Lover (Betrothed 3)

“The guy doesn’t have a single person he cares about. Just drugs and money. Doesn’t even hit up the whorehouses. The only person he has some kind of vested interest in is you. If that weren’t true, he would’ve killed you.”

“So, if he knows I am the one who’s compromising his livelihood, he’ll probably be provoked.”

Damien nodded. “Yeah. Who knows what he’ll do. He might even knock on your front door.”

Maddox was definitely unpredictable.

“Ash offered to help.” Damien pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s crazy to think he hated you, and now he’s doing everything he can to help you.” He stared at me like he expected me to say something to that.

“What are you trying to say?”

He shook his head. “Things change…”

18

Sofia

I was in my office when Damien stopped by.

He didn’t verbally announce his presence. He just stepped inside, dressed casually in jeans and a sweater. He helped himself to the chair in front of my desk.

I closed my laptop so nothing obstructed my view.

He stared at me with wide eyes for several seconds. “You need to tell him.”

Guilt washed over me. Several weeks had gone by, and I was getting bigger and bigger. It was a miracle Hades hadn’t figured it out by now. Maybe he just assumed I was gaining weight and didn’t dare act like he noticed.

“Sofia, it’s been long enough.”

“I know…”

“The longer you wait, the more he’s going to be blindsided. And if you decide you don’t want to keep the baby, you’re running out of time for that too.”

“That’s not an option.” I was aware of the life living inside me, the little person developing in my womb. This was a real entity to me, and I could never live with the guilt of taking its life away. If I really didn’t want to raise the baby, I could give it up for adoption. But I didn’t think I could even do that.

“Either way, he deserves to know. This is your husband we’re talking about. That man has been nothing but good to you, and it’s ridiculous to think that would ever change. I know you’ve been through a lot, but his feelings are no different than they used to be.”

For the last few months, I’d felt uneasy. I wasn’t sure where I belonged, if my value had changed. My emotional instability prevented me from reading the truth right in front of me. Hades hadn’t changed…I had.

But this was totally different.

I was still afraid he would leave once he knew the truth.

And I couldn’t blame him if he did.

Damien continued to watch me. “I’ve kept your secret, but I can’t do it much longer. When I look him in the eye, I feel like a traitor for not telling him this. It needs to come from you. So, do it soon.”

I had been dragging my feet because I knew it would change everything. I didn’t want to accept my fate, accept my future. Would we survive what was about to come? I was already afraid Hades would walk out at any moment.

“Don’t be scared.”

“You have no idea what I’m going through…”

“No,” he said. “But I know your husband better than you do.”

Damien’s words pierced my conscience. Whether Hades was the father or not, he deserved to know what was going on. He wasn’t just a man I was seeing. He was a man I’d pledged a lifetime to. What happened to me happened to him.

It was too cold to sit outside on the terrace, so we sat at the table inside. We finished a great meal Helena had prepared for us. There was always a basket of fresh bread, and I ate more of it than I usually did.

Because now I was eating for two.

Wine was always poured, but I never drank from my glass. Thankfully, Hades didn’t seem to notice.

Our dinner was spent mostly in silence. We were closer than we had been before, but not back to normal. There was a distinct distance between us, like we each had our own secrets. Now was the right time to tell him…but I didn’t want to.

It would change everything.

It would make this real.

In a couple months, I would be a mother. And I had no idea who the father of my child was.

I took a deep breath, and when I finally found the courage to come clean, he spoke instead.

“Damien and I are working on Maddox.” It didn’t matter if it was deep winter, he preferred his shirtless attire, his sweatpants that were low on his hips. He wasn’t back to weight training or his previous exercise regimen, but he was still strong. His chest muscles were like two slabs of concrete, and his stomach was so tight you could grate cheese on it.

The mention of my greatest enemy made me forget what I was about to tell him. “What does that mean?”