Chapter 28 · Rumor

Nico's phone hits the counter so hard the screen cracks a hairline down the middle, and he doesn't even look at it break.

"Read it," he says.

I pick it up. My name's on it. Not the alias I signed contracts with for six years. My real one. Eli Tan, twenty-six, 'paid husband,' next to a photo of us outside the courthouse where I signed the marriage job with my actual signature because Nico asked me to and I was stupid enough to do it.

"Where'd this come from," I say.

"You tell me."

That's the tone. Flat, cop-flat, the one he uses on people right before he ends their week. I've heard it aimed at other men. Never at me. Not since the lock changed.

"You think I leaked my own name to a tabloid," I say. "That's your theory."

"I think two people knew you signed real," Nico says. "Me. And you."

"Three," I say. "Your brother witnessed it. Or did you forget Marco was standing right there with the pen."

That lands. His jaw does the thing where it goes tight and doesn't move for a second, like he's chewing the name before he lets it out.