Terms + Conditions (Strangers #3)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

THEN

July 2019

THE COFFEE TABLE IS littered with various invitation sets, and we (she) must pick one today, per the wedding planner, for the printer to get them done on time. We have a little over nine weeks until the big day. Truth be told, I thought Elizabeth had already done this and the invitations had been sent, but apparently, that was only the Save the Dates. Occasionally, she would hold up a set and ask my opinion, but she would only sigh and put it back on the table. The whole thing had become tiresome, but I don’t want to be one of those men who doesn’t support their bride-to-be in their planning endeavors, even if she doesn’t want my opinions. So, I was here to help…until I got a call from Nick.

I kiss the top of Elizabeth’s head, jumping off the couch at the opportunity to look at something, anything, that isn’t a wedding invitation.

“Thank God. I was starting to go cross-eyed staring at all those invitations,” I say, rubbing my eyes and walking out of the living room. “Not that I’m not glad to hear from you, but why are you calling me? I thought you were in Denver.”

“We are.” He sighs. Oh good, this sounds promising.

“Why are you calling me? Isn’t it like 9 a.m. There? You should still be in bed with your girlfriend . Liz said you guys are actually dating now.”

“Josh, listen—”

“How did that happen?”

“Josh!” Nick huffs on the other end of the line, mumbling a fuck . “Josh, I-I think I fucked up.”

“What does that mean?” I practically trip over my feet, hearing the next words that come out of his mouth: We slept together . “I’m sorry, you what? You’ve only been dating for what, five minutes?”

“You’re one to talk.”

“I’m not judging. I’m just surprised. Really surprised, actually. First, you start dating for real, and now this…You always seemed so anti-Nina.” I scrub a hand down my face, trying to process this information. And then he tells me there’s more. “What do you mean more ?”

“Brina is sleeping with Lee.”

What the actual fuck?

“I beg your pardon. You’re going to have to repeat yourself. I swear you just said Brina is sleeping with Lee.”

“I caught them hooking up back at the house.”

“You saw them?”

“Not the first time, but then—”

“There was a second time?” I practically yell. “Nick, what in the hell is going on out there?” Elizabeth and I have joined the Villas out in Haven plenty of times, but it has never been this action-packed.

“Honestly, I have no idea.” Nick sighs, and I hear the sounds of a busy room behind him. “Brina, she—she’s blackmailing me. She knows I saw them, and now she’s threatening Pop, and the garage, and Alex if I say anything to Nina or her dad.”

“Fuck,” I breathe. Fuck, this is bad. This is worse than bad.

“And then, she sent me this text last night.” He fumbles around with his phone, pulling up the message. “‘It will serve you well to remember our discussion about your family. I’ve been told there’s more to you than meets the eye. I’d hate for things to take a turn for the worse.’ And that wasn’t even the first one. She’s sent multiple, reminding me what will happen if I step out of line.”

“Dude, you have to tell Nina.”

“I can’t! If I tell her, Brina will—”

“Nina can handle her mom, that much I know. Do you have any proof of what you saw? You can always go straight to Ric about it.” His sigh is answer enough. “Look, I can’t make the decision for you, but I can tell you that it will be much easier if you’re honest about what’s going on. Nina might not like it but she can handle the truth over a lie.”

“I don’t know, Josh. I’m in way over my head here.”

“Whatever you decide to do, you have to be prepared for the consequences that come with it, including the truth about who you are and—”

“I gotta go.” His sudden change in tone catches me off guard.

“What are you gonna do?”

“Fuck if I know.” His words don’t inspire much confidence, and I get the distinct feeling I’m not going to like what is about to happen. “She’s going to be up shortly. I gotta go. And Josh, don’t tell Elizabeth.”

Without another word, Nick hangs up, leaving me with a ticking time bomb and only a red wire. And now I have to go back into the other room where the woman who could get secrets out of a spy if she wanted to, and somehow I’m not supposed to tell her that her adoptive mom is fucking her sister’s ex-boyfriend. Is he serious?

“I can do this.” I hype myself up because Lord knows I’m gonna need all the help I can get.

“What did Nick want?” Elizabeth asks when I finally walk back into the living room. She doesn’t look up from the invitations in front of her, but I look over her shoulder at the current one she’s holding. It’s nice. The actual invitation is some type of frosted acrylic, and the words printed on it are white. The envelope is olive green to match the accent color I’ll be wearing, along with my groomsmen.

“They uh…they slept together.”

The invitation clatters down on the table.

“They slept together?” Elizabeth repeats, finally looking at me, and I nod. “Holy shit.”

I fight the urge to tell her the other thing Nick called about, but I know she will run and tell Nina. I can’t let that happen. I can’t be the reason that bomb implodes the Villa family any sooner than it has to.

“That’s the only reason he called?”

“Yep!”

It comes out a little too quick, a little too peppy, I can tell by the way she narrows her gaze. After what feels like an hour, she rolls her eyes. “God, you’re such guys.”

She turns back to the invitations in front of her and my smile slips when she’s no longer looking.