Page 5 of Zero Hour

She wasn’t wrong.

They’d been having an affair for over a year. Or rather, they’d rekindled something that had started long before either of them had gotten married.

It was madness.

After Val died, Pat had never expected to find love again. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to. But that was before he’d bumped into Astrid.

She and Richard had been friends of his and Val’s once. They’d had family barbeques together when the kids were toddlers but had lost touch over the years. The Navy had kept Pat away, and Richard had been too focused on building his mining empire in Mexico and Central America to notice what was right in front of him.

Val had always suspected there was more to Pat and Astrid’s friendship than he let on. But, in true Val style, she’d never confronted him about it, never demanded answers. She’d trusted that whatever it was, was over and he never gave her any reason to doubt him.

Their marriage had been good—until it wasn’t. Until cancer took everything from them in a slow, cruel battle. He’d been devastated, but he’d put a brave face on for Joe, who had just enlisted as an infantryman in the Ordnance Corps.

After the funeral, Joe had deployed overseas, leaving him alone with his grief. That’s when he’d reconnected with Astrid.

At first, she was a shoulder to cry on and a friend to get drunk with. She didn’t mind if he drowned his sorrows and passed out on her couch. But then … she became something else. Something more.

She was stunning. Ageless. A former supermodel with bright blue eyes and a sharper mind than most men he knew. She made him feel alive again. Then one night, it just… happened.

He’d stopped her in the kitchen, caught her wrist as she brushed past. “I’m in love with you.”

Three simple words.

She’d looked at him—and he knew she felt the same way.

They’d made love on the rug in the living room beside the fireplace. It was magical. He couldn’t believe he’d found someone he cared about as much as Val, someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

After that, they were inseparable, except for the times when her husband came back. Richard wasn’t a mean man, but he was selfish. He put his company before his family, and for ten months out of every year he lived in Mexico.

“Leave him,” Pat told her one day, running his fingers through her dark, glossy hair. “I can take care of you and Izzy.”

Tears had filled her eyes, but she’d nodded. “Yes. I think it’s time. I’ll tell him once Izzy’s gone back to school.”

She never got the chance.

That cold December night, Richard figured it out.

Pat had expected anger. A punch. Hell, a goddamn brawl. But nothing could have prepared him for what came next.

“How long has it been going on?” Richard had demanded.

“Over a year,” Astrid admitted. “We love each other. I was going to tell you after Christmas… I didn’t want to ruin the holiday.”

“You mean when I was safely back in Mexico?”

“No. When Izzy was back at college. I’m sorry, Richard, but what did you expect? You’re never here. You left us. I was lonely.”

“And Pat was conveniently around, was he?”

At that point, Pat had gone into the kitchen. “Look, buddy. If you’ll let me explain.”

Richard had turned on him. “I’m not your buddy, and I want you to get out of my house.”

Pat had stood his ground. “It’s not her fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. We didn’t plan it this way. It just happened.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true,” Astrid interjected, tearing up. “I was in love with Pat long before I met you. I tried to give our marriage a chance, I really did, but you abandoned us. Somehow, Pat and I, we found our way back to each other.”

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