Page 90 of Married With Malice

“Luca Connelly.” His handshake is firm and he peers into my face like he’s trying to decipher what kind of man I am. All I can do is hope he doesn’t figure out the truth.

The rest of his family is still at their table. Chase is trying to steal a spoonful of Creed’s dessert and gets swatted away.

Cord notices with a snort. “Brothers,” he says. “Some things never change. Do you have any of your own?”

“One brother.”

“Are you close?”

“We used to be.” That’s a difficult answer to cough up. Mostly because it’s accurate.

Cale and I were always very close. That’s no longer the case.

Cord assesses the unspoken portion of that statement. “You keep working on it. Like the song says, life is a short trip.”

“Yup,” I say.

I hope I don’t come off as rude. I don’t mind talking to him. He’s probably about the same age my dad would be, if he’d lived. I’ll bet Cord has kids of his own. There’s an air of patient dad energy about him.

I point to his decorated forearm. “My brother would be a huge fan of your ink. He’s got quite a bit of his own.”

“All my own designs,” he says without a trace of conceit. “You got any to brag about?”

“Not yet.”

He looks to the table where his family sits. The woman he was dancing with earlier spots him at the bar and smiles.

“Your wife?” I ask.

“My everything,” he replies, reluctant to drag his eyes from her. He finally glances my way with a wry grin. “Want to hear something funny?”

“Sure.”

“Saylor and I grew up together. I gave her plenty of causes to hate me. I don’t know how I earned a chance at redemption but she gave me one. You see, when the right girl becomes the center of your universe, fate has a way of falling into place. She deserves all the credit for the man I am now.”

I don’t resent his unsolicited story at all. I get the impression he’s a man who weighs his words with care. He sees and hears things that would pass right by ordinary people. If he thinks you’re worth his attention, then there’s a reason.

Cord’s family has begun to rise from their chairs. He gives his wife a signal that he’s on his way and briefly claps a friendly hand on my shoulder.

“You have a good night, Luca.”

“You too, Cord.”

As the Gentry family departs, the setting becomes instantly forlorn. I finish my beer without tasting it and decide against ordering another one. The bartender gives me a few curious glances, probably wondering why I’m staring grimly off into space as I revisit all my mistakes.

With a sharp pang, I think of the day I went home early with a plan to take Anni on a romantic overnight date in the city. For a moment, there was real happiness on her face. Then I crushed her by killing our plans as quickly as I’d made them.

How many times has she sat home alone in that cold, empty house, waiting for me to show her just a fraction of the tenderness she craved?

The girl I’ve known since childhood became the woman who owns my heart and yet there’s so much I’ve missed. Today was the first time I’d ever heard how her father forced her to quit skating. Skating was everything to Anni. How that must have broken her heart.

And since we’ve been married I’ve been breaking her heart in a different way. I’ll never forgive myself for having no clue.

In order to escape the bartender’s scrutiny, I settle the tab and take a walk outside. The weather is far from ideal for a stroll. Though thousands of stars wink above, the cold is bone chilling. It doesn’t take long for my lungs to hurt and my fingers to go numb.

There’s nothing to be gained from a case of frostbite so I return to the warmth of the main building and slowly make my way to our suite.

All is quiet as I creak open the door. The bedroom itself is dark. Anni is curled up on her side in the huge bed and doesn’t stir when I softly murmur her name.

---