Page 36 of Shattered Union

“I love you,” she tells me. “But I respect myself enough not to be this person.”

I take her chin between my fingers. “You’re not listening to me.” I give her head a shake. “I’m not losing you. I will not sleep with you. I will not spend my nights here. But baby, you can get fucked if you think I’m not going to be in your life.”

She glances up at me, her eyes bright with tears. “What about your wife?”

“Fuck her, she’s not my fucking wife,” I growl. “As soon as she’s out of my life, I’m putting a ring on your finger.”

She blinks, taken aback by my words. “Denis,” she breathes, her body pressing against mine.

“I love you, baby, and nothing is going to change that.”

“I want children, Denny, I want kids of my own.”

I stare at her. Does she really think I’m going to say no? “Mo ghrá, don’t you know? I’ll give you the fucking world if I could. You want kids, I’ll give you them. But baby, I need you to realise when this shit’s over with Zoe, I’ll have three kids with me full time. Two are young, a toddler and a baby. The other is a moody teenager.”

She sinks further into me. “I already love Chloe, she’s amazing.”

Now it’s me who’s looking at her, confused. She quickly explains how she met Chloe. I fall even more in love with her when I realise she’s the reason my daughter’s settled down. Fuck. I knew having her in my kids’ lives would be a good thing, that she’d love them as I do. But shit, she’s been doing it before she even knew who they were.

“Chloe doesn’t know about us, though,” she tells me. “And Denis, you’re determined this is going to move forward. Whereas, I’m still uncertain.”

I gaze into those mesmerising eyes. “Trust me,mo ghrá, it’s all going to work out.”

She takes a step backwards, her arms crossing over her chest. “That’s just it, I don’t trust you.”

A direct hit. She’s shattering me. Fuck.

"Baby—”

She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Denis, but it’s time for you to go.”

I step forward, and she doesn’t retreat. I take that as a win. “Callie,” I growl, reaching out and cupping her cheek.

She shivers beneath my touch. “You need to leave before I do something I regret.”

“What’s that?”

“What happened last night was amazing, but I hate that it happened. You’re married—” She holds up her hand when I open my mouth to protest. “No matter what’s happened between the two of you. You’re still married. I fucked a man who isn’t mine. That’s not me. Please don’t make me do it again. I don’t have the strength to deny you.”

I rest my forehead against hers wanting nothing more than to pull her into my arms and take her mouth. I need to show her just how much she means to me. But I don’t want her to regret anything that’s happened between us.

“Love you, baby. Never forget that,” I tell her, pressing my lips to her head.

She closes her eyes. “Never,” she breathes. “Always, Denis, I’ll always love you.” She shakes her head, her lips trembling, and her fists are clenched. “Please, be safe.”

My throat closes at her words. Fuck. I hate this shit.

“See you soon,mo ghrá.” I caress her cheek. Pulling away, I turn on my heel and move toward the door.

“Goodbye, Denny,” she whispers. I can hear the tears in her voice. “I’m really sorry for your loss,” she continues to whisper.

My chest tightens at her words. My da. Fuck. It hurts to even think about him.

It takes everything I have in me not to turn back around and go to her. Instead, I walk out of her house, closing the door behind me.

I pull out my phone and call Danny. I need this shit fixed, and I need it done now.

11

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