Page 403 of Steamy Ever After

“You think I’m cheating on my wife, messing around with you.”

Damn, he can read me like an open book.

“Let me fill in some of the details and answer your question.” He releases my arms and takes the pad of his thumb to wipe away my tears.

“I was married to Katie. Past tense.”

“I’m sorry. I jumped to conclusions.” I scrub away my tears.

“I saw that, and I have to wonder why.” His head cocks to the side. Thoughts churn behind his eyes. “Did someone hurt you?”

In more ways than one, but I don’t answer. I can’t. Not without opening up a can of worms about Scott.

Intensely jealous, if I looked at another man for any reason, Scott took his anger out on me. I learned not to give Scott any ammunition to use against me. Each of my visits to an emergency room came after such an event. I used to keep count, but then I stopped.

Drake seems to take my silence for what it is: me not wanting to dive down that rabbit hole. I wet my lips and swallow past the lump in my throat.

“What happened with Katie?”

“An unfortunate series of events.” His posture changes, tightening for a second, vibrating with rage, and then suddenly relaxing again. “It’s how I got the scar.”

“I thought you might have gotten it in the military. My uncle said you’re ex-military.”

“I am, which is where the unfortunate part of the story comes in.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Honestly, I don’t like thinking about it, but I want you to know. Heck, I want you to know everything about me.” His stony expression cracks and a boyish grin lights up his face.

I wait for him to continue, letting him tell me at his own pace. Storm clouds churn in the darkness of his eyes as flashes of anger reveal something else. I don’t know what Drake did in the military, but I have a sinking suspicion I can guess at it.

“I married Katie when we were young, before I went into the military. We tried really hard to have kids, but deployments and the stress of my job made that challenging. Within a few months of getting out, Katie got pregnant. We were so excited.”

I place my hand on his arm, knowing his story doesn’t end well. My gut churns and my chest tightens in anticipation of what he’s going to say. I already know I don’t want to hear about his pain, but there’s no way around it now.

“She wanted to surprise her parents in person, so we packed up the car and headed to Oklahoma. We were strapped for time and cash. I pushed through the night, hoping to make it in one day. We didn’t have enough money to get a hotel room. When I pulled into a gas station to fill up, I wasn’t thinking. Which isn’t like me. I’m trained to be aware of my surroundings at all times, but I let my guard down. Like Katie, I was excited.”

My grip on his arm tightens as pain fills his expression.

“Katie got out of the car. She needed to use the restroom. That’s when the men attacked.”

“Oh, Drake…” I definitely don’t want to know the end of this story.

“When they grabbed her, I reacted, doing what I was trained to do. I took them out one by one. Only the third man had a knife and a hold of Katie. I rushed him when I realized what he was about to do. He slashed her throat and then my face.”

“Oh, Drake.” My heart breaks for him. “I didn’t mean to make you relive that.”

“It’s been several years. Some days, it’s surreal. Other days, it hurts. Bert’s been telling me it’s time to move on for years now. You should’ve heard him go on and on the night I brought you to his house.”

“I had no idea.” I cup the side of his face.

“Katie died and took our unborn baby with her. The three men didn’t make it. There was an investigation, but fortunately, it was all caught on tape, and that’s the story about my scar.”

He wears the constant reminder of his wife and unborn child’s death, on his face. At a loss for words, I cup his face. Leaning in, I kiss him softly.

Gently.

Drake holds perfectly still, then leans into my touch. Taking my hand, he slowly draws my fingers over the long gash which marks him from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth.

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