Forbidden Promises

by Synithia Williams

  India shook her head. “No, listen, let me explain.”

  Elaina pointed down the hall. “There’s only one thing to explain. Did he ask you to marry him?”

  Oh God, this was not how this was supposed to go! “He did. I said no but, Elaina, I almost lost him.”

  “You almost lost him?” Elaina’s voice was incredulous. “He wasn’t yours to lose!”

  Guilt slapped India in the face. The picture of Travis in the hospital bed hit back. She didn’t want to fight Elaina, but she couldn’t keep hiding the way she felt about him anymore. She couldn’t keep this secret anymore.

  “Stop this foolishness right now.” Grant’s low angry voice cracked like a whip. He and Byron had come over to the elevators. “You will not make fools of yourselves fighting over this in the middle of a hospital.”

  Elaina’s eyes flashed. “She’s sleeping with Travis.”

  “You think I don’t know this already?” Grant said in a hushed voice.

  Elaina’s eyes widened. Betrayal and pain flashed in them as she looked between India and their father.

  India sucked in a breath. He knew! How?

  The elevator doors opened. Their dad pointed to the empty car. “Get in there now. We’ll work this out at home.”

  He spoke to them like they were kids. Obediently, India and Elaina complied. Elaina went to the back corner of the elevator. India settled in the opposite corner. Their dad and Byron entered next. Byron looked between the two of them, then his eyes focused on India.

  “Is this true?” Byron shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  India couldn’t believe this was how things were coming out. The betrayal in her sister’s eyes made her want to cry, but she also ached to go back to Travis’s side. “It’s not what it looks like,” she said again.

  “It looks like I can’t trust you,” Elaina spat.

  She had no comeback for that. “We tried to ignore our feelings for each other.”

  Elaina crossed her arms. “Obviously you failed.”

  “That’s enough,” Grant’s voice boomed. “We’ll discuss this at home.”

  There was silence after that. India tried to ignore Byron’s disbelieving looks. Elaina wouldn’t turn her way. Her sister stood stiffly, with her arms crossed beneath her breasts, her face a cold mask of fury.

  They were all in separate vehicles, so the ride home gave India a chance to think about what she would say and explore her feelings. She hated hurting her sister. The day they’d just spent together, shopping, getting mani-pedis and actually laughing about inconsequential things was the most sisterly bonding they’d ever had. She’d had fun and believed Elaina had, too. They would never get that connection back. She and Elaina had never been very close, their personalities were too different, but they had supported one another, and she loved her sister.

  What happened between India and Travis probably shouldn’t have. If they’d kept their distance, or never spent that one night together on her birthday, maybe they never would have become anything more than friends. But they had spent that time together. They had kissed, and they had realized something deeper and stronger simmered underneath the friendship. Ashiya was right. Could what they felt be short-lived if it was still there after all these years?

  She’d run away from her feelings for too long. Life was fleeting and could be snatched away like a snap of a finger. Maybe her family believed things would fizzle out after a few months, but India didn’t. She’d loved him before she’d left, and her feelings hadn’t changed. She didn’t want to go another seven years, hell, the rest of her life, pretending.

  They arrived at the house around the same time. No one spoke as they entered. Sandra took one look at their angry faces and turned around. They went directly to the upstairs family room. Elaina crossed over to the bar and mini fridge where she pulled out a bottle of wine. Byron followed and grabbed the whiskey. India went over to the bookshelf and stared at the rows of family pictures and accomplishments.

  Grant closed the door, then stood in the center of the room. “Now, India, will you explain what’s going on between you and Travis?”

  India didn’t turn to face them. She stared at Travis and Elaina’s wedding picture. She’d been so upset that day. Believing Travis had toyed with her. That he hadn’t felt anything for her.

  The time for secrets was over. “What’s happening between us now is exactly what would have happened years ago if you hadn’t told him to stay away from me and marry Elaina,” India said evenly.

  “What?” A thump India suspected was the wine bottle hitting the bar accompanied Elaina’s outburst.

  “Are you serious?” Byron said at the same time.

  India turned around and met her dad’s gaze. She needed the whole story. “Why did you do that?”

  “You expect me to sit around and watch him move on to my baby girl after he knocked up your sister?” Grant said, matter-of-fact. “I don’t regret my decision and if I had to make it again, I’d do the same thing.”

  Elaina came around the bar and glared at India. “Are you telling me,” she said slowly, “that you and Travis have been sleeping together for years?”

  “No!” India yelled. She took a slow breath and told her sister the truth. “But on my twenty-first birthday, we kissed. That’s all. Nothing else happened, but I loved him then.”

  “Your birthday...” Elaina’s brows drew together. “That was right when we found out.”

  “You two had broken up.”

  “That makes it better,” Elaina accused. Her eyes sharp as flint.

  “I’m not saying it does, but you originally turned down his proposal,” India countered. “If you still wanted him, why did you say no?”

  “Because I didn’t want to marry him,” Elaina said immediately. She drew back and frowned, then faced their dad. “You told me I had to. You said I’d played his whore for too long. That if I wanted any chance at redeeming myself and running your company that I’d clean up my mess. You pushed me into it and knew he was interested in India?”

  Grant squared his shoulders and raised his chin. “He didn’t deserve India.”

  “Why? Because your baby girl is too precious for the kid from the wrong side of the tracks?” Elaina tossed back.

  “I wasn’t going to watch him move on to your sister while you had his baby,” Grant argued. “We weren’t going to be some damn daytime talk show entertainment for the town.”

  “Don’t talk like that,” India said.

  Elaina shook her head and faced India. “Oh no, don’t deflect to Daddy. Let’s be very honest with each other. Let’s talk about right now. Let’s talk about how you thought it was okay to sleep with Travis.”

  “It’s not about sex,” India shot back. “I love him. Jesus, he almost died today. I can’t continue pretending as if I don’t care for him. He wanted to tell you, all of you, about us.”

  Elaina sliced her hand through the air. “I will never be okay with this.”

  The vehemence in Elaina’s voice silenced India for several beats. Embarrassment and guilt burned her cheeks. She felt foolish for hoping Elaina would feel differently once she knew the truth. “Is it because you want him back?”

  “I don’t want him back, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you married to him. To watch you flaunt your sick relationship in front of everyone and pretend as if it’s okay. No, you do this, and I’ll never forgive you.”

  “Elaina, don’t be that way. I never meant to hurt you. That’s why I didn’t want to stay long, but we just—”

  “Started sleeping together and decided fucking each other wasn’t enough. Let’s get married and really make a fool out of your sister.” Elaina’s voice shook with fury.

  “Elaina,” their dad snapped. “Watch your language.”

  She pointed at Grant. “No, I won�
��t watch my language.” The anger in Elaina’s gaze burned like wildfire. “This entire family is screwed up. You never should have pushed me into marrying Travis knowing how he felt. I’ll never forgive you for that. None of us would be here if you wouldn’t have tried to preserve your perfect Robidoux family empire.”

  Elaina pushed past Grant and stomped out of the room. The door slammed behind her. India looked at the door. Her stomach rolled as if she were on a ship in the middle of a storm, the clash of emotions and confessions crashing into each other like thunder.

  Her hand shook. Her heart pumped furiously. Was this what she wanted? Was being with Travis worth the anger in her sister’s eyes?

  “Do you see what you’ve done?” Grant asked.

  She was more than clear on what she’d done. As much as she wanted to go away and pretend this never happened, she couldn’t. “I’m not running away this time. We aren’t letting you dictate what we do.”

  Their dad pointed at Byron quietly sipping his whiskey at the bar. “And what about your brother’s campaign? Don’t you think this scandal will ruin him?”

  Byron downed the last of his drink. He sighed and spun the glass. “This won’t kill my campaign,” he said quietly. “Not if we play it right.”

  Grant took several steps toward Byron. “You can’t seriously be thinking of supporting them.”

  Byron looked at India. “I thought Travis was seeing someone. He was happy. I haven’t seen him that happy...ever. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “He wanted to say something immediately, but I asked him to wait until after the primaries. I knew this wouldn’t go over well.” Understatement of the century.

  Byron nodded and spun the glass again. “I’d rather handle the way we announce this than force you two apart.” He walked over and kissed her forehead. “If this is what you want, then I wish you both well.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, but sincerity was there. India wrapped her arms around him and hugged tight. Tears blurred her vision. At least she had Byron on her side.

  “Byron, you can’t be serious,” Grant said.

  Byron let India go and met their dad’s gaze with a determined stare. “I am. We’ve accepted Patricia. We can accept this.” His voice held an edge of steel she’d never heard before.

  Their dad’s face tightened. He looked at India. “He’s not right for you.”

  “You don’t get the chance to make that decision,” India countered. “I don’t think Patricia is right for you, but if you want me to be okay with that, then I need you to be okay with this. You said yourself we can’t help who we fall in love with. It’s not always convenient or easy, but neither is life.”

  Grant’s jaw clenched. He rolled his shoulders and tapped his toe. They had him. He couldn’t argue about convenience when he insisted they accept Patricia.

  Their father pointed at the door. “And what about Elaina? Are you ready to lose your sister for him?”

  India lowered her eyes. She had no argument for that. As much as she wanted Travis, deep down she knew she’d never be able to handle Elaina hating her forever. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Maybe she’ll be okay in the morning.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  THE FIRST THING Travis felt was the dull ache of pain. Dull, he was pretty sure, thanks to anesthesia. He knew exactly where he was. He didn’t have a moment of wondering what had happened and why.

  He’d been confused in the middle of the night when he’d woken alone in the dark hospital room. That had been fucked up. When the memory of what happened rushed through him—the gunshot, waking up in an ambulance and flashes of lights in a hospital room—he’d hoped someone would have been there with him.

  Someone was with him now though. Brighter light glowed behind his closed lids, the television was on, and a soft hand clasped his. The anxiety, sadness and fear from the night before dissipated. A smile crept up on his lips. India.

  There was a gasp, and she shuffled next to him, her hand tightened on his.

  She’d come. She hadn’t meant what she said. They weren’t over. “India.” The hoarse croak of his voice would have made a bullfrog flinch.

  Her hand stiffened and slowly pulled away. “Sorry to disappoint you. It’s the other sister.”

  Elaina? What the hell was she doing there? Where was India? He slowly cracked open his eyes. It took a few seconds to adjust to the light. He turned and focused until Elaina’s cool expression cleared in his view.

  “Elaina? Here to finish me off?” he asked with a twist of his lips.

  The corner of her mouth tilted up. “Maybe I should.”

  Good ole Elaina. “What are you doing here? Is the rest of your family here?” Was India nearby?

  She sat stiffly, back straight, shoulders tight. “No. I left early to see you before work.”

  “Before work?” Travis looked at the clock on the wall. Just after 6:00 a.m. Why was she here so early?

  “Yes. I want to talk to you without others around. Before things become even more crazy than they were the night before.”

  Things had gotten crazy the night before? He barely remembered being in recovery. The first memory after surgery was being alone in the hospital room. He’d wanted India.

  “What did you want to talk about?” he asked.

  “Why did you marry me? You didn’t have to go through with it. We both know we could have worked things out without getting married.”

  The campaign. Why his family shot him. If he was planning to pick up ballet after getting out of the hospital. He would have expected Elaina to ask any of those things. Not the reason he’d proposed.

  “You’ve never asked me that before.”

  “I never wanted to hear the truth before,” she said simply. “Will you tell me the truth?”

  Travis met her eyes. She looked like someone waiting for a slap in the face they knew was coming. What the hell happened the night before? “Does it matter?”

  Elaina folded her hands in her lap. “I think it does. Especially since you’ve asked my sister to marry you.”

  Travis closed his eyes. His head fell back on the pillow. How had she found out? Had India told her? If so, had India changed her mind? The pain of the guilt that hit him was only second to the gunshot wound. He should have told Elaina straight up. She deserved to have heard it from him.

  “She told you.”

  “Not directly. Her clinging to your hand, crying and saying she loves you and will marry you kind of let the cat out of the bag.” Elaina’s voice was dry and sarcastic, but Travis didn’t miss the flash of discomfort in her eyes.

  India had been there. A tightness in his chest unrelated to the bullet hole released. He’d feared she really didn’t love him when he hadn’t seen her. Finally, things were out in the open. “I wanted to tell you from the start.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess it’s never a good time to tell your ex-wife that you really love her younger sister.”

  She was deflecting with sarcasm. He’d hated when she did that. He could never get a straight answer out of her. Never knew how she really felt.

  “I know we could have raised our child without being married. But when your father accused me of using you, I thought about my dad. I always said if I have a kid, I’d be better than he was with me. When I told Grant I’d do right by you and handle my responsibilities, I thought I had to be all in to do that.”

  “But when you asked, you knew you had feelings for India.”

  No need to lie. “Yes.”

  She looked him in the eye. “Did you sleep with her while we were together?”

  “No. I never saw her, and I never would have done that to you. When I said I do, I was committed to you.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, her posture relaxed. “I believe you. That was the thing about you, you always did try to make it wor
k.”

  “When India came back, I’d hoped we could be friends. I thought we’d both moved on, and at first we were okay as friends.”

  “Then you were both overcome with emotion. It’s all really romantic, I guess.”

  He didn’t want her to think this was a game, or that they’d wanted to hurt her. He wished he could make this easier for her. The truth was, nothing about what came next would be easy.

  Travis tried to sit up. The dull pain increased, and he sat back. His hand sought out the controls on the side of his bed and he pressed the button to lift the head of the bed.

  “Elaina, do you really think we would have wanted to do this? Not because Byron’s in the middle of a campaign, but because neither of us wanted to hurt you.”

  “Do you really love her? I mean with your whole heart and soul and all that other nonsense people talk about in books, movies and songs. Tell me honestly this isn’t just lust or an itch or finishing what you started before you thought marrying me was a good idea.”

  “It’s not. I don’t want to hurt you, Elaina, but I love India. She’s always been the person I could talk to and laugh with. She’s the person I want to talk to about my day, the person I never want to see cry, the person I want to make smile for the rest of her life. She’s everything to me.” He thought about how upset she’d been when she’d called him yesterday and said things were over. How much she didn’t want to hurt her sister. “If she says she can’t be with me because it will tear you two apart, then I’d accept that. India loves you and I won’t be the reason you two hate each other.”

  A sheen of moisture coated Elaina’s eyes. She looked away quickly and stood. She avoided his gaze by walking over to the tray with a plastic pitcher on it beneath the television and pouring water into a paper cup. “You certainly sound sincere.”

  “I am sincere.”

  She returned and held out the cup of water. Any hint of moisture in her eyes gone. “I know you wouldn’t have purposefully tried to seduce India. You’re a good guy, deep down.”

  That was the first compliment she’d given him in years. He appreciated her honesty. Appreciated she knew that much about him.