“And you were arrested and convicted of the distribution of narcotics, correct?”

It went on like this. Question after question, each one so carefully asked, I knew my parents had helped their lawyer skirt the line of what I had no choice but to admit to. Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wouldn’t give my parents the satisfaction of knowing how much it all hurt. How much it killed.

And worse, how it made me doubt myself. Wonder whether I was good enough to raise Justin and Lyla. But when I lifted my gaze from my lap, I met Mason’s. His was so full of rage, but I instantly knew that it wasn’t directed at me but at my parents and their lawyer. His anger was a balm to my shredded soul. It was what I needed to press on.

“Ms. Foley,” Paisley interrupted my connection with Mason. “You married Mr. Decker a week after your sister died?”

“Yes.”

“Did you do that in an attempt to convince the court you were equipped to take custody of two minor children?”

I stiffened against the wooden chair. “I did it to give Justin and Lyla the best home possible. Because Mason is the most caring man I have ever known. And because we are all incredibly lucky to have him.”

“Is it true that you and Mr. Decker didn’t have a relationship prior to your marriage?”

“No.” I kept my voice even, but inside, I was panicking. Where was this information coming from? No one but our closest friends knew that Mason and I had spent little time together before marrying. And none of them would throw us under the bus.

“Mr. Decker’s sister informed us that she had never heard of you until a week after your marriage. What would you say to that?”

I froze. Juliette. She was the one who’d betrayed us. I knew she wasn’t my biggest fan, but I couldn’t imagine why she would hate me this much.

“Objection,” Keisha said, rising.

“Withdrawn,” Paisley retorted before the judge could rule.

But it didn’t matter. The accusation was out there, and there was nothing we could do about it.

34

MASON

I locked everything down as we headed out of the courthouse. I’d barely heard Keisha’s assurances that this wasn’t a death blow to our case. That it made the opposition look desperate and as if they were grasping at straws. None of that calmed the raging storm inside me.

My sister. The one person I had thought would always have my back had been the one to stick a knife in it. I knew she’d been upset, unable to see Anna clearly, but I’d never thought she’d go this far.

“Mason.” Anna’s fingers curled around my forearm, bringing me to a stop. “Take a breath before you get behind the wheel.”