Page 45 of Free Agent

Mama was quiet for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. “Sweetie… I think you know why.”

Frowning, I opened my mouth to refute that, but actually…

No.

She was right.

I did know.

It was the baby.

Bringing a baby into the picture put everything in a completely different perspective. Not that a baby made the betrayal worse, or deeper. It was just… a reminder that made me understand, as much as I didn’t want to.

Monty had always wanted children, and I had, too.

In a major way.

It was something we talked about a lot.

But when it came to actually doing it… I wouldn’t.

Couldn’t?

There was no clear answer for it in my head.

This thing he wanted so much, this thing I’d let him believe could happen, would happen.

Had not happened.

That was the fact of the matter.

So he… made it happen.

Just not with me.

I didn’t have to wonder what another woman was doing for him, what she might have over me, when it was right in my face. She might not be prettier, more successful, give better head, whatever.

But she was having the baby he wanted so badly.

I didn’t even know, would never ask, how it happened.

Was he trying to get her pregnant? Did he choose her for this? Or was he just indiscriminately, recklessly fucking around with no protection, and she just happened to be the one to win the have Montgomery Rudolph’s baby lottery?

And it was most certainly a lottery.

I wasn’t in a position where Monty’s money meant that much to me. I wouldn’t pretend he hadn’t been the one to invest in my business so I could grow it to where it was, but it was done now.

I could walk away and not skip a beat.

But for someone not in that position, Monty was a come up.

One who’d never lacked generosity.

So… it was easy to understand the mutual benefit for them. It was kind of… the most understandable thing.

Not a great way to go about it, but… I got it.

Finally.

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