Jia doesn’t say a word for a while. I don’t try to fill in the silence. Any kind of pretense is thrown out the window now that I know my suspicions are correct. She’s hiding something, and I’m about to find out what it is.

Mitch is pissing me off. I’ve called him several times but couldn’t reach him. It would have helped to have some kind of information from him to help me determine whether Jia is about to lie to me or not.

I watch her tremble beneath my gaze. My eye is highly trained to her movements—inside and outside the bedroom. Right now, her movements tell me she’d rather be anywhere else but here.

“Baby, talk to me,” I say, breaking the silence. “Since we started this cruise, you haven’t been yourself. I’ve asked you several times if you’re okay, and you lied to me every time. I can tell that something is going on with you. You haven’t been here with me for a while now. Tell me where you are.”

Jia slides out of bed and picks up her silk robe from the cushioned bench at the foot of the bed. I watch as she slips into it, covering the matching black negligée I had surprised her with when we set foot on the LaClaire.

She moves toward the floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening onto the balcony. Then she stands there, gazing out at the inky water. “You’re imagining things, Lance,” she says without turning around to face me. She doesn’t want me to read the lies from her eyes. “I’m fine, and I’m here. There’s nothing going on that you don’t know about.”

“Bullshit,” I say, my voice thundering in my throat. “Don’t make a fool of me.” I want to believe her. I want to believe that she’s the woman I fell in love with, the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, but something inside me won’t let me trust her—not until I know the truth.

Finally, she turns, lips moving even though no words come out. She’s stunning even when she’s scared. Watching her, I feel myself harden. I hate myself for wanting to fuck the truth out of her.

“I’m not sure what you want me to tell you.” Her voice is so low I have to strain my ears to hear it.

“Tell me what the fuck is going on.” My rage is as hot as my desire to be inside her.

She presses her lips together, shifting from one foot to the other.

“Fine.” I let out a breath. “In that case, I have a question for you. Tell me about the money. Forty thousand dollars was withdrawn from the wedding fund. What happened to it?”

“The wedding fund?” She fiddles with her earring.

“What did you do with the money, Jia?”

She covers her face with her hands. When she lowers them again, tears are glistening in her eyes. I feel like a jerk for making her cry. I only ever wanted to make her happy, but how can I do that when there are secrets between us?

“Give me an answer, baby. We’re about to get married. Honesty is everything to me.”

“I’m sorry, Lance. I … I should go.” With that, she rushes out of the room, without even bothering to change. What she’s hiding must be worse than I thought.

As I sit in bed, my eyes on the door she closed seconds ago, I’m terrified of finding out the truth.

Frustrated, I drive a fist into the palm of my hand. What I really want to do is scream out the frustration, but Rose is sleeping in the other room, and it’s too early to wake her.

I’m a complete wreck as I pick up the phone to call Mitch again. The call goes straight to voicemail. I leave another message.

“Hey, this is Lance. What happened to giving me updates? Did you find something or not? Let me know as soon as you get this.”

After I hang up, I call Bryant. I need to speak to someone.

“How’s the cruise? Having fun?”

“Far from it.” I press a fist to my forehead. “I was right. Jia is hiding something. She walked out when I asked about the money.”

A headache crawls into my brain and explodes between my eyes.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yep, my lovely fiancée is lying to me. She said to my face there’s nothing going on, but I know her too well. She can’t bullshit me.”

“Lance, what if she’s telling the truth? What if you’re driving yourself nuts for no reason?”

“Then why did she walk out? Why couldn’t she look me in the eye?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because she’s upset you’re accusing her of being a liar.” Bryant pauses. “What do you think is really going on? What thoughts are running through your mind right now?”

“She’s cheating on me.” I could tell Bryant that she’d called out another man’s name in her sleep, but as much as I want him to support my suspicions, I also want him to keep reassuring me that I’m wrong. I want him to be right.

“Lance, quit jumping to conclusions. That woman loves you. Stop pushing her into a corner. Wait to hear from Mitch.”

“No way. I’m done waiting. Jia is around my child and me. I need to know the truth now!”

“Fine. I understand. But you have to be careful about how you ask her. You don’t want to mess up a good thing. If you do decide to call it quits, don’t do it on my ship.” He laughs. “Seriously though, I hope it’s nothing. Keep me posted, all right?”

The next person I call is Derrick.

“It better be good,” he teases. “You disturbed a hot moment with my wife.”

“This will be quick. What’s up with your friend, Mitch? I haven’t heard from him in two days. He won’t return my calls.”

“Last time I talked to him, he was on his way out of town.”

“Headed for somewhere with no phone reception?”

“Mitch is not a phone call kind of guy. He prefers face-to-face conversations. Even if you do get him on the phone, he won’t say much until you meet in person.”

Derrick’s words fade into the distance as I watch the door open slowly. Jia walks through it, face crumpled, eyes red-rimmed.

“I have to go, bro. Talk to you another time.”

“Hey, wait,” Derrick calls. “Is everything all right?”

“I’m about to find out.” I hang up. “Ready to talk?” I ask Jia, doing my best to keep my voice calm.

She closes the door and approaches the bed. “Baby, I shouldn’t have walked out on you.” She climbs back under the sheets and leans her back against the headboard. For the first time in a while, she looks at me. “You’re right, I haven’t been honest with you.”

Shit.

Just like that, my heart hits my chest so hard I swear I hear it crack.