“Me neither.”
They fell silent again, watching the movie with mutual disinterest.
When he heard soft footsteps a few minutes later, Aidan’s heart did an involuntary flip. He eagerly sat up just as Claire stepped into the living room, but his rising excitement plummeted the moment he saw her face.
“What’s wrong?” he said instantly.
Looking pale, she focused her gaze not on Aidan, but Dylan. “If I ask you something, do you promise to give me an honest answer?”
Concern filled Dylan’s eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Just promise.”
“I promise. Now what is it, honey?”
“Did you know Chris was having an affair?”
Aidan had not been expecting that. Neither had Dylan, because the man’s jaw dropped in shock.
“What?”
Claire walked over to the armchair and sat down with a miserable expression. “Did you know?”
“Of course not.” Dylan shook his head, looking flabbergasted. “What do you mean, Chris was having an affair?”
“I don’t know for sure, but that’s what the evidence suggests.”
“What evidence?” Dylan asked sharply.
She sighed. “I was on Facebook messaging a few friends from college, you know, just passing the time, and I was looking at some of their pictures. This one friend—well, more of an acquaintance, really—she’s a lawyer and she posted some pics of this charity event that took place a few months ago. Chris attended, but I couldn’t go, so he went alone. He’s in one of the pictures, looking pretty cozy with this skinny blonde who has her arm around his waist.”
“That doesn’t mean they were having an affair,” Aidan pointed out.
“I’m not done,” she said tersely. “So the blonde in the picture was tagged—her name’s Stephanie Lowenstein, and she’s a mutual Facebook friend of mine and Lisa’s, my lawyer friend. So I clicked on Stephanie’s profile.”
Aidan’s stomach clenched. Shit, he didn’t like where this was going.
“Her privacy settings are nonexistent, which means I was able to look at everything on her timeline. Including her pictures.”
“Aw, fuck,” Dylan swore. “My brother was in some of them?”
“In a lot of them, at least the most recent ones.” Claire’s mouth set in a tight line. “She’s in London with him right now. And she was in Aruba with him last week.”
Dead silence crashed over the room.
On the other couch, Dylan’s face went from shocked, to stricken, to downright furious.
“Are you serious?” he demanded.
“As a heart attack. And these pictures were a lot more cozy than the one from the party.”
“That fucking bastard. What the hell is my brother thinking?”
“Probably that he’s hit the jackpot. This woman is obviously related to Frank Lowenstein, the senior partner at Chris’s firm. She’s probably his daughter, which means she’s not only loaded, but has crazy connections and a membership to that stupid country club, and she probably comes with a million other perks Chris would appreciate.”
Claire shoved a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I can’t believe him. I mean, I have to assume he was involved with her before the wedding, right? You don’t go away with someone unless the two of you have some sort of previous involvement, or at least a flirtation, right?”
Dylan let out a breath. “Yeah, I’d say they were most likely involved.”
Biting her lip, she looked down at the hands she’d clasped in her lap. “I don’t even know why I’m so upset. It’s just…fuck, call me a loser, but it’s an ego thing, I guess. I’ve never been cheated on before, and I hate the idea that someone found another woman more desirable than me. Even if that someone is Chris.” Her head lifted abruptly, her brown eyes seeking out Aidan’s, then Dylan’s. “You think I’m desirable, right?”
Aidan barked out an incredulous laugh. “Are you kidding me? You’re the most desirable woman on the goddamn planet.”
“Hands down,” Dylan confirmed.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
Aidan patted the couch cushion next to him. “C’mere.”
She hesitated.
“Claire. Don’t make me pick you up and carry you here,” he warned.
She must have known he’d totally follow through on that threat, because she got off the armchair and joined him on the couch.
Aidan took her hand and dragged his thumb over her knuckles. “We’re not saying what you want to hear in order to make you feel better. And you know what? Forget feeling better—you have absolutely no reason to be upset in the first place. Chris is an ass—” He glanced at Dylan “No offense, man.”
“None taken.”