Which meant, he needed to stop winding her up, he needed to...
And yet...look at the way he had kissed her just now. As though it was the most natural thing to do, as if it had been more important than his next breath. Every muscle in him tightened to a rigid mass as something shifted within him.
Had he trained himself so well that he was impervious to the whispers of his own heart? How had he assumed to continue with Kim and their marriage as though the firestorm that Olivia was hadn’t blazed through his life? Had he really become that heartless?
* * *
Throwing her scarf into her suitcase, Olivia closed her suitcase with a satisfying thump. Sighing, she walked into the attached balcony.
Her gaze took in the beautiful star-studded night around her. The glittering lights, the light breeze, it was a beautiful Paris night. Yet she had never felt so wretched. Despite hating his unemotional attitude toward life, she had still given Alexander power over her. Why else would his disbelief about Vincent hurt so much, why would she feel as though a void was opening up inside her at the thought of leaving?
Tomorrow, they would be back in New York. The next time she saw him, he would be with Kim. Her chest hurt with every breath she took.
But it had to be this way. Alexander could so easily....No. She wasn’t going to indulge in self-pity.
She grabbed her BlackBerry and scrolled through it. A missed call from Kim.
She clicked Call, every nerve in her tuned so tight that she thought she might snap, come apart at the seams.
She forced herself to pull the crisp evening air into her lungs as Kim picked up on the other line. “Liv...I’m sorry you got stuck there. I—”
Olivia fought to keep her tone normal. “That’s fine. Now, what’s going on and when are you retuning?”
“God, he hasn’t told you yet...”
Olivia swallowed. Her stomach lurched. A cold chill settled over her skin. “Tell me what?”
“It’s over, Liv, between me and Alexander. He—”
Olivia stood shaking from head to toe, incapable of forming a response. “What? Why? I—”
“I left before the wedding because...” Kim’s words broke on a catch. “I’m married, Liv, something I did years ago. And just after you arrived the morning of the wedding, my divorce papers came back unsigned.”
Shock rendered Olivia incoherent for a few seconds. “What? Who is he? When did you... I mean, why have you never even talked about this?”
“I... It was the summer after you had left, Liv. I—”
“You mean after dad threw me out,” Olivia couldn’t help correcting. Of course, Kim could have walked out with her, except, doing something her father didn’t approve of was fundamentally impossible for Kim. Even though she had done everything in her power to help Liv.
“I met him on a cruise and I...fell for him.”
“Hard enough that you married him?” Her shock made her words hard. Olivia couldn’t even continue as another thought stuck her. “If you’re already married, why did you... Where does Alexander come into this? You said you didn’t want to lose him. And yet knowing him, you put everything he considers important at risk.”
When had she become the sensible Stanton twin? If she wasn’t consumed by confusion and sadness on top of so much else that she couldn’t even identify, Liv would have laughed out loud at the irony of the situation.
“It’s just that after so many years, I wanted a new start.” The wretchedness in her twin’s words did nothing to alleviate Olivia’s confusion. “And Alex was so perfect. He appreciated me, he never asked for more than I could give. I never intended going back on my promise to Alex, Liv. Except the past fortnight has been—”
Liv clutched the metal railing, her legs threatening to give out under her. “Wait. Are you staying with this man?”
“I just feel so much, Liv. I think he...”
A knot twisted up in Liv’s gut. She was glad that Kim was okay. She really was. Except...even after everything, her twin had her perfect ending, another man who loved her. “Of course he does. You’re the perfect woman. How could any man not fall in love with you?”
How could any man who had known that perfection want a flawed fake instead?
“But I couldn’t bear it if you were mad at me.”
“I’m not, I want you to be happy,” Olivia said, trying to soften her tone. For the first time in her life, her sister had done something she wanted, not because their father had deemed it right. And yet, Liv couldn’t drown out the rapid tattoo of her heart, couldn’t help feeling as though she was the one paying the price, even for Kim’s indecision. “I just wish you had told us earlier, Kim.”