Second (Betrothed 6)

“Good.”

“That’s it?” she asked, teasing me slightly.

“I’m not happy that he continues to fight, but everything else is good. He looks at me differently, like he can’t believe I’m there. He hasn’t taken me for granted now that I’m back, as if he still remembers the pain of my absence. So, he loves me pretty hard…”

“That’s great,” she said. “It’s hard to let go of the past sometimes, but it’s worth it if you can. His infidelity is unacceptable, but if he’s different now…that’s all that really matters.” She flipped through her papers.

I truly believed it would be different, despite what Damien thought. Our marriage had been solid and honest before tragedy struck us, so it wasn’t like Liam was innately unfaithful. He’d just made a bad decision. When I took him back, I forgave him for what he did and gave him a clean slate. “Yeah.” When Damien was passionate about fidelity, that Liam shouldn’t have cheated in the first place, that real men never did those things, it made me believe in fantasy, made me picture having Damien as mine. But in the end, it was all a lie…because he’d never committed to a woman in his entire life, including me. “Has Hades ever…?” It was a personal question and I probably shouldn’t ask, but we’d become good friends over the last few months. It seemed impossible that Hades would ever do something like that, but it seemed as if she spoke from experience.

She pulled her gaze away from her work and considered the question a long time.

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. “Forget I said anything—”

“No, it’s okay,” she said quickly. “Hades and I actually got divorced at one point, but not because we wanted to. He spent time with other women then, but there was no sex, so it wasn’t cheating…but it still hurt. When we got back together, I just let it go. The past has no effect on us now, so it really doesn’t matter.”

I didn’t ask for the specifics. “I’ve let it go too.” I used to wonder who the woman was, if she was a brunette like me, if she was as good in bed as I was. But I’d stopped thinking about it and moved on.

“I think that’s—” She suddenly stopped speaking, her hand moving to her stomach.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I just had a weird—” She faltered again.

Now, I started to freak out. “Maybe we should go to the hospital.” She was about halfway through her pregnancy, so she might get cramps and other pains, but it could also be more serious. “Did anything like this happen with Andrew?”

“No…”

“Then we should go.”

“I’ll call Hades and—” This time, she stood up and gripped the desk.

“That will take too long, Sofia. I’ll drive you and call him on the way.” I pulled her arm over my shoulder and got her out from behind the desk. “It’ll be alright. Just keep breathing and stay calm.”

Hades got there with amazing speed.

He stormed down the hallway until he found me sitting outside the room. “Where is she? Is she alright? Is the doctor here?” He was in his suit because he’d just left the bank. He was clean and crisp, but that fear in his eyes made him look a little insane.

“I don’t have any news.” I rose out of the chair. “She just started having pain in the office, and I got here as quickly as I could.”

He didn’t say another word before he stepped into the room.

I sat back in the chair again, feeling the dread. Seeing Hades worry about Sofia like that was painful to watch. I prayed everything would be alright, that there wouldn’t be a miscarriage. They were both so excited for their second child.

I knew what it was like to lose a baby, and no one deserved to experience that.

No one.

Just thinking about it made my eyes water a little. Memories of that awful day were still fresh. I’d felt so connected to the baby inside me before I lost her, and it would be painful for the rest of my life.

I didn’t want Sofia to know that kind of pain.

I started to cry. Tears ran down my face, and I closed my eyes to control my breathing, to get everything to calm so the tears would run dry. I focused on something else, the sound of birds in the morning, the smell of a fresh pie on Christmas, and brought myself to normalcy again. But my eyes were still wet…along with my cheeks.

Quick footsteps sounded down the hall, as if someone else was in a hurry.

I lifted my gaze to see.

It was Damien. He must have dropped Hades off at the entrance then found parking afterward. When he saw me sitting on the bench, he stopped midstep, wearing a black suit that looked so delicious on that perfect body. His jawline was sprinkled with a sexy shadow, highlighting those beautiful lips. His eyes were always the best, especially when they were packed with emotion, whether that be anger, desire, or joy. Pain was in his eyes in that moment, like the sight of the remnants of my tears was enough to make him forget why he was there in the first place.