Unbroken (The Disclosure Series Book 2) (8 page)

“Embry?”

She froze as his velvety voice wound around her, warming her from the inside out. Deep, southern rasp—check. Butterflies immediately taking root in her stomach—double check.

“Luke. H-hi.”

“Is this a good time?” He sounded so serious.

She moved into the apartment, kicking the door closed behind her and dropping her things on the floor. “Um, sure. Okay.”

“Listen I—”

“Actually, can you come over?” she blurted out.
No time like the present, right?

“I—what?” He sounded surprised, confused.

Shrugging out of her coat, she moved into the living room and sat on the edge of the couch. “I was hoping we could talk.”

“Oh.”

The stiffness of their interaction made her heart ache. What she loved most about Luke was how easy he was. She wanted that back. Wanted
him
back—without the lies and the hurt. Reaching up to smooth her messy hair, she glanced down at her yoga outfit and decided the only way to get that was to face it. “So, can you come over?”

“Now?” Uncertainty was clear in his voice. She pictured his strong hand moving anxiously to rub his neck, and a small smile forced its way across her lips. “You sure?”

She shrugged. “As I’ll ever be.”

When she hung up with Luke, Embry started to pick up around her apartment. She was surprisingly calm, until she glanced in the mirror and saw what she looked like.
Crap!
Luke would be here in just a few minutes. She began to panic, wringing her hands. Her makeup was somewhat intact, but the rest of her…

She let out a long sigh and frowned at her reflection, her long waves piled high in a messy bun on top of her head, strands sticking out every which way. Her hot pink yoga pants and black workout tank weren’t helping, either.

She reached up, about to pull out her bun and fix her hair, but thought better of it.

Hmmm…

Looking like a sweaty mess might have its advantages. Maybe it would keep her hormones in check and Luke at bay.
Right.
She was delusional if she thought that would work. Grimacing, she realized she didn’t have time to shower, so she pinched her cheeks, swiped on deodorant and misted her perfume before heading back into the living room.

The doorbell rang a minute later, and she stood staring at the door. Her calm from earlier was nowhere to be found, but she pulled in a breath, steeling herself, and swung open the door. “Hey.”

Luke’s eyes burned into hers. “Hi.”

His gaze dropped, raking down her body and taking in her spandex-clad form. Heat warmed her cheeks and pooled at her core. Suddenly staying in her yoga clothes didn’t seem like the best idea.

“Coming in?” she asked, breaking his spell.

His head shot up and a sheepish grin crossed his face. “Sorry. Yes, please.” He stepped inside.

Embry made her way to the kitchen and pulled open the fridge, grabbing two bottles of beer. As she turned to offer him one, she bumped right into his chest. “Oof.”

“Look, I just have to say this and get it out of the way.” His words rushed out, and he was so close she could barely breathe. “I’m sorry for today, Embry. I’ve got a lot more to be sorry for, I know. But I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I got caught up in the moment and I never should’ve—”

“Stop,” she cut him off, shoving a beer into his chest and wiggling away from him to gain some space. “It’s fine. I was there. I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to.”

He grabbed the beer, his eyes questioning. “Okay.”

They moved into the living room and Embry sat on the couch, taking a long swig of her beer. She had a feeling she was going to need a few more for this conversation.

Luke sat down opposite her, setting the bottle on the coffee table.

She looked at him expectantly.

“I lied to protect you,” he began, his fists clenched in his lap, his eyes clinging to hers. “I lied because I didn’t want to cause you more pain. I lied because I didn’t want you to question anything that happened between us because of my past. I lied because I was scared—of what you meant to me, of what I felt, of the possibility of ever losing it.”

Tears threatened and Embry squeezed her eyes shut, fighting them back. The truth was written all over his face, and she knew his feelings were real. But she needed time to digest his words, make sense of his explanation.

“Those are my reasons, Embry. But still…” He hesitated, his face clouded with regret. “I lied to you. Worse, I didn’t protect you. I hurt you, and for that, I’ll never forgive myself.”

She shook her head, knowing the answer to the question she was about to ask would break her heart all over again, but she needed to hear it. Unable to make eye contact, she twisted her hands in her lap. “What was she to you?”

He swallowed hard, his brow furrowed. “Embry, I really don’t think—”

“I need to know everything,” she interrupted, her voice cracking.

He reached out, his finger gently lifting her chin and bringing her gaze to his. “She was nothing.
Is
nothing.” His eyes begged her to believe him.

“Then why? How?” It didn’t make sense. Why had he hidden it? Why had he lied?

Luke scrubbed a hand down his face and reached for his beer, nearly draining the bottle in one gulp. “I don’t want to do this, Bree.”

“You owe it to me.” Her tone was strong, harsh. She was determined to get answers.

His gaze hardened. “I owe it to you to hurt you? Because that’s all this’ll do.”

She was already falling to pieces on the inside, but she refused to let him see her crumble. Reaching for his hand, she attempted a brave face. “Please, Luke. Just tell me. Nothing you say can be worse than what I’ve imagined.”

He shook his head. “It was one night. I was drunk. She was there. That’s it.”

His casual answer shattered her fragile veneer. Tears coursed down her cheeks as her emotions flew into overdrive. “That’s it?” she reiterated. “That’s
it
? How can that be it? You tore us in two! You destroyed us—betrayed me—over something so small and inconsequential as a one-night stand? I don’t even believe you. I can’t believe that you’d do that to us if that was all it was. If that was all
she
was. Tell me the truth, Luke. All. Of. It.”

He stared into her jade green eyes shining with tears, and his heart constricted in his chest.
He
had done this. And now he had to make it right, no matter the cost.

He had to make it right, even though it meant breaching a non-disclosure agreement, breaking his family’s trust, and reliving painful and embarrassing memories. Nothing was more important than fixing this.

He reached out, gently cupping her cheek and using his thumb to brush away the tears. He couldn’t bear to be the cause of any more of them. “God, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head and stared at his lap. Steeling himself for what he was about to do, he took a deep breath and looked back up, trapped in her gaze. “I’ll have to start from the beginning.”

“My dad’s a self-made man,” Luke said, his tone serious. “He grew up with nothing. Everything my family has is because of him. Well, and because he married my mother.”

Embry looked confused, but he continued.

“He built a successful business, married well, and started rubbing elbows with all the right people. He involved himself in local politics, contributed to the right campaigns and moved up the societal ladder. He made the Brody name a significant one in Georgia, both for the company he kept and the corporation he ran.”

Embry wrinkled her nose. “I don’t mean to stop you, but I’m not sure what this has to do—”

Luke held up a hand. He loved that even when she was pissed off and demanding, she was still sweet, polite. She belonged in the south.

“Just listen, beautiful.”

She recoiled as the endearment slid off his tongue. He pretended not to notice. He couldn’t help it. She was beautiful—the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen—whether dressed up in sequins and pearls, or hair up in a messy ball on her head, wearing neon spandex. And all he wanted to do was remind her of that, every day, until she believed it herself.

“You wanted to hear it all, right?” he asked, searching her face. “Well, this it, starting from the very beginning.”

She gulped, settling further into the couch. “Okay,” she responded in a small voice.

“Cam and I grew up idolizing my father. You’ve met him, I’m sure you understand why. Charming, handsome, charismatic. He’s a good dad, great guy.”

Embry nodded.

“So when word got back to us that he was being investigated for corruption and bribery, you can imagine, I was devastated.” He vividly remembered sitting in his parents’ living room, Camden by his side, as their father told them everything—the deals he’d made, the officials he’d influenced with his money. Luke had felt as if he were drowning in disappointment and grief. He’d lost his role model, had been completely betrayed by the one man he’d respected most in the world.

Embry let out a gasp, her delicate hand lifting to cover her mouth. “Oh, Luke.”

Her reaction brought it all back to him, and he wanted so badly to seek comfort in her, the comfort he’d mistakenly found in Sydney that one night. “I was a new professor at the time, and Sydney was my student.”

Her eyes went from warm pools of green to cold, hard emerald. He secretly enjoyed the territorial response.

“She’d been pursuing me all semester, but I had no interest.” He emphasized that last part, hoping she saw the sincerity in his eyes. “Honestly, even if I had, I never would have acted on it. I steered clear, kept my distance, made sure our interactions never went outside the bounds of anything student-teacher related.”

“Until you found out about your dad?” Embry asked.

He nodded, hating to have to revisit that night, but he’d do it. For her. “The investigation went on for a few months. My father was being accused of giving favor to certain public officials in order to direct government contracts toward his company. In the beginning we were hopeful, so when the indictments came down, it was a huge blow.” His hand went automatically to his neck and he tried to rub away the tension. “I went out for a few drinks with my brother to try to get my head on straight. Everyone was looking to me. My father had a team of attorneys, but he wanted me to be the face of his defense. Cam was putting pressure on me to save the company. It fucked with my head. Anyway, my brother went home to his family, and I stayed and cozied up to a bottle of JW.”

Embry rolled her eyes. “You and your whiskey.”

He smiled a self-deprecating smile. “Me and Johnnie go way back.”

She moved closer to him, as if silently showing her support. He felt the warmth of her body, close enough to touch, and he had to fight the urge to pull her into his lap, end the conversation, and make sure she knew she was still his.

Instead, he continued his fucked up story, knowing it was what Embry needed. “I still don’t remember what happened that night, I was completely fucking inebriated. I remember bits and pieces, that’s all. But I woke up the next morning in Sydney’s bed and nearly lost my shit.” He shook his head, attempting to dislodge the memory. Glancing up at Embry, he saw her cringe slightly, her lips pressing into a flat line, likely a reaction to his night with Sydney. “I apologized profusely, told her it was a mistake, that it could never happen again, and I got the hell out of there.”

“And that was it?” She looked at him expectantly.

The corners of Luke’s mouth pulled down into a frown. “I thought so. Except Sydney didn’t take rejection very well. She came up with some elaborate story about how I’d taken advantage of her and brought it straight to the dean.”

Embry’s mouth hung open in shock. Luke knew the feeling. He’d lived it.

“I had a great reputation as a professor, and Sydney’s story was weak at best. The university had just gotten over some kind of scandal involving a professor, and they didn’t want to risk any more negative media attention, so they made me a deal. If I resigned quietly and all parties involved signed a non-disclosure agreement, all would be forgotten. They’d write me a letter of rec so I could find a job elsewhere, and everyone would move on with their lives. That way they could continue rebuilding their reputation and mine would stay intact.”