It’ll be awkward for everyone.
“If you guys want to travel abroad, you should consider Rome,” I say, almost desperately. “Or Greece. Mom, you’ve always said you’d like to see the Parthenon.”
“Honey, are you okay?” Mom checks my forehead for fever. “You don’t sound like yourself.”
“Maybe you should go have a lie-down,” Kane suggests.
“No. I don’t need to lie down.”
“Your grumpy side usually comes through when you don’t feel well,” Dad says around the cupcake in his mouth. “Kane’s probably right, you should rest.”
“Why is everyone on Kane’s side today?” I demand. If I could move my left arm, I’d prop both hands on my hips. As it is, only my right hand lands there. “I’m a grown-ass woman. I don’t need a keeper, and I don’t need anyone telling me when I need a fucking nap.”
“Watch your language,” Mom says, narrowing her eyes at me. “What’s gotten into you?”
“It’s a weird day,” I say with a sigh. “A very weird day.”
We chat for a while more, and then Mom and Dad take off, leaving just Archer, Kane, and me.
Archer’s smile has left his face, and it occurs to me that he’s hung back because he wants to talk about something.
“Hey, Kane,” Archer says, “do you mind if I chat with my sister alone for a bit?”
“Not at all,” Kane says. “I need to go take a shower and clean up from the barn. Take your time.”
Kane kisses me, and then he and Murphy disappear upstairs.
“What’s up?” I ask.
Archer’s pacing the living room, not saying anything at all. He’s clearly agitated, rubbing his hand over his mouth.
“I’m listening,” I try again.
“It’s your fault,” he begins, turning to me. “I was fine, hadn’t even thought of her in a long time, and then you had to go and bring her up.”
“Of whom are we speaking?” I ask, but I know. I just want him to say her name.
“You know.”
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“Elena, goddamn it.” He sighs and drops into the seat opposite mine. “I haven’t been able to get her off my mind since that day at your house when you said she texted you.”
This doesn’t surprise me. The connection that Archer had with Elena was a rare one. What does surprise me is that he was able to resist asking about her for so long.
“What’s changed?” I ask.
“Absolutely nothing has changed,” he growls. “Except now she’s stuck in my head, and I can’t get her out. I moved on. Had come to terms with the fact that she kicked me to the curb without a word, without giving me a reason.”
“Wait, what? You don’t know why she broke up with you after she married you?”
“No fucking clue,” he says. “I begged her to tell me why, but she just said it wasn’t going to work. That was it.”
His eyes narrow on me.
“But you know.”
“I don’t know much,” I say cautiously. “I don’t talk to her often.”
“Did she tell you why she ended it?”
I wince and look away from him. I can’t lie to him. He’s my brother.
“Shortly after the breakup, I met up with her for lunch, and she told me that her father threatened her.”
Archer’s hands ball into fists, his whole body tensing. “With what?”
“He told her that if she stayed with you, he’d make sure you were killed.”
“That motherfucker.” He stands and paces again, and my heart goes out to him.
“Archer, I thought you knew.”
“Of course, I didn’t know,” he yells. “Give me her number. I’m going to call her right now.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I swear to God, Anastasia—”
“No, I literally can’t. I don’t have her number.”
“You text with her.”
“Yes, but it’s always from a different number,” I reply. “Always the same message, so I know it’s her. Probably a burner phone or an app or something. Here.”
I take my phone out of my pocket and bring up the last text from her. I try to call the number and put it on speakerphone.
“We’re sorry, the number you have reached is no longer in service.”
I hang up and watch as Archer hangs his head in defeat.
“Fuck.”
“I admit, I feel bad, and I’m confused. Why is this such a big deal now? After all this time?”
“I don’t know,” he says with a sigh. “But now that I know what her piece-of-shit dad pulled, it’s a bigger deal.”
“You don’t want to piss that family off,” I remind him. “They’re in the fucking mob, Archer.”
“Her old man died in prison,” he says and winces when he sees the expression on my face. “Yeah, I’ve watched, kept my eyes open.”
“I knew he went to prison,” I admit. “I hadn’t heard he died.”
“So, if he’s dead, where the hell is Elena?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “And that’s the truth. But the next time she texts, I can try to get some information from her.”