Gia, seemingly unconvinced, walked past him, flicking on more lights as she went, inspecting his house. And what was suddenly illuminated was not looking great. Dishes were heaped up in the kitchen. A day-old pizza box and a few meals’ worth of dirty dishes graced the countertop. Clothes and shoes were scattered on the furniture and floor. Empty beer bottles peppered the island.

That might explain his splitting headache.

Gia turned to him, a concerned look on her face. “Who are you, and where did you hide my neatnik brother?”

“What time is it?” He moved the couch pillows around, searching for his phone.

“Ten p.m. There’s lasagna in there.” She nodded to the plate. “It’s still warm if you want to eat it.”

“Okay, thanks,” he managed. But he’d rather eat sawdust.

“I’ll put it in the fridge.” Gia was frowning and not making eye contact. If his head wasn’t hurting so badly, he would want to hear her launch in with her usual exuberance on details about the thousands of activities she was involved in, and how some things sucked but others didn’t. But she wasn’t saying much of anything.

“Dad told me everything was fake,” she said in a deadpan voice that froze his heart cold. “Like, you lied. To all of us.”

“Gia, it wasn’t like that.” But the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him otherwise. He had lied. To the people he loved the most.

“I was excited about having a sister. Tessa took me to breakfast. I was getting to know her sisters. And I wasn’t excited about it just for me—it was like suddenly the feud was over and we had…family.”

He was an ass. And the fallout from his fake marriage had impacted…well, everyone. But Gia most of all. “I didn’t mean for this to hurt you—or anybody.” Leo took the plate from her and set it on the counter. As he approached his sister, she backed up a step.

She crossed her arms and kept talking. “I was excited about you coming home because I thought we were close. I thought you’d finally start seeing me more like an adult than just a baby sister.”

“You’re right about the lie. It was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

How could he have ever thought that marriage would be simple? How could he make an arrangement as serious as a marriage and believe his feelings wouldn’t get tangled up?

And how could he have believed that his entire family wouldn’t be impacted?

Leo grasped his sister by the arms. “I love you so much, Gia. I hope one day you can forgive me. I looked on it as just business. It was a calculated decision I thought would be easy. Because—”

“Because you’re a Neanderthal as far as women are concerned?”

He rubbed his neck. “Yeah. Exactly.”