She didn’t know, and that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

When she finally started to notice her surroundings, the sun was sinking into the horizon. Shit. She needed to find a place to stay, and quickly. Walking around a strange city at night was asking for something bad to happen. She paused and dug through her bag, coming up with the lodging book she’d been using to pick out places to stay. Flipping to Venice, she picked the first hotel that looked familiar, not having the patience to deal with a hostel and the risk of sharing her room with other people. All she wanted right now was to be alone and mourn the loss of something she’d apparently never had to begin with.

Finding the hotel took longer than she would have liked, and by the time she walked into the lobby, it was fully dark. At least the clerk made checking in relatively painless, and ten minutes later, she was finally alone. Alexis locked the door and dropped her pack on the floor.

Then she tore off her jacket and stripped out of the dress. She’d never wear the damn thing again. Hell, she should cut it into a thousand tiny pieces and flush it down the toilet. Even feeling the flimsy fabric against her skin was a reminder of Luke’s hands on her body and the feeling of completion that only seemed to come with his mouth on hers and his cock sheathed deep within her. And the things he’d said to her, the beautiful things that made her feel like being whole and strong wasn’t just a possibility, but inevitable. All gone. All lies.

The only thing she’d done in Europe without him was visit the Blarney Stone. Not exactly the actions of the strong and fearless woman she’d started to feel like. Without Luke by her side, she never would have made it to the edge of that cliff. After a spectacular failure like that, would she have even bothered to try her next destination? Or would just have booked a flight and gone home with her tail between her legs?

She didn’t know.

Loss nearly made her double over. The lie was bad enough, but he’d taken away every single thing she’d accomplished in the process, stripping away New Alexis and leaving broken and battered Old Alexis in her place.

Moving on autopilot, she picked up the single phone in her room and went through the steps for an international call. She had no idea what time it was back home, and she didn’t care. Avery was going to hear what she had to say, one way or another.

Her sister answered on the third ring. “Hello?”

All the anger and frustration that had been brewing inside her since she realized Luke had been sent by Ryan bubbled up her throat, making it hard to breathe. “How could you?”

“Alexis?”

“Who else would it be?” Her laugh tore from her throat. “Why, Avery? Do you really think I’m so goddamn helpless that I can’t take care of myself? You knew how much I needed this!”

Her sister sighed. “He told you.”

“No. He was plenty happy to go along with the lie until kingdom come. But he slipped up.” She gripped the phone tighter, the storm of emotions inside her making her voice ugly. “You should pay him extra, though. He really went above and beyond the call of duty.”

“God, Alexis, you took off without a word to anyone. For all I knew, you were heading to that giant-ass cliff to throw yourself off. If our positions were reversed, you would have done the same damn thing.”

“You should have trusted me. I needed time and space to get my head on straight.”

“Then you should have planned your trip like a normal person instead of running away.”

Having Luke’s words thrown back in her face made her knees give out. She slumped onto the bed. “So you sent a babysitter.”

“It was Ryan’s idea, but I supported it. I’m not going to apologize for worrying about you, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’re out of luck. I did what I thought was best.”

“And whose idea was it to have Luke fuck me into submission and say all the right things? Because that was a cold goddamn decision.”

A beat of silence passed, and then another. “I think you’re going to need to repeat that.”

“Which part—you all back home being assholes, or the part where Luke followed orders and blew my mind seven ways to Sunday?” A sob worked its way up her throat, escaping before she could hold it back. “I cared about him, Avery. I thought it was real.”

“Hold, please.”

Like she was going anywhere. All she wanted to do was crawl under the covers and cry until she didn’t feel anything anymore. She pushed back to her feet, but there wasn’t enough phone line to pace. “Sure. Whatever.”

“Thanks.” The sound was muffled, but she still heard a thump and a curse. Avery sounded so damn vicious, even Alexis winced. “Drew Flannery, I’m going to kill your brother, and I’m not even going to bother to make it look like an accident. What made Ryan think it was a good goddamn idea for Jacks to seduce my sister?”

Drew’s voice was a little farther away, but still clear. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“They’ve been knocking boots, bumping uglies… Do we really have to go through this again?”

“I’m going to kill that slimy little fuck.”

A rustling, and then Avery was back. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that no one asked Jacks to bang you, and you might want to tell him that next time he’s in Wellingford, the Flannery brothers are going to knock his teeth in.”

The back of her legs hit the bed and she let herself fall onto it. Again. They hadn’t set him out to seduce her? Not that she really believed that either Drew or Ryan would give the green light on something like that—it was too cold for them—but that didn’t mean a damn thing. The thing between her and Luke wasn’t real. Nothing had been real since their encounter in the alley. “But… What about all the stuff he said?”

“Honey, I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about. We sent him out there to make sure you didn’t jump to your death or get murdered or taken into the slave trade. That was it. He wasn’t even supposed to be in contact with you if there was a choice in the matter.”

His words rolled through her. It was real, darlin’. All of it. “I… He lied to me.” He said what he needed to in order to keep her moving, keep her thinking she was doing things on her own when all along there’d been a safety net in place. A safety net she hadn’t asked for or wanted.

“Yeah, that was kind of in the job description.” The connection dissolved into static, and when it came back, Avery sounded calmer. “I have no idea what happened between you two, but if you want to share, I’m listening.”

“So you can send someone else out here to clean up the mess?”

“Good God, Alexis, cut it out. I want you happy, and if you’re going to promise me you’ll be safe, then I’ll do my damnedest to sit on my hands until you come home.” She paused. “You…are coming back, right?”

There was no question. As stifling as Wellingford had become over the last few months, it was still home. She couldn’t imagine herself anywhere else. And beyond that, she had a little niece or nephew coming into the world in a very short amount of time. She’d have to be a lot worse off to actually walk away from her family. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Thank God.”

Though part of her wanted to keep on the path of her righteous anger, she couldn’t do it. The truth was, she missed her sister. This was the longest they’d ever gone without talking, and it was downright unnatural. So she took a shuddering breath and let go of the rage that had taken the driver’s seat for most of the day. “I went to Austria and saw the gazebo.”

“The one—”

“Yeah. It was just like in the picture. I…I actually felt close to her there for the first time in a long time.” She took a shaky breath. “I miss her, Avery. It’s like losing her all over again, but it feels cleaner this time. I’m glad I went.” Glad that she’d finally faced all the fears she’d kept hidden in her heart of hearts. That had felt real, no matter that it was a lie that had taken her to Austria with Luke by her side.