Page 44 of A Linton Scandal

“It’s the twentieth century, and yet I chose the road of tradition so that my father would be pleased. Soon, I found that I wasn’t even going home, and when his mother suffered the accident, I didn’t know how to help him and before I knew it, he wasn’t speaking, not to me or anyone else. As his father I felt like I’d failed him.”

The care was filled with Nelu soft snoring.

“Humans are pretty messed up,” I said.

He frowned at my words.

“We’re always hoping or dreaming of something, but half the time if we’d look around ourselves, we’d find it. For you, it was having a family like your parents but when things got tough you found yourself running away.” I brushed my fingers lightly across Nelu’s forehead. “For me, I wanted someone to remember me. Turns out no matter what we do, we’re always looking for something in the wrong places.”

“I’ll remember you.”

I paused, then continued stroking Nelu’s brow. “Then, I’ll do my best to be a proper wife to you. Though I may be a bit awkward since everything happened so fast, we have another one on the way.” I placed my hand on my stomach. “It’s weird, I still feel like none of this is real. Even after what happened I still have to remind myself that I’m pregnant and married.”

I shook my head. “Maybe one day it’ll feel real to me.”

The rest of the drive was in silence. I didn’t know if my words had helped, but for some reason I felt like we’d taken a step forward. In this complicated relationship between Mihai and me, something shifted and as I watched him carry his son into the house I felt my heart melt a bit.

A Night Out

Mihai

Afew days later I walked into my office, I wasn’t expecting any visitors. I was still thinking about what I’d talked about with Juliette a few days before. She’d spent every night since in my bed. I couldn’t help feeling nervous at how easily she fit into my life. I’d thought I’d experience some discomfort with having someone new in my space. Instead, I felt more uncomfortable when I thought she wouldn’t be sleeping in my room

This hadn’t been the plan, but like everything in my life when it came to Juliette nothing went as it should. Some part of me wanted to slow our relationship down. I worried my desire for her was clouding my thinking. But I quickly set that thought aside, what I shared with Juliette was more than physical.

Deep in thought, I nearly missed the large man who was currently occupying my desk. Spotting him, I grimaced. “What brings you here, Roman?”

Roman Feraldi, one of my closest childhood friends as well as the only person outside my own family I fully trusted. He stood and once again I was reminded that he’d changed drastically from the young kid who’d followed me home. His height out did mine by a head, and he watched me with his golden eyes as I took a seat on the other side of my desk.

“I heard you stopped courting Dacia,” he answered.

“Please tell me you didn’t hop your depressing ass on a plane from New York just for that,” I said.

“No, I came back because my best friend married someone without telling me, or anyone else in our group about it,” he sneered. “Levi put money on your dick guiding you, and Andrew simple thinks you’ve lost your fucking mind. Either way, all three of us can’t understand why you’re now married, not only married but to a complete nobody.”

“Well, tell them to lay their worries aside. I’m completely fucking sane, and I’d appreciate it if you fuckers didn’t dig into my wife’s past without asking me first,” I said suppressing my first reaction which was to punch the fucker in front of me.

He snorted, “I knew you’d say something like that, that’s why I decided to hold back.”

I could read between the lines, they wanted to meet her. Even though I’d told Juliette she’d have to go out occasionally with me to build the image of a loving couple. I didn’t like the idea of any of the men I called friends seeing her. I wanted to hoard away her smiles, laughter, and beauty.

Taking a deep breath, I locked away the possessiveness that ran through me. “Fine, I’ll let you meet her. How about our usual bar, tonight around nine?”

“That works, I’ll invite Dacia and her friends as well. It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Roman said as he walked from behind my desk. “The feeling hasn’t changed. I still feel like I’ve walked back into a cage.”

“Well, at least the cage is spacious enough for a couch and good liquor,” I said, coming to my feet. I walked over to his side and dropped my smile. “I don’t want anyone insulting my wife. Warn them, that if they say anything rude, I’ll deal with them after the fact. “

Roman stared at me for a minute before looking away. “Hmm…”

“What do you mean, ‘hmm’?” I didn’t like the tone he used. It implied something that I’d been ignoring.

“I assumed that after everything that happened with your first wife. You’d stopped dreaming about love and having what your parents had,” Roman explained.

I thought over his words, but before I could answer he said, “I clearly was wrong.” Before he walked out.

Leaving me alone with my own thoughts. I couldn’t deny what he’d said, I’d really thought I was done with craving what my father and mother had. Especially after everything with my first wife but I’d clearly been wrong. All the bitterness left over from my first marriage had been brushed aside by the sweetness Juliette gave out with little effort.

Pulling my cell phone out and I quickly texted Juliette about tonight’s plans. I spotted that she’d sent me another picture of her and Nelu. I was starting to wonder if my son would ever attend his tutoring sessions again.

---