Page 25 of Forbidden Romeo
My cheeks burn with shame and confusion. "Please," I stammer, grasping for the right lines. "Let me explain..."
But Holden cuts me off. "No more lies. I'm done with your excuses."
He turns his back on me and I'm left standing alone on the stage. The lights beat down, suddenly feeling as hot as spotlights interrogating a suspect. I want to melt into the floorboards.
When the scene ends, the lights go black and Holden brushes past me without a word, his jaw clenched. I trail after him hesitantly as he storms toward his dressing room.
"Holden, wait," I call out. He pauses, one hand on the doorknob. He looks up at me, his eyes red-rimmed and miserable.
"You know," he says simply. “Don’t you?”
He doesn’t clarify or ask me to. So I simply nod, still too overwhelmed to speak.
With a sigh, he scrubs his hand down his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper. “I waited for you to tell me that you found Megan and Jamie. You never did. Why would you keep that from me?”
His gaze shifts, guilt edging into something different. Something harder.
“How do you know his name?”
I gulp, realizing my mistake. “What?”
“My so—” He pauses, catching himself. “Megan’s son’s name. How’d you know his name?”
Holden stares at me, his eyes piercing into mine, searching for an answer. I fumble for words, unsure how to respond.
"I...I heard Megan say his name," I stammer weakly.
It’s not a lie.
And not the whole truth. Something Holden is very well-versed in.
Holden steps towards me, his body tense. "There's something you're not telling me."
The nervousness and fear I have over not telling him my whole truth dissolves and anger takes its rightful place. “You’re one to talk, Holden. Some things never change, I guess.”
He draws back like my words have slapped him and I watch a bead of sweat trickle down his temple.
Suddenly a voice bellows from the stage. “What the fuck are you two doing?” McCay shrieks. “Do you even care about this show anymore? This is a run-through for Christ’s sake. Holden, you’re supposed to be on stage!”
Holden and I both startle at the interruption.
“Oh for God’s sake,” McCay rolls her eyes at us. “Is this still about the Megan thing?”
Holden tilts his head at McCay, suddenly the fury I’d seen directed at me, now shifts fully onto her.
Holden stares coldly at McCay, his jaw clenched tight. "You… how did you even know about Megan?”
Laurie rolls her eyes in spite of Holden. “Years ago I found something in your father’s records that he was paying a girl a lofty sum. He told me about her baby and that you never knew and he paid her a ton of money to keep it that way.”
“Did he also tell you that I might not be the father?” Holden says, crossing his arms.
Laurie snorts. “Holden, please. That child is the spitting image of you?—”
“I didn’t say he and I weren’t related. But I’m guessing that when you discovered this paper trail and confronted my father about it, he left out the little detail that the reason Megan and I broke up years ago was because he seduced her. He had sex with Megan to prove some stupid point that she wasn’t trustworthy. That kid might be mine… Or it might be my father’s. He might be your stepson.”
McCay’s eyes widen in alarm and her face goes white. “What? No, I - I didn't realize."