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to know why you never told me about your father.”
    His eyes bore into hers. She could see he felt he was justified in demanding the truth. That it was owed to him. Her own anger began to simmer.
    “I didn’t need to say anything. Vicky filled you in pretty thoroughly, if I recall.”
    His jaw tightened. “Only because you didn’t. How could you not tell me about your dad going to jail?” His voice hardened. “And about your sister?”
    The weight in her chest got heavier. She hated what hewas doing to her. Bringing to the surface all the emotions she’d successfully smothered since they’d broken up. “I wasn’t trying to…” She stopped abruptly. She sounded like a kid weaseling her way out of trouble. “It was never the right time.”
    “We saw each other several times a week for six months, Kate!”
    “I know…” She’d wanted to tell him. She’d wanted to come clean about her past. But every time the moment seemed right, he’d hush her words with a kiss. And the kiss inevitably led to more…
    He had been just as reluctant as she to burst the romantic bubble that had floated them beyond their pasts, their presents. He just didn’t want to admit it. He wanted to blame it all on her.
    The leash was twisted so tightly around her fingers she could feel them growing numb. It was good. Numb was good. Because if she wasn’t numb, her anger would boil over.
    She could feel his eyes boring into her. “So when were you planning to tell me? After I put my ring on your finger?”
    His innuendo pushed her over the edge. “Are you suggesting I tried to trick you into marrying me?”
    Christmas Eve, on his knee, his grandmother’s ring. The memory punctured her.
    She’d managed to say yes through her tears. Then spent the rest of the Christmas holidays in agony. Terrified he would reject her if she told him about her past.
    It was his turn to look away. “I didn’t mean you were tricking me…”
    “Really? It sounded like that to me.”
    “It’s just when you put two and two together…” He jammed his hands into his pockets. “When were you going to tell me?”
    “I don’t know!” Alaska sensed her agitation and whined deep in his throat. “I was waiting for the right time.” How could she explain when she didn’t know herself? It was outside her realm of experience. Everything. The sudden consuming passion, his adoration of her, his love of life that made everything seem vibrant, rich, good.
    “There never would have been a right time for something like that.” His brusque tone forced her back to the present. “You should have just told me.”
    “I knew it would ruin things between us.” It had. She’d been right.
    “It only ruined things because you lied to me.”
    “I didn’t lie!” Her fingers curled into themselves.
    “Lying by omission.”
    She stared at him. In the space of four months, he’d gone from being her lover to her accuser.
    Her pulse began to pound in her temples. “You just can’t deal with the fact that the future wife of a homicide detective has a father who is a convicted embezzler.”
    He crossed his arms. “It’s not just your father, Kate.”
    She stiffened. She knew where he was going with this. Her rage flooded her. She welcomed it. “What do you mean?”
    “I need to know what happened with your sister.”
    She raised her chin. “Vicky couldn’t find the report?”
    “Why are you making this so bloody difficult?” A corresponding anger tightened his face. “I just want to know what happened.”
    “You think I’m guilty, don’t you? You think if I refuse to tell you, I did something wrong.”
    “It sure as hell makes me wonder!”
    “You know what, Ethan? I’m tired of you treating me like a fucking suspect.”
    “And I’m tired of you treating me like a fucking idiot.Didn’t you even think about the fact all your ‘secrets’ were on the public record? That I would eventually find out?”
    “Don’t patronize me. You have no idea what