Page 34 of Mine to Keep

Laila had no idea how much time had passed when pictures started running through her mind. She didn’t understand most of them. The ones that showed Roland slow dancing with a woman made her stomach tighten. Why would she dream about that?

Laila couldn’t stop images from coming, some of them over and over again.

When she woke up hours later, the room was dark. She blinked a few times and then looked to her right to see Roland’shead on the mattress like it had been before. She looked toward the window and saw how bright the stars were.

Her head felt better, but now her stomach felt tight and upset. She knew why. She just didn’t want to think about it. But she had to. She was pregnant and had to think of the baby now and not just herself.

She couldn’t get the picture of him and his mistress holding each other out of her mind, and it made her want to vomit. She must have moved because he raised his head. She tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip.

He frowned when he saw her expression. “What’s wrong, Love?”

She almost laughed, but she was afraid it would turn into hysterical tears. “I want you to go.”

Roland’s confusion made her angry. He sat by her hip on the mattress.

“Why? What happened?” he asked.

She almost snorted. “Remember what I said about my father and how he was with my mother?”

“He was a jerk and had affairs. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes. I told you I would never stand for a husband doing that to me. I watched my mother’s spirit lessen every time she saw something.”

If anything, he looked more confused. “We don’t have to worry about that.”

She brought her hands up to cover her face as tears started to run. When she got some control, she looked at him. “I saw you with your mistress.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Stop the lying. The lies are about as bad as the mistress.”

“Explain what’s going on because I have no clue.”

She wanted to yell at him. “Your father and I were at the benefit last night.”

“Yes, I saw you. Why were you there?” he asked.

She chuckled sadly. “I know. It kind of messed up your plans. You weren’t planning on me seeing you. How long have you had her?”

“Love…”

“Stop calling me that. You don’t know how to love if you can have affairs behind my back.”

Roland stood beside the bed. “I’ve never had an affair, and I’m never going to.”

“Stop lying,” she yelled. “You were dancing with her last night when you said you were at a meeting. You’ve had a lot of late-night meetings lately, and now I know why.”

“I did have a meeting. When it ended, a friend caught me leaving and wanted to have a drink. All I could think about was getting home to you. The woman you’re talking about is a childhood friend. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. She’s married to the man that was sitting there, who is also my friend. I’ve never and will never feel that way about her. Most of the time, I think she’s a brat.”

Laila tried to remember who was at the table with him, but her eyes didn’t stray from the horror she was seeing.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you.”

He wiped a hand down his face. She was just noticing the exhaustion. Fucking two women would make a man tired, she thought.

He stared down at her. “I hate that you don’t trust me.”

She tried to laugh again. “Put yourself in my place. What if I suddenly started having these late-night meetings, and then you saw me dancing very closely with a man? What would you think?”

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