When Marybeth looked up from the journal, her vision was slightly blurry from staring at the pages too long, and her body was stiff from sitting in the same position for over two hours.Bewildered by all the deep, dark secrets the book held, she snapped it shut, wishing she could unsee everything.There wasn't anything about Andrei, but there were several entries detailing Iris' sordid love affairs, with Blake being one of the many men she'd had entanglements with.The woman didn't have a loyal bone in her body and was unfaithful almost from the very beginning—The sound of the door beeping open pulled Marybeth out of her thoughts. She placed the journal on the table and sprung to her feet when Austin stepped into the living area a moment later."What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised and thrilled all at once. She didn't expect to see him until much later."I thought we were meeting at the venue?" she continued as she yawned in her hand."I couldn't wait to see you," Austin re
"Let's go." Austin took her hand and tried to drag her along, but Marybeth stood rooted to the spot, refusing to move even an inch until they reached an agreement.Sighing loudly, he paused mid-step when he noticed she wasn't following along. Turning around to look at her, he asked, "What is it? What's going on?""Is that it? Are we not going to discuss Willem?""I need time to think about it, Beth," he replied and pulled her along, ending their discussion.Halfway to the venue, Austin reached for her hand and squeezed it, stunning her with his question."What did you find in the journal?""I—Eh—Nothing," she stammered and quickly averted her gaze.He gently lifted her chin with his index finger, forcing her to look at him. "Beth, what did you find?""Seriously—""What did you find?" he demanded again, his tone harsher than before.But Marybeth held firm, shaking her head. "It's nothing!""It is something!" he rumbled at her, startling her with his sudden anger.The mood in the car tu
If Marybeth had been paying attention, she would have noticed all the glitz and glamour all around them from the moment they stepped into The Leonardo. But she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. She was more concerned with the man standing beside her, whose world she'd just cracked wide open with her revelations."You can stop worrying about me, žena. I'm not about to go on a murderous rampage," Austin said when he caught her looking at him for the millionth time since they'd stepped into the elevator."That's a relief!" Marybeth smiled, glad to see that despite receiving the worst news of his life just minutes ago, he still had his sense of humour."Anyway, have you been here before?" she asked. Her eyes were now glued to the display panel, watching the floor numbers change at blinding speed as the elevator crept up."A few times," Austin replied and went on to explain that somewhere in this ritzy skyscraper, there was a five-star hotel, a rooftop chill lounge with 360 view
"That's my girl!" Colleen laughed as they watched her partner and friend stop at one of the display cases."What's the deal with them? Are they into each other?" asked Marybeth."No. They hate each other," Natalie replied. "And well, Holly is into Holly.""That's not fair!" Colleen came to the ballerina's defence again. "Holly is just misunderstood.""Misunderstood my ass. She's rude and self-entitled. If I were Andrei, I'd run far away from her! Remember Eden's art exhibition a few weeks ago? Holly asked if I was wearing a sales-rack dress! Who does that? Who says shit like that?" Natalie brought up ancient history, and it wasn't long before she and Colleen were arguing over the youngest Anderson child.Austin appeared beside Marybeth and whisked her off, leaving Colleen and Natalie to their bickering."Thank you, you may have extended my lifespan by another five years!" she said. "I thought I'd lose my mind with those two.""Why? Don't you like them?""I do," she admitted as she gra
Austin had every intention of taking Tim's call, but once he stepped onto the balcony, he couldn't bring himself to pick up. So he stood there awhile, thinking about Marybeth's revelations, the beauty of the sun sinking low on the horizon lost to him.He'd tried the whole afternoon to keep it together for her sake, but now that he was alone, he could finally confront the intense emotions swirling in his heart.Was he surprised to learn about Iris' infidelity? Not really. After all, for years, there'd been rumours about her. But now that those said rumours had been confirmed, he'd be the first to admit he was bitterly hurt and somewhat enraged. Maybe because when they got engaged, he'd poured all his energy into making their relationship work and never thought of straying, not even once. He was a fool for believing she would do the same.When his phone rang again, Austin knew he couldn't keep ignoring his capo. So he reluctantly answered, "This had better be a life and death situation!
"You knew?" Austin scoffed, his anger sparking to life again."Come on," Andrei held up his hands and stepped back from him. "Don't do this.""Answer me!" Austin growled. "You knew Iris was cheating on me?""Everyone knew!" Andrei said, a sudden edge to his voice. "Everyone knew she wasn't faithful to you. You knew as well, but chose to turn a blind eye!""I didn't know!" Austin shouted, feeling his self-control slip away. "I know there were rumours, but I didn't want to believe them. I wanted to trust her.""A girl like Iris?" It was Andrei's turn to snort derisively."What's that supposed to mean?" Austin rounded on him and crossed the balcony at blinding speed."I'm not getting into this with you!" Andrei held up his hands again, withdrawing from the fight.They both leaned over the balcony railing and watched cars speed up and down Maude Street and vanish in the labyrinth of tarred roads and glass towers."Do you know who it was?" Austin asked. "Was it you?""Are you out of your m
They had to stop in Forrest Creek first to pick Orlando up from Mrs Allan's place before heading back to The Castle.As they drove through the cobbled streets of the artsy neighbourhood, Austin pointed out various places of interest, from the rooftop market at the Civic Theatre to the public swimming pool and the Garden of Remembrance in the middle of the Town Square."And that's Fugue," he concluded the tour, pointing at a fairly new building swathed in postmodern architecture in the distance.Marybeth craned her neck, trying to get a better look. "It sounds swanky. What is it?""An art gallery owned by Willow Anderson, Liam's middle sister," Austin explained."You seem to know a lot about the Andersons," said Marybeth as she tried to think back to the last time she had set foot in an art gallery. She couldn't."Not really," Austin replied, shrugging. "But since we move in the same circles, it's hard not to know everyone's business.""I see," she nodded absently, her eyes lighting up
Marybeth sat on the couch, her stomach immediately twisting in knots when she noticed her bathrobe on the wingback chair in front of the window. She clearly remembered leaving it on the couch before joining Austin in the shower earlier.Running her gaze through the room, her dread intensified when she noticed one of the drawers on the console table in the entrance hall was slightly open even though none of them had touched it."Beth?" Austin said from the doorway of Orlando's room."What's wrong?" he asked as he softly shut the door behind him and crossed the room. "Are you feeling sick? You look a little pale. Was it the food?""I'm fine," Marybeth said, pulling away from him when he tried to check her temperature with the back of his hand."You don't look fine," he insisted, his eyes dark with concern. "What's going on?"Marybeth opened her mouth to speak, but her brain couldn't articulate her terror for some reason. Surely Austin would think she was crazy and making shit up—"Žena,"