Page 117 of Kept in the Dark

However, his family didn’t share that same sentiment. Not that he cared much, he didn’t love them either. Especially his wife.

When they had first begun dating, he truly believed Morgan would make the perfect politician’s wife. Eventually, though, he became bored of her. And now he’d grown to hate her as she constantly held Nicole and Ryan over his head.

Unfortunately, having a mistress would be distasteful to the public, so he hid Nicole and Ryan away, his own precious secret. One that could destroy his name, his reputation.

But he couldn’t end things with Nicole, even if Ryan hated him and Morgan threatened to divorce him. It was different with her. Sure, he had loved Morgan once, but the love he had for Nicole was incomparable. They were soulmates, they were each other’s missing half.

When they were together, the world stopped. They laughed together, they had fun together, they understood each other. Nicole was kind and gentle and drop dead gorgeous. Not in a typical way, but she had an exotic beauty about her that was mesmerizing. And she was a seductress. That’s what had initially drawn him to her.

They had seen each other at the ribbon cutting of the restaurant she was waitressing in. He had seen her from across the room as he spoke to a few other councilmen. Their eyes had locked and she had smiled seductively. He had immediately needed to claim her, but held himself firm. He had a wife at home who loved him and who was stunningly beautiful.

Yet, he couldn’t help but stare at this woman who had kept her eyes on him, almost daring him to talk to her.

So, he had.

Before leaving, he had stopped her as she put away dishes on the shelf in the back. “Ma’am, I’m City Councilman Gallagher.” He had extended his hand to her to which she had eyed coyly and had kept stacking dishes, saying nothing to him.

At first he had been confused. No one had ever ignored him before, especially when he told them he was a councilman. He hadn’t realized it at the time, but it had all been sport for her. A clever game of cat and mouse in which he would eventually win.

He had gone to that pizzeria once a week for three months before she ever spoke a word to him. Eventually, they had found themselves meeting behind the restaurant on her break to talk, which had then led to rendezvous meetings in his car.

Once he realized how special Nicole was, he didn’t want to settle for wild and passionate car sex, he had wanted her to feel special.

She was special.

She gave him something Morgan didn't: Nicole made him feel alive.

Though they had to hide their relationship, he would take her on work trips or they would meet up at a hotel for a long night together where she’d hurry home in the early morning hours. Of course, Morgan eventually began suspecting he was having an affair, but she had never confronted him, so he had kept seeing Nicole.

But when he became mayor, he and Nicole had to be even more careful about seeing each other. That’s when they had their first fight.

She was angry they had to be so secretive. She had cried and he had felt awful, but he didn’t have a choice. She had paced around the hotel room, not bothering to cover her naked body. He had wanted to claim her again, just as he had a few moments ago, but had contained himself. She was upset and it was his fault.

“I hate being your dirty little secret. Don’t I mean more to you?!” She had started sobbing again.

He had somehow managed to calm her down and convince her things were better that way.

A few weeks later, she had found out she was pregnant. He had been ecstatic to be having a child with the woman he loved so much yet was terrified of what would come of it. He knew his secret life may be coming to an end.

He thought he would pick Nicole if it ever came to that. But when Morgan made him choose, he had chosen himself and his reputation. He had promised to take care of Nicole and Ryan, but he knew he had to stop seeing her.

Nicole had screamed at him as she pounded his chest with her fists, two-month-old Ryan screaming in his bassinet as he felt his mother’s angst.

Her words still echoed in his mind, “I hate you, David Gallagher! I wish you were dead! I hate you!”

She had smacked him then, and tried to slam the door in his face. Fire had burned through his body at her outburst, and he had shoved her inside her home and into the wall. He had put his hand around her neck and started to squeeze. She had clawed at his grip but he didn’t flinch or let go.

His nose had touched hers as he snarled, “Don’t you ever disrespect me like that again. You knew this wasn’t going to be anything but a secret. It’s not my fault you’re a whore.”

His words had stabbed like a knife, just as he intended. She had cried even harder as she fought him off of her. He had kissed her one last time, a kiss even she didn’t protest.

She had welcomed it, knowing it would be their last.

He had left her crying that day, as she screamed his name, distraught.

He had continued to support her and Ryan, even when the twins were born. Though he loved his girls, or rather tolerated them, he was heartbroken that the only son he had would always be a secret. He wanted a boy to carry on the Gallagher legacy and Morgan couldn’t even give him that.

Of course, it was Nicole who would give him what he longed for. She was, after all, the one who knew him in the most intricate ways; their bodies completely in sync, even in creating a life together.

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