"What the bloody hell do you mean Ryan knows about us?" I barked into my cell phone. I was standing on the balcony of my hotel room, trying desperately not to throw my phone over the railing. Harper called me five minutes ago to deliver some unfortunate news. 

"He saw us outside of the bar yesterday, Jackson." Harper's voice was calm and steady; like she knew I was close to losing it. I was at her place yesterday morning when she got the text that he was going to come over. I quickly left and stayed at my hotel ever since. Apparently, that's what he needed to talk about.

I ran my hand through my hair, "Well, what did he say? How pissed was he?" Knowing Ryan, he was furious. He hated being lied to. But then again, who didn't? I just wish we had told him what was going on from the beginning. We had gotten so lost in each other...

"He was more pissed that we didn't tell him. I'm surprised he wasn't angrier." She was quiet for a moment and I knew she was holding something back. 

"Princess..." I could always tell when she was lying. I have gotten to know her, inside and out, and I could pick up on such things. 

"He's on his way to talk to you." 

"Bloody brilliant. What should I tell him?" I had no idea what to say to him. I'm sure he felt betrayed, considering he was my brother. There was a time when we would tell each other everything. Even though we had been estranged for many years, we were still close. 

"He knows everything, Jackson. He just wants to talk to you." 

There was a knock at the door and I closed my eyes as I cursed under my breath. Well, that was fucking fast. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and I wasn't sure why. According to Harper, he was pissed but not crazy angry. She said this should go well and I trusted her. 

"He's here, Princess. I'll call you after," I said in a low voice. I didn't want him to hear, just in case. 

"Okay," she said into the receiver before hanging up. 

I walked over to my hotel room door and hesitated. This wasn't going to go well. I knew it wasn't. Something told me that when I opened this door, everything was going to change. Letting out a deep breath, I opened the door. 

Ryan met my stare with an odd expression. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched. "Jackson," he said as he pushed passed me and walked into my hotel room. 

"Ryan, I'm glad your here," I stated as I shut the door and turned towards him. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was I could tell in his mind he was probably screaming at me. 

"I don't think you will be in a few minutes." 

I cleared my throat at his statement. "Yes, Harper told me that you know about us. I'm sorry, Ryan. This wasn't intentional." 

He arched a brow at me, calling my bullshit. He was always good at that, ever since we were kids. He was my big brother after all. "Perhaps the first time, but after? You knew exactly what you were doing, Jackson." 

Ashamed, I glanced away. He was right. I knew exactly what I was doing when I got Harper's phone number out of Ryan's phone, or when I took her to dinner and made her that offer, or when I continued to be selfish and take pleasure from her body more times than I could count. 

"You're right," I finally said and he gave me a half smile. 

"Well, at least you are finally starting to tell me the truth." He walked up to me until he was inches away. "Now, it's time for me to throw a little truth at you. I may not be in love with her, but I care about her." 

"So do I," I confessed. I honestly did care for her. More than any woman I have ever been with. "I know her, Ryan. She means something to me," I added. 

"You know her," he repeated my words slowly. "Okay, then. Did you know that she's in love with you?" 

I scoffed at his claim. "No, she isn't. We had an agreement." We both agreed not to catch feelings and I trusted her to keep that promise. Just like I had. We cared about each other and that was it. 

He looked at me like I grew three heads. "Are you that delusional? Think really hard, Jackson. She. Loves. You."

I thought over our time together and tried to prove him wrong. I tried to convince myself that the every time we had sex, there wasn't a big emotional connection. I closed my eyes tight as the truth started to become clear to me. She had been acting differently that past few weeks. More affectionate and the sex had been different. But I never thought...I closed my eyes tight before looking back at Ryan. "Why?" I asked him. He knew what I meant. Why the fuck would any woman love me? Especially someone like her. 

"I don't know, Jackson. But you have to do something about it." 

That caught me off guard. "What do you mean?" 

"You aren't the falling in love type, Jackson. I know that, you know that, and she knows that. If I'm able to get out of this wedding, are you ready to give her more?" He sighed before resting a hand on my shoulder. "You feel safe with the way things are because if she marries me, there isn't a chance for a future for you two. If that changes, you're going to end up hurting her. The longer this goes on, the more heartbroken she'll be; and I can't let that happen." 

I knew he was right. I did feel safe because we didn't have a chance to make this a real relationship. Not as long as she got married to Ryan. Fuck. "What do I do then?" 

"You need to end it. Now. I don't care how you do it, just do it. Better she hurt a little now and get over you, then when she falls even more for you." He walked to the door and turned towards me. "She told me not to tell you this. She was scared you would take off. You don't have a choice here, brother. End it." 

With that, he left the room. 

I threw back my glass of whiskey and let out a long breath. I looked around the crowded room at my father's house. There were tons of people here, milling about as they wished my father a happy birthday. Some I knew from his work, others I didn't. There was one person in particular I was looking for. One who, just recently, I learned had fallen in love with me. The realization of that scared the shit out of me. 

When Ryan left my hotel room, I had a minor panic attack. I tried to picture a real future with her and...I panicked. I didn't want to end what we had, but he was right. If we continued on, I would ruin her. Better to pull the plug now and let her hate me for the rest of her life. It will be easier for her to move on and find someone else who can give her what she needs. It took me awhile to figure out the way to do that. Just the thought of it made me want to throw up. 

I heard the front door open and that's when I saw her come inside. She had her hair up tonight, flashing a lovely view of her neck. Something she knew I liked. She was wearing a black and dark blue strapless dress with a gold necklace around her neck. She was radiant. 

Her eyes found me immediately and she threw me a smile. She had her arm draped around Ryan's as she followed him in the direction of my parents. I saw as she wished my father a happy birthday and tried to converse with Ryan's mom. That woman was the devil. 

I walked back to the bar and ordered another whiskey. I definitely needed some liquid courage for what was going to happen tonight. I wouldn't be able to go through with it if I didn't. 

"Voda-soda, please," she asked the bartender and glanced over at me. My God, she was breathtaking. She looked over at me with a sultry smile. "You clean up nicely." 

My mouth twisted up in a smile. "As do you, Princess. Absolutely stunning." 

Her cheeks heated as they always do when I complimented her. Something caught my eyes and I looked to the right. Ryan was standing my the window and was looking right at us. He didn't need to say anything. I knew what he was thinking. I nodded to him and he returned the gesture before walking back towards the kitchen. 

"We should sneak off later," she said quietly as she grabbed her drink. 

My chest tightened as I leaned a little closer to whisper in her ear. "Find me later, Princess," I said before I left the bar. 

After dinner, everyone was standing around talking or dancing to the music Ryan's mother chose. I knew I needed to do it now. I looked over to a brunette standing by the staircase and it was within eyeshot of Harper. I walked over to the brunette who was talking to another woman and gave her my usual charming smile. "Hello, beautiful. How are you tonight?" 

She was attractive with long dark hair and a buxom figure. Her brown eyes roamed over me and she gave me a smile. I didn't need to look up to see that Harper was watching. Her eyes were like fucking lasers into my skull. 

"I'm good. You're Jackson, right?" She asked shyly. 

I outstretched my hand. "And you are?" 

She clasped her soft hand in mine as she blushed from the contact. "I'm Ellie. I work for your dad." 

Of course, she did. Oh, well. I only needed a few minutes for my plan to work. "Have you seen the upstairs?" I asked with obvious meaning. 

I saw the desire in her eyes and knew I had her. "No, I haven't. Care to show me?" 

I offered her my arm and took her upstairs. I took her straight to my father's library and slid my hands in my pockets. "My father spend a lot of time here. I think he tried to hide from his wife on a regular basis." 

She laughed as she walked over to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and stroked some of the spines. "It's nice." 

I walked up behind her and gently stroked her arm from behind. She turned towards me and looked up at me with expectant eyes. This is it, I thought. It's now or never. I ignored the feeling of dread running through me as I lowered my mouth to hers.

She responded immediately and I deepened the kiss. It was nothing like  what I felt when I kissed Harper and I tried not to think about that. Ellie slid her hand around my waist and pulled me closer. Less than three minutes later, I heard a short gasp. 

I pulled away and looked in the doorway. There she was. Harper had her hand covering her mouth and I could see the hurt in her eyes. The way she was looking at me, like I was a stranger, was killing me. Without saying a word, she turned and ran. I heard the sound her decending the stairs and knew she was probably going to leave the party. 

I sighed as I thought about what I did. It took everything I had to not chase after her. 

"Was that your girlfriend?" Ellie asked in a nonchalant voice; like she didn't mind either way. 

"No," I answered. Even though it was the truth, that she wasn't my girlfriend, it felt wrong to say that. I stared at the doorway where she was and absently rubbed at my chest. 

Why the fuck was it hurting?