Her heart plummeted into her stomach at the puzzled look in his eyes. The devastation she had kept at bay for over an hour, as she got to know her brother, twisted in her gut.
‘He didn’t tell you?’ she whispered. ‘About us?’
She shouldn’t be surprised, she realised, that he hadn’t spoken about their relationship to Roman. As far as Alex was concerned it was over. But even so, it hurt to realise just how quickly she had been forgotten. Had she really meant so little to him?
‘What do you meanus?’ Roman’s tone sharpened, something fierce and volatile flashing in his eyes. ‘Did Alex seduce you?’
Colour leapt into her cheeks. Awkward much?
‘No,’ she said, not sure what he was so upset about. ‘We seduced each other. Not that it’s any of your—’
‘That son of a...’ He swore, the fierce flash turning to fury. ‘What the hell was he thinking? I’m going to murder him. How dare he take advantage of my kid sister?’
‘Wait a minute.’ She grasped his arm, before he could march off to do heaven knew what. Was this some kind of weird big brother thing? Because his protective instincts had just jumped off a cliff. ‘Alex didnae know I was your sister when we first slept together.’
Roman stopped dead, his brows rising up his forehead.
‘What do you mean,firstslept together? How many times did it happen?’ he demanded.
‘Again, not your business,’ she said, just to be absolutely clear. She had no idea what the etiquette was when it came to having a big brother, but she was pretty sure it did not involve her divulging intimate details about her sex life. ‘But we’ve been living together since he took me to his mansion in the Adirondacks for Thanksgiving weekend.’
The outrage on Roman’s face dropped away to be replaced with complete and utter shock. ‘Living together?Youand Alex?’ he said, as if the words simply would not compute.
‘Yes, me and Alex. Why are you so surprised?’ Maybe she had loved Alex and he hadn’t loved her, but was it really so hard to believe Alex Costa had wanted her, at least for a while?
‘It’s just... Alex is a player. He doesn’t do relationships,’ Roman said. ‘Not for as long as I’ve known him.’
The information had Ellie’s heart expanding, right alongside the foolish bubble of hope she’d tried so hard to crush.
‘And even if he did,’ Roman continued, a dash of colour marking his chiselled cheeks, ‘you’re not his usual type. At all.’
‘So whatishis usual type?’ Because suddenly she wanted to know. Why hadn’t she been enough? Why had he pushed her away so callously, when she needed him the most?
‘I’m really not sure I want to be having this conversation with my sister,’ Roman said, as if he had a choice.
‘Well, tough,’ she shot back, feeling her confidence returning at last. ‘You started it.’
‘Okay, fair point,’ Roman huffed. He did not look happy. ‘You said yourself you came straight from Moira to New York. I’m guessing there weren’t a lot of eligible men there.’
She nodded, because he seemed to need an affirmation.
‘All I’m saying is, Alex usually dates women with...’ He cleared his throat, his colour—and extreme discomfort—heightening. ‘Women with a lot of experience.’
It was Ellie’s turn to frown. Her heart sinking again. ‘I see.’ Of course, she already knew that, because he’d freaked out so much when he’d discovered she was a virgin. ‘To be fair,’ she said, musing out loud, ‘he didnae know I was a virgin when we first slept together at Halloween.’
‘You were a...? Oh, hell. I seriously did not need to know that.’ Roman swore again and collapsed onto the nearest park bench, running his fingers through his hair. ‘Now I don’t know whether to kill him or torture him first,’ he murmured, but he didn’t look mad any more, he looked shell-shocked.
Ellie sat down beside him and patted his knee as a wave of tenderness for him washed over her. Clearly there were complexities to this brother-sister thing that they would both have to learn to negotiate. But it was good to know he was as clueless about it as she was. And his desire to protect her felt more sweet now than overbearing.
But as they sat together on the bench, silently considering this new phase in their relationship, Ellie re-examined everything he had just told her about Alex and his dating habits.
And the bubble of hope became a balloon.
Because suddenly none of what had happened the night before made quite so much sense.
Had she given up on them too easily? Why had she allowed Alex to dump her without ever questioning his motives? And why hadn’t she wondered about that little boy—who had kept such a devastating secret for so long? And then blamed himself when the secret was revealed? Was that the real reason he hadn’t told her sooner about Roman? Was it all mixed up together somehow?
Or was she just being delusional? Wanting to believe Alex felt more for her than he did, because she felt so much for him?