Page 89 of His Wild Attraction

I meant Andres.

My husband.

Didn’t he know it was dangerous doing things like that? That it was terrifying to make me wonder if I had real feelings for him? Even worse, to make me want them.

How could I keep what we were doing in check if he went around confusing me like that?

I exited the shower, rubbing lotion on my skin and a thick-toothed comb through my hair. I applied my face cream and some texturizing hair product to make my bouncy curls behave while I let them air dry.

After our early dinner, Andres excused himself.

He had to head back to Volkov Towers, promising to meet me at the law firm where Gary’s lawyers were hosting this little meeting.

He was going to send a car to get me from Josef’s security firm. And we’d already borrowed Nanny Rosa from Sofia and Adrik to sit with Sammy while we were gone.

I didn’t feel comfortable hiring our own nanny just yet, and Andres was not forcing the issue.

In fact, the only time he brought it up was when we first moved in. That was about the same time he said I didn’t have to cook or clean or anything. That he would hire any staff I needed or wanted.

But I enjoyed cooking, and Andres seemed to like eating whatever I made well enough.

Danger.

Andres was an enigma to me. I’d never known a man like him. But I wanted to. I found myself wanting to know everything about him.

What made him tick?

What did he like?

What did he want?

What did he need?

I wanted to know it all. He gave me so much, and I really had no clue what, if anything, I did for him.

I didn’t feel indebted. Not like I had to pay him back. No. It wasn’t like that.

But I did want to do something, anything, for him. I applied some light cosmetics and pulled on my underthings without haste.

Dressing in privacy and at my own leisure were luxuries I’d missed. When I was staying at St. Elizabeth’s, the bathrooms were communal, and even though the Morristown house offered privacy, it hardly compared to this.

But I knew that had more to do with the way I felt inside.

I’d been scared and facing this on my own back then. Now I had people in my corner. I had Meredith, Des, and Sof, and the support of their husbands. I had Nancy, my sweet mother-in-law, who texted me often. I had Mrs. Stevens, who’d been so kind to me.

And best of all, I had Andres.

St. E’s had been a godsend. That place saved me, and I knew I owed it a debt. It brought me Meredith and my new friends. It brought me Andres.

I’d already decided I would volunteer there when Sammy was in school full time and after we finished dealing with Gary and his cancerous bullshit.

God, I hate him.

I really did. And not just for what he did to me, for laying hands on me and threatening my boy, but for being a total piece of shit weasel of a man.

I used to be terrified of Gary, but there was a part of me now that recognized him for what he was.

An insignificant blight on humanity. A pitiful excuse for a man.

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