The car rolls down the streets. The bright city lights and the endless traffic are visible through the tinted window. No idea why all of it gives me a horrific premonition.

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask Ethan.

He leans an elbow on the armrest between us and pins me down like a lab researcher would do to his guinea pig. “Why don’t you tell me, Aurora? What’s your secret?”

My heart pounds at that word. Secret. Whenever someone says it, I feel like my past will come running in and ruin any type of stability I’ve been building for years. Not that Ethan would know anything about it.

Right?

Adopting my nonchalant tone, I say, “My secret concerning what?”

“Concerning how Jonathan treats you. He’s never shown his true feelings about anyone — at least not until he crushes them. Hell, he didn’t even act this way towards his father and brother when they were alive.”

“Was he…close to them?”

“Yes, especially James.”

My chest falls at what Jonathan must’ve felt when he lost his only brother. I know he died of an accident that also took away Astrid’s mother, but that’s not all. He was an addict prior to that. I could almost imagine Jonathan wanting to help him and not finding the right way to, because he sucks at offering emotional support.

“At first, I thought you were holding something over his head.” Ethan taps his fingers on the armrest. “But we both know Jonathan is the type who holds things over people’s heads, not the other way around.”

“You can say that again.”

“So what is it? The Alicia angle?”

“I don’t know. You can ask him yourself if you’re so curious.”

“That would get my head on a platter, and I kind of need it. My head, I mean.”

I clear my throat. “May I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Elsa mentioned that Jonathan and you fell apart because he blames you for Alicia’s death. Is that the case?”

“Not entirely. That was the final straw.” He sighs, and his gaze seems to be trapped someplace in the past. “It all started with our loathsome rivalry and games. We used to play a lot of them when we were younger. Jonathan refused to lose and I was the same. When we graduated from university and each of us took reign of part of the family business, we rivalled each other in profit margin and stock value. Then it extended to other things. Gambling. Property. Women.”

“Women?”

“Yes. We shared women. Occasionally at the same time.”

“Oh.” My lips fall open. I kind of find it hard to imagine Jonathan and Ethan doing threesomes.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just that Jonathan is possessive.”

“Of you, and of his wife, perhaps, but he wasn’t in the past. He didn’t care enough about anyone to be possessive.”

“So you, like, had threesomes…right?” I whisper, not sure if Agnus and the driver should be privy to this conversation.

“We had. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t touch each other, but we got off on the same things. Not to mention, we were somehow always attracted to the same type of women.”

“Looks-wise?”

“No.” A mischievous smirk tilts his lips. “Personality-wise. Both of us could sense their demons, their mental scars, and I guess we were attracted to the broken sides of them.”

“Is that why he married Alicia? Aside from the revenge, I mean.”

“You know about that.”

“He told me.”

He nods. “It’s part of the reason, yes.”

“And you married Elsa’s mother.”

“Correct. Both women were…how to put it? Beautifully broken. At least, Abby was. Alicia slowly disintegrated from Jonathan.”

“What?”

“She pulled away from him after Aiden’s birth. He became her world and Jonathan was second.”

“That’s not what Aiden said. He mentioned it was Jonathan who pulled away.”

“Aiden was just a kid. He had no idea what was going on between his parents.”

“And you do?”

“Despite our rivalry, Jonathan and I remained friends. We talked.”

“Did you continue to share?”

He laughs, the sound light and amused. “Our wives? Absolutely not.”

Phew. Then whatever Layla heard about Ethan’s wife having an affair with Jonathan must’ve been a stupid rumour all along.

“So what happened? What caused you both to be at each other’s throats?”

“They both fucked up,” Agnus says from the front seat, making his presence known.

Ethan releases a breath that seems exasperated, but he nods. “We did. For net profit rivalry reasons, Jonathan arranged for someone to burn down my main coal factory in Birmingham. Due to a miscalculation, the factory caught fire while people were inside and many passed away.”

“The Great Birmingham Fire,” I gasp. It was all over the news back then. I can’t believe Jonathan was behind that.

“So you kidnapped Aiden as retaliation?” I ask.

“Correct. Though, due to another miscalculation, he was tortured for more than a week by my unwell wife and almost died. Alicia figured he was with us, and drove to find him, and that’s how she had her accident.”

“That’s why Jonathan blames you.” It all makes sense now. His aggression towards Ethan is fuelled by the past, and although the man in front of me indulges him, there’s something else to it.

He’s not as closed off as Jonathan, and he doesn’t hold grudges as long either. The reason he’s been a thorn in Jonathan’s side is probably because it brings back memories from when they were rivals or frenemies or whatever their relationship was.

“You want to be friends with him again.” I don’t voice it as a question, because I’m almost sure that’s the case.

“Friends?” He chuckles. “Are we talking about the same Jonathan?”

“He’s not a stone and you know it.”

“But he’s perfect at emulating one.”

“That’s because you keep provoking him.”

“The only way he reacts.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I smile. “But I don’t think he’s that immune to emotions. He might not feel them like everyone else, but they’re there, and I’m sure he also remembers your friendship.”