these back.”

“Um, I’ll get it next time,” she decided. I knew she would. She was very focused on what two books she wanted before we ever walked through the door.

The girls and I were singing Ariana Grande through loud screams when Mi’s call took over the speakers.

“Hi, that was a fast delivery,” I said through the Bluetooth.

“You told Lane! You told Lane?” she repeated again in a loud tone, not really, but loud for Mi. She was definitely excited.

I took her off of Bluetooth and held the phone to my ear. “Oh my, God, Mi. I didn’t even think about you. I’m so sorry. He was just there and so many things were on my mind. They just came out. I’m so sorry,” I apologized again. Stupid, stupid, drama. Every time I turned around, there was more. Something else.

“Nick’s ready to kill me. Like I’m not even joking, like dead.”

“I don’t know what to say, Mi. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. I honestly didn’t even think about it.”

“You know Nick’s like a computer genius, right? He’s already hacked into my computer. I guarantee it. I’ll bet you a million dollars they’re all gone.”

“I’m not sure I want to learn anymore anyway. Maybe Lane’s right. Maybe I should just forget it, get Vander and move on. I’m so sorry, Mi.” I couldn’t say it enough. I couldn’t believe that I had done that. I tossed Mi under the bus without one thought of Nick finding out.

“Ugh. I’m still mad at you. I gotta go, baby’s coming.”

“I’m sorry, Mi.”

“I know. Forget it. All he can do is kill me, right?”

“Why you sorry, Mommy?” Ophelia asked from the backseat when I hung up.

I looked at both of their staring eyes through the rearview mirror. “Because I told a secret that I promised Mi I wouldn’t tell.”

“Why?” they wondered aloud in unison.

“I didn’t mean to.”

“What was the secret?” Rowan wanted to know.

“Nothing, you wouldn’t understand. Adult stuff.”

Ophelia groaned and rolled her eyes. “I hate adult stuff,” she spouted.

I went about the evening the same way I did my day, never letting Paxton see me fall. I laughed with the girls, ate supper as a family, read two of the new books, and then took a walk along the beach.

Thanks to Mi, I had to go into Rowan’s room so we could recharge our stupid stones. I willed Paxton’s to charge with a slow moving stomach virus. One that made him want to die. I wouldn’t even look at him. I kept my attention on the silly chatter between the girls, and away from his stares.

I’d just gotten out of the shower and into pajamas when I watched him close the door in his office. Probably because he wanted to tell more lies and secrets without me hearing. I tucked the girls into bed, both half asleep already, and went out to the patio from my room with a drink.

The air was cool, and the sky was cloudy. Not a star in the sky. Even the moon was hidden by a haze. I wondered if Mi was right, if Nick hacked into her computer and got rid of everything. Did I care? Did I really want to know? I thought about a lot of things while I searched for answers, staring out to the deep dark sea, holding its own mysteries. I heard his door slide open from above, and almost got up and went inside.

“I’m from Texas,” Paxton said from above my head.

I didn’t look up, and I didn’t reply.

“That’s nice. Where am I from, Paxton?”

“Jesus, Gabriella. I’m trying to communicate here, tell you something you don’t know. Stop being a bitch.”

“So you tell me you’re from Texas? You and your friend had your way with me, and you want to tell me you’re from Texas? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Come up here.”

“No, fuck you, Paxton. I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”

“Well, tough shit. We have a family to raise, and a little boy to tend to.”

Of course he would throw that in there. Stick the knife in the middle of my back while he used our innocent children, and a promise I made to my sister as a pawn. “You think I can’t take care of these kids by myself? I’m perfectly capable of raising them on my own. Women do it every single day.”

“Like I would ever let that happen. I would kill you first.”

I shook my head with the laugh. “You suck at making things better.”

“Come up here and talk to me. We can make it better, Gabriella. I know we can.”

“Or what, you’ll just kill me? Can you see me down here shaking?”

“Come up here and run your mouth like that.”

I knew he was half kidding, but he picked a bad time to do it. “Fuck you, Paxton. You’re not my boss. I don’t have to do this with you. I have choices.”

“Yes, love, you do, and I’m trying to hand some over to you. It’s been this way from the beginning. Can you work with me here?”

“I don’t want some choices. I don’t need you to make my decisions for me.”

“Yes you do. It works for us, Gabriella. I’m trying to make it better. You could stop acting like a bitch and try, too.”

“Okay, sure,” I snapped, arms crossing as I slumped in my chair. Hopeless case. I shut down, giving up on fixing anything with him. Paxton had a one track mind. His. That was it.

My phone lit up from the table, alerting me of a new, one word, message from Mi. Sent. That was all it said, and I knew what she meant. The next video was in my email.

“Come up here, I have the video set up.”

Of course he did. I was sure he knew I had an email before Mi ever texted me. “I don’t need any of this, Paxton. You don’t have anything I want, except for those two little girls in there. That’s it.”

“Please come up here.”

“I deserve better than you, Paxton. There’s a man out there that would love me like I want to be loved, like every woman deserves,” I said with enough attitude to prove a point, yet not overboard.

“No man will ever love you like I do, Gabriella.”

“I hate the way you love me.”

“I wish I could take it back, go back to the beginning and start over. You came into my life at a bad time. You were exactly what I needed at exactly the right time. I played my hand totally different with you than I did with Tatiana.”

“What does that mean?”

“Come up here. Let’s watch the video. I’d rather hear it from your perspective.”

“I’m so mad at you Paxton,” I admitted as my eyes moved up and tears burned behind them.

“I’m sorry. Come here. Please.”

Just like the idiot that I’d always been around him, I bit the hook, and he reeled me in. Dumb little fish. I walked up the steps with crossed arms, and a standoffish attitude, ready to take on the world, or at least Paxton. He wasn’t waiting at the door like I had expected him to be, he was out on the balcony, seated on the love seat. I don’t know why that made me mad. I would have walked right by him anyway. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be respectful.

I sat beside him with enough distance between us to fit both girls without speaking one word. The blanket from the back of the sofa worked great as a barrier, and that’s exactly what I used it for. An obstruction to keep from being too close to him.

Paxton gave me a look and then opened the email, only there was a message from Mi first. Nick wanted us both to sign a nondisclosure, promising that neither of us would talk about the videos to anyone other than us, and that in no way possible could we hold him responsible. We both electronically signed it, and waited for the next email. A video that would cause more pain, more agony, yet had to be done. I even tried to consider myself lucky. Not all amnesia patients had a library of recorded videos. Yup, I was the lucky one. Silence occupied the space between us, almost as thick as the tension while we waited for slow poke Mi to send it over.

I smiled when I looked down to my phone and read her message.

Mi—This wasn’t my idea.

Gabby—Idea? What did you do, Mi?

Mi—It wasn’t me. You should have kept your mouth shut. You okay?

Gabby—Yes, Mi.

Mi—Want to do lunch next week? I got the girls a new stone. I want to give it to them.

Gabby—Yes, for sure. What did you do?

Paxton opened his hand for my phone and I handed it over with a ‘fuck you’ glare.

“What? Now you don’t think I should have access to your phone either?”

“I gave it to you, didn’t I? How about you give me access to yours? Show me what else you’re hiding?”

Paxton looked at me through narrowed eyes while he slid his phone from his front pocket.

I didn’t respond because I didn’t know how. I wasn’t expecting that, not even a little. I smartly swiped it from his hand and he offered the password.

I don’t know what I expected to find, but Paxton was sort of a work-a-holic, and as much as I hate to admit it, a family man. That’s what I looked at. I started with his text messages, but they were all to me, or guys he worked with. I almost smiled when I went to his photos, but kept it hidden. I didn’t want to smile. Paxton didn’t deserve that side of me, yet we did look like a happy family. Anyone looking from the outside in, would see that, and then I was gone. Rowan and Phi filled his phone and I was a ghost.

“I never told you to stay out of a photo,” Paxton defensively assured me.

“Yeah, obviously,” I nonchalantly said as my finger swiped the next one. I hated that he could read me like that. That he knew what went through my mind by the expression on my face. I did smile with the next swipe. Rowan was upside-down, stuck on the slide by the seat of her pants. Ophelia’s entire face lit up with laughter, watching her sister dangle in the air. I loved that laugh. It was something between a cackling chicken and goat. Funniest thing ever, and contagious.

Paxton took his phone and went back to the beginning, the ones where I was. “You photobombed this one,” he said with a finger pointed right to me. I was behind the girls, rabbit ears behind both their heads, “the ones from Disney, you made sure someone else took our photo. You put yourself in them. I never told you that you couldn’t.”

“But you never told me I could, right?”

“I guess that depends on who you ask. There’s always three sides, mine, yours, and the truth.”

I didn’t bother to hide the attitude. I wanted him to see it. “Yeah, okay.”

“You didn’t jump in the center of Rowan and Ophelia when I wanted a picture before. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Whatever, are you done snooping through my phone?”

“What’s she talking about?” he questioned.

He gave me my phone, and pouted, crossing my arms over my chest, staring straight ahead. Full blown, teenage attitude intact. “Did she reply, Paxton? I don’t know. You read the same thing I read. You tell me.”

Paxton moved his face close to mine while one hand slithered up my arm and to my throat. Sneaky like a snake. Sultry words from his breath touched my lips when he spoke, forcing a few extra beats in my heart. Like a coward, I backed down. “I’m not your enemy, Gabriella. I fucking love you. Can you stop feeling sorry for yourself for five minutes and see that? Can you do that, Gabriella?” Paxton didn’t give me time to reply. He kissed me, really kissed me and I kissed him back, feeling that glittery explosion in my chest. “Stop, okay?” he asked as his fingers slid down my chest. With another soft kiss, Paxton moved to my side, this time closer, where the blanket separated us before.

I still didn’t respond. I stared ahead, letting the adrenaline flow in my veins while he went to my email, and opened the newest message. Only it wasn’t a video either. It was a link to join a video chat.

“Now what?” Paxton questioned, frustration evident in his tone.

I didn’t speak until he looked over to me. “What? I’m not answering you, because you get mad at me when I say I don’t know. Yet you keep asking questions that I don’t know the answer to.”

Paxton shook his head a little like he had no clue what I had just said, and frowned. It made perfect sense in my head. He hit the download button and leaned back, waiting for the installing process.

We watched the slow green bar, avoiding eye contact until Paxton broke the silence. “I have to close off the glass door in your room and make it a window.”

“Why?” I asked, confusion heard in my tone.

“Vander can’t be in a room with an exit to the pool. The state won’t allow it. I’ve got guys coming Saturday to help me switch it out. I thought maybe we’d put a window seat there instead.”

I didn’t care about a window seat. I heard one thing. “Where am I going to sleep?”

Paxton snickered, lacing his fingers through mine. “With me, I hope.”

“Every night?”

“That is normal, Gabriella. Most married couples do sleep in the same bed.”

Both our expressions changed to frowns when Paxton hit the button to join the conversation. A close up of Nick took over the screen.

“Nick?” I questioned.

“Oh, hey.”

“Gabby, Gabby!” Mi called from the background. Her arm waved wildly while she jumped up and down, determined to get my attention.

Of course I had to laugh at her. “Hey, Mi. I’m still sorry.”

She moved in closer to Nick and then scolded me. “You already said that. Don’t ever say it again. That’s in the past. Hey, Pax.”

“It’s Paxton. Hi.”

“This is my boyfriend, Nick.”

“How are you, and I’m not her boyfriend. I break up with her every day, but she won’t go away.”

I smiled when Mi kissed his cheek.

Paxton did not. He had to be a dick. “What is this?”

Nick lost the half smile he’d directed toward Mi, and cleared his throat. “As a professional, I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue with this arrangement Mi made with your wife. I know what’s on every video. I can’t see where hearing one side of things will help anything. There’s always three sides, yours, hers, and the truth,” Nick explained.

“Ha, told you,” Paxton boasted like he’d been the first one to ever say the phrase.

“So, what are you suggesting, Nick?” I questioned while sidestepping Paxton’s ego with a look.

“I’m going let you listen to the rest of the videos while we talk about them. I'll ask you both questions about what I’ve learned in the next video. I’ve already watched it twice today, so it should go pretty smooth. Got it?”

I said okay right away, but my obstinate husband did not. He pulled me inside.

“Hold please.”

“What, Paxton? What?” I questioned in an exasperated tone.

“I’m not talking to this guy. He works for Lane. I don’t want that fucker knowing my business.”

I tossed my arms into the air in disbelief and reminded him of the facts. “I think that fucker already knows your business.

“I’m not talking to a psychologist about my personal life,” he assured me.

I tried my best to keep my cool, but stupid is stupid. “Fine, Paxton. I’ll go it alone. I’ll download it to my tablet.”

I took one slow step toward the door, knowing he’d pull me back.

“I say when we stop,” he insisted while pulling on the back of my shirt.

“No, you don’t, Paxton. How about we make it an us thing? You know, like a partner kind of deal.”

A deep breath, a stressed expression, and an open hand to the terrace, conveyed my win. Somehow I didn’t think anyone was going to win at this.

Letting Paxton’s ego off the hook, I started. “Okay, Nick. What do you want us to do?”

“Where are your stones?” Mi called from behind him.

Nick pushed her away. “You don’t need stones. I’m going to tell you—”

“Yes they do. Yes you do. Where are they?” Mi questioned.

Nick crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, but she too won. He waited for her to do her thing before continuing, attitude showing in his demeanor, just like mine.

“Mine’s downstairs on my bathroom sink,” I said, unable to hide the amusement. I loved the way Mi just overruled Nick, totally sidestepped his requests.

“Go get them. Where’s yours, Pax?”

“I got it right here.” That surprised me. I didn’t think for one second Paxton would carry the stupid stone, let alone believe in anything magical. He didn’t even correct her when she called him Pax.

I knew better than to argue with Mi. If she said I needed my hematite, I needed it. She wouldn’t shut up until I got it.

Not only did Paxton carry his own little rock on him at all times, he offered to get mine. I was sure he had a fever. “I’ll go. I want a beer.”

“I’m not sure about this, Nick. Paxton’s not one to air his dirty laundry,” I said, worried about the outcome, using my time alone with him wisely. He wasn’t the one on a second-floor balcony. I might slip, thanks to Paxton.

“I get that, but I was there. I already know everything.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think I’m the wrong twin?”

“Not at all. That’s why I want to be here. That’s why I want to be the one in charge. This is about to get real, Gabby.”

I took a deep breath, not sure I was ready for any more real. How much realer could it get? Now that was a loaded question.