TC studied Eve’s face, looking, searching for some hint of what she said to be a lie. She loved Julian? Liz was her sister? That was impossible. Impossible. Crane was making her say these things. Somehow he forced her to have sex with him, and now he was manipulating her. TC glanced from his most hated foe to his wife. “Eve, what is this bastard doing to you? What does he have on you to make you say and do all these things? Is he blackmailing you? Threatening to take your job away if you don’t do what he says?”
“No, it’s none of those things,” Eve said. “I love Julian, and Liz is my sister. I tried to tell you that night.” She shook her head. Tears filled her eyes. “I tried to tell you on so many nights.”

Julian squeezed her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the back of her head. Eve’s expression changed, her body seemed to relax instantly. She looked into Julian’s eyes, the man TC hated with every fiber of his being, and gave him a smile. “Thank you,” she mouthed.

TC’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits. His heart pounded and pulse raced. “What the hell is going on?!” He turned his gaze to Liz. “Is what she said true?”

Liz’s lip quivered. Unshed tears glazed her eyes. “Is it?” she murmured. “You didn’t try to rape her, did you?”

“No, I--” TC covered his face and groaned. Why was everyone making such an issue of this? He didn’t hurt Eve. Yes, he scared her. He was angry, but….

“Eve, is it true?” Liz asked.

Eve nodded. “Yes, it’s true.”

“We had a misunderstanding,” TC explained, rushing to clean up his sullied name, “but Eve knows I would never hurt her.” Tears spilled from Liz’s eyes. TC watched in amazement. Liz never had a kind word to say about Eve, and now she was shedding tears? She didn’t even know the whole story. Hell, the woman was dressed to seduce him. Hmm, maybe she was crying for him, stunned by how this misunderstanding between him and his wife was blown out of proportion. “You know I wouldn’t hurt Eve, don’t you, Liz.”

“I--I--” Liz stammered.

What did she have to think about? Was she Eve’s sister? He turned to Eve. “I need to understand this business about Liz being your sister and this lie about you being in love with Crane. That’s not true, Eve.” He had to keep telling himself that, even as the image before his eyes betrayed every word. “You can’t love this man.”

“But I do love him,” Eve replied, her voice low but matter-of-fact.

TC shook his head, refusing to listen. “No, I’ll never believe that, and I’ll never believe you lied to me for over twenty years.” He eyed Julian as his hands trailed soothingly up and down Eve’s arms. TC ached to punch his lights out. That bastard was too damn comfortable with his wife. Eve was too comfortable with Julian. What happened to his life? How the hell did everything go so wrong? TC took a breath, reminding himself to stay calm. It wasn’t too late. He could fix this. “Eve, we need to talk.”

“Not alone you don’t!” Julian declared emphatically.

TC ignored him. “Eve, please,” he beseeched.

Her eyes stayed on him for the longest time before she nodded. “Julian, it’s okay,” Eve said ever so reluctantly. TC swallowed the sting of her hesitation. Was she really afraid to be alone with him?

“No, it is not okay,” Julian countered. He turned Eve so she faced him. “I’m not leaving you alone with him. I made that mistake once, and I won’t do it again. Eve, we already discussed this.”

“I know, but….” She sighed. “Look, you don’t have to leave the house, but could you wait in the kitchen?”

“No!”

TC looked on. How the hell did this man get so possessive of his wife?

“Julian, I don’t think TC will try anything with you in the next room. As much as I want you here, this is something I have to do alone,” Eve explained. She pressed her hand to his cheek. Julian held it to his face, placing a kiss in her open palm. Damn, they acted like he wasn’t even standing there. TC frowned. This was Crane’s doing. Julian wanted to rattle him, but he was stronger than that. He’d bite his tongue for now. He needed Eve to see how much he’s changed. He would show her he was in better control of his temper. Everything would be clear once Julian was gone. “I promise, I’ll call for you if I need you.”

“Eve, I really don’t want to leave you with him.”

“I know, but I need you to.”

Julian groaned. “Very well,” he finally said. He caressed her cheek and gave her lips a soft kiss. “I’ll be just inside the kitchen.”

Eve nodded. “Thank you.”

“Join me, Liz, I think you could use a glass of water,” Julian said to the still unsettled woman.

“I think I could use something a lot stronger than water.” Liz traipsed toward the kitchen, stopping briefly when she reached Eve. She appeared to want to say something, but continued on to the kitchen without saying a word.

“If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, you call me.” Julian fixed a hateful gaze TC’s way. “I mean it, Eve.”

TC glared at Julian. Was he supposed to be intimidated by that remark? Being calm was one thing, but he wouldn’t let Julian threaten him in his own house. He took a step forward as Julian did the same.

Eve pushed her lover toward the kitchen. “Julian, please, no more of this. I’ll be okay. Go on.”

“I’ll be right at the door,” Julian repeated before leaving them alone.

TC extended his hand to Eve. She shook her head. “No.”

“I just wanted us to go to the couch and talk,” he said. Eve looked so beautiful. She was glowing. He so wanted to touch her, to feel the softness of her supple skin.

She moved to stand before the fireplace, clear on the other side of the room. “I’m not taking your hand anywhere, and I refuse to ever sit on that couch again.”

He dropped his hand. “Eve, I get you’re upset with me, but all this you’re in love with Crane and saying you’re Liz’s sister. This is crazy.”

“No, what’s crazy is my keeping my past a secret for so many years. God, I should have told you about this years ago, but everything I said tonight is true.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell me about your family?”

“Because they washed their hands of me when I left to go sing. The life I fell into after leaving home was not pretty.” Eve lowered her head. “Liz has told you all about that.”

“Yes, she’s told all of Harmony about her sister. How she got involved in drugs, alcohol, and sleazy men.”

“I wasn’t involved with men,” she corrected. “Regardless of what Liz thinks, I was not a whore. I was only involved with one man.”

“Julian,” TC said, the name sticking in his throat.

Eve met his gaze head on. “Yes, as I said, we were lovers.”

“You’re still lovers,” he retorted. “There’s no denying that.”

“Yes, we’re still lovers.”

TC grunted. “Finding you with him…. Eve, I can’t tell you what that did to me.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” she whispered, glancing at the couch.

“The image of you in Julian’s arms is seared to my brain. Being hit by a Mack truck would be preferable to having to live with this daily reminder of your infidelity.” He sucked in breath and slowly let it go. “But you know what, I’m willing to try to work this out. You’ve made mistakes and I’ve made mistakes, but we can start with a clean slate.”

“A clean slate?”

He nodded eagerly. “That’s right. The girls will never have to know about your slutty, drug addicted past. Liz has kept her mouth shut this long, and she can keep doing that. Of course, this relationship with Crane will have to end, but that’s easy enough to take care of. We’ll need counseling, but we can--”

“Do you hear yourself, TC? Are you kidding me?”

His heart swelled. She was surprised; he knew she would be. “No, I’m not.” He smiled with pride. “I’ve thought about this long and hard, Eve. It’s the right thing to do. We have a beautiful family together, and we have a good marriage. Yes, we have problems, but….”

“Problems? Oh, yes, we have problems, TC, but you have a serious problem if you think for one second I’m coming back to you.”