Page 28 of Unconditionally With Me
No, what was wrong was Erik cheating with Will. What was worse was the two of them deciding that the babies Trina carried and loved more than her own soul were available for purchase with the help of his family’s attorneys. And when she fought like a tigress, they found an alternate solution to have a baby.
In the long run, they’ll pay for those sins by not having the chance to know Annie and Chris. Trina and Jonas will raise those children and provide them with a remarkable life. But I didn’t do anything wrong. I was a victim of Erik’s betrayal, though not to that extent. For the last several hours, I’ve asked myself over and over why I’ve been paying for their sins, and the only thing I can come up with is what Rachel said in her letter.
I feel a need to place others’ happiness above my own. Including Julian’s.
The shower goes off in the other room. Well, tonight’s Twenty Questions is going to take on a very different feel. Determinedly, I move over to the room service tray and begin lifting the stainless steel plate covers to reveal our eclectic meal. I uncork the bottle of red wine I ordered and pour a couple of glasses.
“I’m starving. What is taking him so long?”
“I’m right here. And I agree. I could eat an elephant right now,” Julian declares as he strolls out into the room wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
“Elephant wasn’t on the menu.” I straighten and gesture for him to sit before handing him a bowl of clam chowder. Picking up half of a spring roll and my glass, I cuddle next to him.
“Did you sleep at all?”
I shake my head quickly. “Too much on my mind.”
“Worried about tomorrow?”
“Not really. I’m ready for it.”
He offers me a bite of soup, which I accept greedily. “What do you mean?”
And so our unannounced game begins. I chew a bite of scallop before I answer. “I mean that no matter what happens tomorrow, it doesn’t change some fundamental things I realized on this trip.”
“What…” But I shove the spring roll in his mouth.
“Why did you insist on coming with me on this trip?”
He yanks the roll out. “Because if you could believe that you’ve been a shitty girlfriend the last three years, we needed to work on that.”
I open my mouth, but he shovels a spoonful of soup in, almost angrily. “Have you made up your mind already?”
“I’ve made some decisions, yes.” But I don’t plan on sharing them until after we meet with the lawyer tomorrow. I counter with, “Why didn’t we do this years ago?”
“Do what?” He’s genuinely confused.
“A vacation. Together,” I clarify before I rush to explain. “I feel closer to you right now than I have since the first six months we were together, Jules. We’ve been here forty-eight hours, and I don’t know if it’s the clutter of our daily lives being lifted away or just the time alone. It feels good.”
His slow smile is my reward, but he puts his bowl to the side before leaning over and kissing me. For long moments, neither of us speak. We’re both out of breath when he finally admits, “I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s because I was always running pillar to post for work that I wanted to just be home with you when I wasn’t working.”
And it sticks me in the heart to say, “But Jules, neither one of our places were home.”
“Elle, anywhere with you is home. Anywhere,” he stresses.
And that’s the last talking we do for a while. I’m glad I ordered lasagna for our main because after Julian made love to me on the floor, it tasted really good cold.
Delicious.
Best I’ve ever had.
Chapter 11
~Julian~
“Well, it’s a building,” I remark.
The lawyer had sent over the address of the building this morning per Elle’s request. “It’s actually not far from my office. You can have your driver stop by there on the way.”
