“Do you really wish to call her a mistake, Evan?” Nicholas asked. “I think that would be a bit of an unfair assessment.”
“Sheis not a mistake,” Evan corrected sternly but kept his gaze ahead. “You know precisely what I mean.”
In fact, he was one of the few people who did.
Nicholas exhaled. “You have been running from the past for a long time, but you are a married man now. Do you not think it’s time to let it go?”
“You make it sound so amazingly simple,” Evan chuckled mirthlessly.
“I think you have convinced yourself of a great many things,” Nicholas said. “But your wife is not your past. And she is not the one who deserves to suffer for it.”
Evan exhaled slowly as Nicholas watched him carefully. “Do you think she wants more?”
Evan stiffened, saying nothing.
“She is a young woman,” Nicholas continued. “She will want a family one day. And it would be a fair demand.”
Evan’s jaw locked. There it was. The one thing he had known since the beginning—the one line he would never cross. He was safe as long as she did not ask for more. As long as she did not want a family.
Evan forced himself to breathe, forcing down the old anger, the bitter memories that always clawed their way to the surface whenever he thought about the matter. He would not repeat the mistakes of the past. The decision had been made a long time ago.
“I am sorry to be the one who brings this up,” Nicholas sighed. “But you and I both know that you cannot avoid it forever.”
“I do not have to,” Evan said simply. “She knew the terms of this marriage when she agreed to it.”
“Perhaps. But did you ever consider that she may change her mind? Did you simply assume she would never ask for more?”
“What is the point of asking me all of this?” Evan tried to turn the attention back at his friend, but Nicholas was relentless. Ambrose might have dropped the subject by now, but Nicholas was determined to get an answer out of his friend.
“If I don’t ask you, who will?” Nicholas sighed. “Someone needs to talk some sense into you. You cannot outrun it forever, Evan.”
“I do not have to outrun anything. I only have to ensure I do not repeat it,” Evan insisted.
“Repeat the past?” Nicholas asked. “Because?—”
“My father’s mistakes,” Evan cut him off.
For a moment, Nicholas was silent. It was unsual for Evan to ever speak about his father. Both men had a strained relationship with their fathers, and it was something that they had bonded over years ago. If anyone would understand, it would be Nicholas.
“You are not your father,” Nicholas said finally.
“I have heard that before,” Evan replied.
“Then perhaps you should start believing it,” Nicholas said.“You cannot live your life making decisions out of fear,” Nicholas exhaled slowly. “You remind me of myself?—”
“It is not fear—it is logic,” Evan cut him off, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation. He preferred it when he only spoke to his friends about business.
“Itisfear. You think if you take a step too far, if you allow yourself to want more, you’ll become him.” Nicholas shook his head.
“That is not what this is about.” Evan’s jaw locked. “And you’d be better off dropping the subject now.”
“Isn’t it?” Nicholas gave him a flat look.
Evan remained silent, his gaze fixed ahead.
“You are not your father, Evan. No matter how much you convince yourself otherwise,” Nicholas said.
“You say that as if it is a certainty,” Evan replied. “But you do not know. His blood runs through me whether I like it or not.”
