She shook her head. Denying his words? Denying herself? He did not know.
She swallowed convulsively, clenching her jaw to stop her chin trembling. Yet he sensed the stoicism was only a step away from emotional breakdown. Something in the fragile way she held herself.
"I'm not going to discuss this right now." She sounded firm enough, but then she just seemed to crumble. "Is she really in the hospital?"
He pulled her into his arms rather than let her drop to the floor. "Yes,pethi mou . I called to check her condition on the way over here. She is stabilized, but they do not know yet what caused it."
He was grateful, but surprised when she did not pull away.
"I know," she mumbled against his shirtfront and then her lithe body shook with a sob. "It's my fault."
"No. That is not true."
"I told her about my sister. Without any warning. Then I accused her of giving up on her and me. Then I left. I wouldn't listen to anything she said."
If he had realized the woman in the photos was not Ash, he would have been with her when she confronted her mom. He could have made it better for both the woman he wanted to marry and her mother. But he'd been deceived by his own eyes and now they would all pay the price.
"Shh…" He smoothed his hand down her back. "You were hurt. I should have been there with you. If we had not argued, I would have been. I am sorry."
She pulled away, somehow managing to stifle the emotions emanating off of her like an electric storm. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands and sniffed. "We need to go. I have to see her."
Nikos breathed a silent sigh of relief that she had decided to let him take her. She needed him even if she did not realize it.
They were in the car when Ash asked, "How did you know about my sister?"
"Blade called."
"Oh." She sighed. "That's right. You said something about talking to him. He told you about my mom?"
"Yes, in a later phone call."
"It was so shocking to find out I had a sister."
"No doubt horrifically so for you. But I had begun to suspect something was not right with the photos before I spoke to Blade."
"What…why?"
"The woman in the pictures looks like you, but there are subtle differences."
"Why didn't you notice those before you accused me of sleeping around?" He could feel her intent stare as he negotiated city traffic.
"I was too angry to look at the pictures closely at first."
"But you weren't too upset after?" She sounded very confused.
"After you threw me out of your apartment, I went to my office. The pictures were there…" He let his voice trail off, unwilling to admit to the compulsion to be connected to her even if it was through looking at pictures of her with another man.
"And you looked at them?"
"Yes."
"Closely enough to notice the differences in the way my twin and I look?"
"Yes," he ground out.
"I would have thought you'd burn them and say good riddance."
"They were on my computer hard drive."
"Delete them then."
If doing so could have erased the feelings that came with looking at them, he would have. Nevertheless, he said, "I am glad I did not."
"Why?"
"I saw the truth."
"But I bet you didn't accept it until after Blade's phone call."
"You are right."
"But you found it comforting?"
"Yes."
"I'm not sure I understand why. Since your watchdog was so obviously observing the wrong person, there's nothing to prove that I wasn't having a hot affair with some Spanish stud at the same time. Maybe I discovered the joys of fulfilling sex with you and decided to experiment a little."
He tried not to let her flippancy get to him. In some ways he definitely deserved her derision, but a primitive part of him wanted to growl at her to shut up. He did not like those words coming out of her mouth. "You came home prepared to marry me, you would not have done so if you were interested in experimenting sexually with others."