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I stare at her, unable to offer her the lie she’s looking for. “I don’t know.” The words come quietly. “But it’s more than I could give you on our wedding day.”

She holds my gaze for a long moment, searching my face for something I’m not sure I have to give. Then, she nods slowly. It isn’t acceptance so much as resignation.

“Will that be enough for you, sweetheart?” I ask, dreading the answer because I’m too fucking selfish to care if she says no. But staring into her soft blue eyes with her warm hand in mine, for the first time in my life, I find myself wanting to be worthy of something I don’t deserve.

“I don’t know,” she answers, a tear trickling down her cheek. “But I want it to be.”

The drive back to the city is quieter than the journey out, the conversation stalled by the weight of everything we admitted. Still, my hand never leaves her body. My palm rests on her thigh for the entirety of the drive, her hand occasionally resting over it and faintly lacing our fingers together. I don’t say much. Neither does Sophia. But the contact is a quiet reassurance that whatever we said at that table hasn’t changed this thing between us.

By the time we reach the penthouse, the city has swallowed the last traces of daylight. Sophia disappears into the bedroom to unpack, and I retreat to the terrace to think.

I get a minute of solitude before my phone buzzes in my pocket. When I pull it out, I find a barrage of messages I’ve ignored since we stopped at the diner.

XANDER

College kid delivered safely to her dorm.

BECKETT

Your wife ain’t so bad. Her sister either.

KADEN

Marcelli flying in tonight. He’s got his panties in a bunch and wants to meet.

We’re meeting at 8 p.m.

Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve been ignoring me for hours. Call me.

Where the fuck are you?

MELANIE

I heard there’s a meeting with Alessandro Marcelli tonight. Seems like the perfect excuse to give you plenty of time afterward to stop by.

I fire off a series of responses. Beckett first.

If you are even remotely attached to your cock, do not even think about it

Then Melanie.

Don’t wait up. Whatever you thought this was, it ended with Sophia.

Her response comes instantly.

You say that now… Eventually you’ll get tired of fucking the same pussy every night

Shaking my head, I call Kaden.

“Where the fuck have you been?” he answers. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you since this afternoon.”

“Been busy. We just got back into the city.”

“Marcelli—”

“Yeah, I saw. You and Xander can handle him.”

“He’s demanding you be there, too.”