Page 190 of The Bonus

“Of course I remembered,” I lie. I need to defuse this situation and get her out of here, she’s completely unstable. “I’m here to see my children.”

“Do not lie to me.” She picks up a glass and hurls it at my head; it smashes against the wall.

“Hey,” I say sternly. “You do not break anything in this house.”

She picks up another glass and hurls it, glass flies everywhere as it explodes against the wall. “I’ll burn down her entire fucking house, she’s nothing but a trashy homewrecker.”

Ugh…she’s been speaking to my mother.

“Let’s go back to my house.”

Where the fuck is Mark?

“No. I want to wait for her to get back.” She folds her arms and begins to pace. “I have a few things I want to ask her.”

“Such as?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

My anger simmers dangerously close to the surface, and I grab her by the hand. “Out. Now.”

“No,” she screams, and begins to hit me hard in the chest. “How could you?” she cries hysterically. “How could you do this to me?” She keeps hitting me over and over. “You said you loved me. We were just starting our life together, how could you walk away from something so beautiful?” She pummels my chest and it’s official, I am the worst kind of human.

She’s completely broken.

“Baby, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” I pull her close to try to calm her down, and I hold her in my arms as she cries against my chest.

We stand in each other’s arms for a long time, and I don’t know how to make this better. There’s no way I can. I’m utterly and irrevocably in love with Gracie, and if I’m honest, I always have been. My feelings for Ariana only scratch the surface on what I feel for Grace…and now with the children in the mix, everything else pales in comparison.

What kind of man am I?

Ariana’s body wracks with tears as I hold her. “Shh.” I try to calm her down. “It’s okay,” I whisper. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How can anything ever be okay again if I don’t have you?” Her tearful eyes hold mine.

I want to give it to her straight, tell her that she’s better off without me because even if we were together, I would still love another woman from afar.

But I can’t.

Not now, not when she’s like this.

I owe her better than this, I have to care for her. “Come on, I’m taking you back to New York,” I say softly as I hold her.

She looks up at me. “You’re coming back to New York with me?”

“Yes.”

She smiles through hopeful tears.

Fuck.

“Come on.” I put my arm around her and gently usher her out of the house and put her into my car. She’s like a broken child, sobbing uncontrollably. I can’t bear to see her like this.

Look what you’ve done.

We drive in silence back to my house as my mind races a million miles per minute.

What’s Grace going to think of me leaving with Ariana?

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