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I only wore my wedding ring outside the house, so I’d left it on my nightstand in the bedroom.
He continued to stare at me.
“What?” I asked without looking at him.
“It’s hard to be patient when I want you so much.”
My eyes remained focused on the screen, careful not to react, not to swallow.
“Just to hold you…”
I did my best to ignore him, my broken heart in pieces on the floor. Where I should feel nothing but hate and resentment, I felt warmth. I craved his touch as much as I always had, and I hated myself for being so weak. I’d never thought I would be one of those women who went back to a cheating ex, but here I was, falling under his spell. I was too proud to let that show. “When’s dinner?”
A long stretch of silence passed, like my question had struck him as an insult.
The butler knocked on the door minutes later then delivered our dinner on a cart. There had to be a service elevator somewhere in the apartment for him to get up here with the food. He set up the dining table with our dinner, placing a basket of fresh bread in the center along with our salads and entrées.
He poured two glasses of wine then left.
Axel turned off the TV and walked to the dining table, taking a seat without waiting for me.
I joined him a moment later, taking the seat across from him.
He had grilled chicken with a side of greens, but my dinner had mashed potatoes and gravy.
He cut into his meat and ate as he watched me.
“It’s good,” I said, sliding my fork through the potatoes.
“Not as good as yours.”
“That’s not true.”
“I wish you were my chef, but I’d rather have you as my wife.” He took another bite and chewed, watching me from across the table.
No one ever stared at me as much as he did. Most men couldn’t hold eye contact that long, but Axel by far was the most confident man I’d ever been with. He made me nervous every time he stared, not because I was afraid, but because of the way it made me burn.
The meal was spent in silence.
He continued to stare but didn’t engage me in conversation.
I grabbed a piece of bread and smeared it with butter before I took a bite.
His stare remained.
“You didn’t mention you had a brother.”
He continued to chew his bite.
“And he looks nothing like you.” They were both exceptionally sexy men, but their appearances couldn’t be more different.
“He’s not my biological brother.”
“Then he’s adopted?”
He shook his head.
“So, he’s not your brother at all?”
“He’s more my family than my own parents are.” He ate much quicker than I did, so his plate was already wiped clean. But he sat there and drank his wine as he waited for me to finish before leaving the table.
“How long have you known him?”
“A long time,” he said. “He’s the one who got me out of prison.”
“So, he believed you?”
“Of course he did.” That endless stare resumed. “Just like you.”
When the stare became too much, I dropped my eyes back to my plate. Being alone with him was different in his bedroom. All the memories of the fucking and soaking we did in his tub pressed up against me hard, made me hot under the collar. “Have you ever considered giving her money to tell your parents the truth?”
“That would mean she’d have to incriminate herself, and I could get her on criminal charges. I wouldn’t do that, but I could.”
“You wouldn’t?”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “It’s done. Whether she pays me money or goes to jail, it doesn’t change what I’ve already lost.”
“Maybe if you promised her you wouldn’t retaliate, she could tell your parents?—”
“I really don’t think it’d make a difference anyway,” he said. “My parents despise me.”
“That’s not true?—”
“Trust me, it is.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes on his glass, his stare angry.
“I—I just don’t know how a parent could hate their kid so much, even if you were guilty of the crime. People change, and they should have given you the chance to reform.”
“And maybe that would have eventually occurred…someday, but more things have happened, and now there’s no chance for a reconciliation.”
“Like what?” I asked, only interested in him and not my dinner.
He turned to look out the window, giving a loud sigh as he considered his forthcoming words. “Someone in the game captured my father and threatened to kill him if I didn’t meet their demands. As much as I didn’t want to give them what they wanted…” His eyes remained fixated on the window. “I didn’t have a choice. I folded to save my father’s life. But of course, the asshole shot him anyway.”
“Oh my god.” I dropped my fork. “Is he okay?”
