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“Of course. He says everything’s okay but it’s obviously not.” I pushed my hands through my hair, letting out another sigh. “I really don’t need anything going wrong now. Not with the wedding so close.”
Freya rested a hand on my arm. “Don’t stress about it, Leah. Hopefully he’ll snap out of whatever it is soon and you can forget about this little blip.”
**
“Where have you been?”
I stopped abruptly having just closed the front door, to be greeted by Radleigh stepping out of the living room and into the hallway, a look of mild anger in his eyes. His stance was rigid, his large frame tense and his mouth set in a thin line.
“You know where I’ve been.” I tossed my keys on the table beside the door and placed my bag down beside it. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought you were only going to be a couple of hours.”
I glanced down at my watch. “I was only a couple of hours.”
“Three. Three hours.” His expression was so cold a shiver rippled down my spine.
What the hell?
I took a few steps towards him. “Relax. It’s only ten o’clock. Is everything okay?”
“No. You’re late.”
“Are you kidding?” When he didn’t answer, just continued to stare at me, I shook my head and started to walk past him. Whatever the hell mood he was in, I wasn’t going to stand around arguing about what time I got home.
As I reached him he grabbed my arm and roughly turned me to face him, his fingers digging into my wrist. It wasn’t the fact that he was hurting me that made tears spring to my eyes, it was the shock. Sure, his behaviour had been a little unusual the last few days, but not to this degree.
Peeling his fingers from around my wrist and shoving his hand away, I glared at him. “I don’t know what your problem is, but I suggest you calm down before you try talking to me again.”
On shaky legs, I brushed past him up the stairs, blinking away the moisture behind my eyes. We’d had some fights in our time, but he’d never gotten upset or angry with me for being a little later home than usual, and he’d certainly never grabbed me so hard. This was a gigantic leap from being a bit grouchy, and I needed it to stop immediately. I’d been in an abusive relationship before; I wouldn’t stand for it again. Deep down, I knew that wasn’t who he was, but if he didn’t sort his crap out soon we were going to have a huge problem on our hands.
I took a quick look in on Jessica, and finding her sleeping soundly, I placed a soft kiss on her head before going to my own room and sitting on the end of the bed.
I thought about the things Freya and Miguel had said about Radleigh’s behaviour, and the onset of panic began.
What if he’s having an affair?
No. He would never. But with the way he’d just acted about me being late, maybe he was projecting his own guilt onto me. I rested my head in my hands, trying unsucessfully to push those thoughts away. God, was there something in his attitude lately that had suggested he was cheating? I really couldn’t recall anything other than this sudden grumpiness. And if he was cheating, why now? Why so close to the wedding? Why when he wanted us to make our family bigger? Unless… maybe he was getting cold feet and trying to pull everything back together with the idea that a baby would help.
We’re happy though, aren’t we?
As far as I knew, we were. Right up until a few days ago.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked up to see Radleigh standing in the doorway, his body still abnormally stiff, but his expression softer.
“What’s going on, Radleigh?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.” I stood up with a sigh. “I know you too well now and telling me nothing’s wrong doesn’t work anymore.”
He lowered his eyes, shaking his head again. “It’s not important. I’m sorry for being a dick.”
I walked over to him and took his hands in mine. “Look at me.” He raised his head. “You need to start talking to me. Something has been wrong all week. Whatever it is, can you just tell me so I can try to help?”
Radleigh dropped my hands and walked past me, towards our bathroom. “There’s nothing to tell, Leah.”
