His Dangerous Love On Ice (Olivia and Zane) novel Chapter 188

Olive’s POV

I stared at the photograph on the first page of the album, my brain struggling to process what my eyes were clearly seeing, trying to make sense of an image that didn’t fit with anything I thought I knew about my brother.

It was Klaus and Judy together, but not in any casual, friendly way.

They were at what looked like a beach, the ocean visible in the background, and they were close, closer than friends should be, closer than acquaintances, their bodies angled toward each other in a way that spoke of intimacy and familiarity.

Klaus had his arm wrapped around Judy’s shoulders, pulling him in tight, and both of them were laughing at something, their faces lit up with genuine joy that made them look younger han I remembered either of them being.

But it wasn’t just the closeness that made me freeze.

It was the way Klaus was looking at Judy in the photo-the way his eyes were fixed on Judy’s face instead of the camera, the expression of pure adoration written across his features, the body language that screamed this was someone he cared about deeply.

“What is this?” I managed to whisper, my hands starting to shake as I held the album.

Michelle stepped closer to me, her voice gentle. “Don’t panic, Olive. Please. Just… keep looking. Let me explain.”

I turned to the next page with trembling fingers, and this time the photograph was even more explicit in its meaning.

Klaus and Judy were sitting on what looked like a porch swing, Judy’s head resting on Klaus’s shoulder, Klaus’s fingers threaded through Judy’s hair in a gesture so tender it made my chest ache.

And then the next page.

And the next.

Each photograph showing my brother and Judy together in ways that made it impossible to deny what I was seeing, what they had been to each other.

But the photograph that made my knees actually buckle was on the fifth page.

Klaus and Judy kissing.

Not a friendly peck on the cheek or some casual gesture that could be explained away.

A real kiss, intimate and passionate, Klaus’s hand cupping Judy’s face while Judy’s arms wrapped around Klaus’s waist, both

of them completely absorbed in each other, completely oblivious to whoever was taking the photograph.

The album slipped from my fingers and would have hit the floor if Michelle hadn’t caught it.

“Klaus was gay,” I breathed, the words feeling strange and foreign in my mouth. “My brother was gay.”

“Yes,” Michelle confirmed quietly.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” I said, my voice getting louder, more desperate. “Klaus dated girls. I saw him with girlfriends. He talked about girls all the time. If he was gay, I would have known. We were so close. He told me everything”

“Did he?” Michelle asked gently. “Or did he tell you everything he thought you could handle? Everything he thought was safe to share?”

I shook my head frantically because this couldn’t be true, couldn’t be real.

I’d known Klaus better than anyone. We’d been best friends before we were siblings, had shared secrets and dreams and fears that we’d never told our parents.

If Klaus was gay, if he’d been in love with Judy Byron, I would have known.

I would have seen the signs.

Wouldn’t I?

“How long have you known?” I asked Michelle, my voice breaking. “How long have you known that your son and my brother were… were together?”

Michelle’s expression softened with something that looked like sympathy.

“I found out about Judy being gay twelve years ago,” she said. “The year after Klaus died. Judy was destroyed, completely broken by grief, and I couldn’t understand why he was taking some friend’s death so hard. So I pushed him to talk to me, to explain what was wrong. And eventually, he broke down and told me everything. That Klaus wasn’t just his friend. That Klaus was the love of his life. That he’d been mourning his boyfriend, not just some casual acquaintance.”

I turned away from her, my hands clenching into fists, trying to process everything I’d just learned.

Klaus was gay.

Klaus and Judy had been in love.

Klaus had kept this massive secret from me, from our entire family.

And I’d been used as a tool to help Judy move on from my brother’s death without even knowing it.

“Did my parents know?” I asked suddenly, turning back to face Michelle. “Did they know Klaus was gay?”

Something flickered in Michelle’s expression. “I don’t know. Judy never said either way. But given that Klaus was so careful to keep it secret, to maintain his relationships with girls as a cover… I assume he never told them.”

My phone was in my hand before I’d consciously decided to pull it out, my fingers trembling so badly I almost dropped it.

Because I needed to know.

Needed to hear my father confirm or deny whether he’d known about this, whether he’d been keeping this secret from me for thirteen years just like everyone else seemed to have been.

“I need to make a call,” I said, my voice hollow.

“Olive, maybe you should take some time to process-”

“I need to make a call,” I repeated, more firmly this time.

And before Michelle could stop me, before I could second-guess myself, I walked toward the door and out into Judy’s suite, looking for somewhere private where I could fall apart without an audience.