"What the fuck?" I said to myself as I sat in my truck outside of the bar called Down the Rabbit Hole.

Danielle mentioned to me earlier that she was riding with Lanie up here to hang with the girls. I came up here, hoping to surprise her, and it turns out that I'm the one who was surprised.

Jackson and Anne were currently lip-locked and all over each other in the parking lot. A dozen questions went through my mind as I watched them. How long has this been going on? Who knew about it? Most importantly, why didn't they tell me?

Since we had an open relationship, Anne was free to see other people, but this was Jackson. My brother. Now that I thought about it, Jackson knew exactly where to find her the day that she got into an argument with her mom and broke her phone.

I thought back further and remembered when he and I were on the plane to Hawaii and he was asking me questions about her. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. Now, it made total sense. Has this been going on since Hawaii? Possibly before?

I cursed under my breath when I thought about when we all went over the cake choices yesterday. They had both disappeared from the dining room. That must have been what they were doing.

I watched as they got into Jackson's truck and pulled off. I needed to find out exactly what was going on here. I parked my truck and waited a few minutes before going inside the bar. I immediately spotted Lanie and Danielle sitting at a high top and started to walk over.

I was waiting to see their reaction when they saw me. Lanie looked over at me and her eyes widened with surprised an alarm. Oh, yeah, they both knew about this. I watched as Lanie tapped Danielle on the shoulder and pointed towards me. She had the same expression as Lanie did.

Danielle quickly composed herself before she slid from the bar stool and came up to me with a smile. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

I didn't want to make a scene here. And this wasn't the place to talk about this. I smile at her as I answered, "I wanted to surprise you."

She smiled shyly at me. "Well, you definitely did." She glanced to Lanie before she looked back at me. "Let me say bye to Lanie and I'll be ready."

I watched as she walked over to Lanie and they exchanged words quietly. After a few minutes, they hugged and said goodbye.

"Ready?" She asked when she walked back over to me.

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

We walked outside to my truck and I started driving in the direction of her apartment. She was quiet for a while and I'm pretty sure she knew there was a good chance that I saw Anne and Jackson outside of the bar.

"I have a question for you," I said and she looked over at me. "Is there something going on between Anne and Jackson?"

She didn't say anything at first. I glanced over at her and she let out a long breath. "You saw them, didn't you?"

At least she didn't lie to my face. "Yeah, I did. How long has this been going on, Danielle? How long have they been sneaking around behind my back?"

"Ryan, you need to talk to talk to Harper about this. She and Jackson were going to tell you--"

"But they didn't. Are you really not going to tell me?"

She closed her eyes tight. "Im sorry, Ryan. I can't. You need to talk to Harper."

My hand gripped the steering wheel as my anger grew. I couldn't believe this. Not only was my fiancee and my brother keeping things from me, but Danielle, too? "How long have you known?"

"I didn't find out until we were in Ithica. I swear. And Harper said she was going to tell you."

I was quiet for the rest of the ride until we pulled up in front of her place. I believe Danielle when she said she only recently found out. But I still was extremely upset. I was upset that Anne and Jackson have been keeping this secret from me. I was also upset that Danielle didn't tell me when she found out and that she wouldn't tell me the details.

"Don't tell Anne that I know. I'm going to go over there tomorrow and talk to her myself and get to the bottom of this.

"Okay," she replied softly. She still didn't look at me when she asked, "I'm assuming you don't want to come upstairs?"

"With everything...I think I need some space."

"You're ending this?" She asked with disbelief.

"I just need some time."

I watched as she got out of my truck and walked to her apartment. It hurt me to say that to her, but I had some stuff I needed to figure out. I started driving home and was trying to think about what I was going to say to Anne tomorrow.

I was sure of one thing, though. Tomorrow, I was getting answers.

I hesitated as I stood outside of Anne's door. I didn't sleep well last night at all. I couldn't stop thinking about the secret relationship that's been going on between her and Jackson.

I sent her a text this morning letting her know that I was going to be coming by to talk to her. But she didn't know what I needed to talk to her about. I needed answers and I needed them now.

I knocked on the door and waited a few minutes before she opened it with a smile. "Hey, Ry. Come in." She held the door open for me as I entered her apartment.

She shut the door and followed me into the living room. "So, what brings you by?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and met her stare. "I want you to tell about you and Jackson."

Her eyes widened as her jaw dropped. She seemed unable to speak. She tried again, repeatedly opening and closing her mouth. "How-- Did Danielle tell you?"

"No, she kept your secret. I saw you two outside of the bar. I went to surprise Danielle."

Anne put her hands to her head and started pacing. "I'm sorry you found out that way, Ryan. We were--"

"Going to tell me," I interrupted, "I know, I've heard that already. I want to know everything, Anne. How long has this been going on? Why didn't you guys tell me?"

She dropped her hands and took a seat on the couch. "We met at that same bar the day before the engagement party. I had no idea who he was and he didn't know who I was either. I was upset about the engagement and we ended up talking."

She took a deep breath before continuing, "We both agreed it would only be the one time and we spent the night together. Then I saw him at the engagement party when you introduced us. I swear, Ryan, I had no idea he was your brother. I didn't even think I would see him again."

I knew she was telling the truth about not knowing who he was because I never told her about him before the engagement. We had been estranged over the past few years, so I never brought it up.

"What happened next?" I asked.

"Jackson asked me to meet him for dinner because he wanted to talk to me. So I did, and he said that we had a connection and he wanted this to continue between us."

"Obviously, you agreed to it," I said a little harshly.

She fidgeted with her hands. "Well, not at first. He told me I had two weeks to decide. During those two weeks, we kissed and flirted back and forth, but we didn't...sleep together until Hawaii."

Well, that explains why she was adamant about us going to London. "Were you guys together in London?"

"No," She said quickly and met my stare, " I honestly wanted you and I to be there for him. He told me that he didn't have any other family over there and I thought it wasn't a good idea for him to be alone for something like that. And I know that you wouldn't want to miss that, either."

"You're right," I said and I felt a little guilty for asking that question. "I'm sorry."

I tried to process everything she told me in one thing stuck out to me. "So, have either of you been sleeping with anyone else during this time?"

"No. Part of the agreement between Jackson and I, was that we would not sleep with anybody else."

That right there caught me off-guard. I knew Jackson and I knew how he was with women. The only woman I knew of that he had been with more than once, was Jillian. And as far as I remember, he didn't even care for her really. So, why did he agree to that with Anne?

I finally sat down on the couch across from her and asked, "Why didn't either of you tell me?"

"After we found out about you and Danielle, we felt guilty. We both decided to tell you and then you mentioned that you might be able to get out of the wedding. With everything going on, I didn't want to add more to your stress."

"I can't believe this," I breathed as I ran my hands through my hair.

"I'm so sorry, Ryan."

"Tell me this, Anne. If we are able to get out of this marriage, what's your plan? Are you and Jackson going to officially be together? I'm sure you know about his reputation. I don't want you to get hurt."

She looked away from me before she answered. "Trust me, Ryan, I know exactly who he is."

That's when my stomach dropped with the crushing truth. "Oh, fuck. You're in love with him."

When her eyes met mine I saw the tears she was trying to hide. Goddammit, Jackson. I loved my brother, but he has never had a relationship in his life. And he certainly didn't believe in love.

"Do you even know what you're doing, Anne?"

Even though she was upset, her voice was strong. "Do you?"

She had a point. Even though I haven't admitted it to myself, or to Danielle, I was pretty sure I was falling for her. Our situations were still different.

"I need to talk to Jackson," I said as I got to my feet.

"Please," she said in a panic and came up to me, "you can't tell him, Ryan."

I knew what she was afraid of. She was afraid of the same thing that I was. That if Jackson knew how she felt about it, that he would end what they were doing.

"I won't. I need to talk to him about this thing between you guys."

She followed me to the door and embraced me in a hug. "I'm sorry, Ryan."

"I know you are. It's alright," I said and meant it. Even though I was still pissed off about the deception, I felt for her.

I pulled away from her and asked, "I'll see you tonight at the party?"

Tonight we were having a party at my parents' house to celebrate my dad's birthday.

"Yes," she nodded. "I'll be there."

I said goodbye and walked towards my truck. Once inside, I started driving towards Jackson's. I felt bad because I lied to Anne.

I needed to talk to him about the situation and how she felt about him. I wasn't about to let him string her along and break her heart.