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He spoke so low, I couldn’t hear. Anger got the best of me. I cleared my throat. They jumped apart, surprise etched on both their faces.
Mulaney recovered first. “I see you’ve decided to grace the office with your presence.”
“Doesn’t look like much work is going on.”
She had the nerve to appear confused for a second, but then fury lit her eyes.
“Son, stop by and see your mother when you’ve wrapped up here for the day.” Son? How could he say that to me when I just caught him with my wife in his arms? “I’ll call you later,” he said to Mulaney as he patted my shoulder on his way out.
The door clicked shut, and I locked it. Tension swirled thick and heavy between us. Mulaney glared as she marched toward me.
“How dare you make a proposition like that to me?” Her voice had a lethal edge to it.
“I’d think you’d take the deal to free yourself up. Or are you saving your eggs for someone else?” The image of her pregnant with my father’s child—my half-brother—nauseated me.
She shoved at my chest. “Are you out of your ever-loving mind? You’ve seen me around kids. They scare the shit out of me. And stop skirting the subject.”
“You’re the one who’s been avoiding the very thing for months.”
“You used me for my eggs.” She shoved again, and underneath the rage, something unexpected appeared.Hurt. But that didn’t make sense. She was the one who didn’t want to be married to me.
“I didn’t make you say those vows,” I said. “And I sure as hell haven’t broken mine.”
“You think I have?” Another shove, the anger on her face no match for the pain.
“Apparently, I was the last to know,” I said bitterly.
“What are you talking about?”
“How could you do it? Why him? Of all people, why him?”
She fisted the lapels of my jacket and shook. “Who?”
“She loves you like a daughter. She’s dying.”
Mulaney froze. “Spell it out, Easton, because I sure as hell don’t like what I think you’re inferring.”
“Why did you marry me when you’re with my father?”
Her arms fell to her sides. She stumbled back, the color draining from her face.
“I was the last fool not to see it.” I moved toward the windows.
“You think I’m having an affair with your father, and you still want my eggs?”
I leaned against the glass. “Ridiculous, huh? I want my children to be like you.”
“Me?” She took a step closer. “A cheater?” Another step. “A thief?” Two more steps. “A person who lets other people use her?”
“Strong.” I pushed off the window. “Someone who speaks her mind.” I closed the gap between us. “A fighter.”
Her lips parted. I stopped just short of touching her. The energy radiating between us was why I’d held on, why I couldn’t believe she’d been with my father even when the evidence was in front of me.
The slap stung my cheek with the force behind it. “Harris is my other father. Loretta is a mother to me. I can’t believe you’d think I would do that to her.”
I caught her wrist before she landed a second blow. “What I just walked in on didn’t look innocent.”
“He told me if I walked away from you, it would be the biggest mistake of my life, you horse’s ass. He thinks you love me,” she shouted, wriggling to get her hand free.
