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“Get the fuck out of here. Get away from me, you lying, cheating bastard.”
“Rogue, it’s not what you think. Let me explain,” he begged.
“Explain? Explain?” I cried, throwing my arms up in the arm, moving back toward the windows, desperate to put some space between us. “You’ve had years to tell me you’re married. Years. You let me think you wanted me. What was this?” I pointed between us. “Fuck a rock star for a while without the wife knowing? No wonder you didn’t want me near you in the hospital the other day. Scared someone might see? That a picture might make it into the papers?”
“Rogue, please.” He stepped towards me, but I span around, pressing my head against the cool glass of the window, looking down on the Chicago skyline, wondering how the world seemed to be carrying on like normal while my heart was breaking.
“Get out. Get away from me. I don’t want to look at you. I don’t want to speak to you. Fuck, I don’t want to be anywhere near you ever again.” Every word felt like it was destroying my heart a little more.
“Frankie, I love you.”
“Go home to your wife, Matt. We’re over,” I whispered, my breath misting against the glass. I watched it fade and vanish, just like this thing I’d thought I had with Matt was doing.
Tanner must have overheard my screams because he appeared in my room.
“Frankie?”
“The fucker is married, Tan. Get him away from me, please.”
Tanner gasped. “I think you should leave, Matt. Now!”
I kept my eyes pinned on the skyline, unable to watch Matt leave. When I was sure they were gone, sobs broke from my chest as I sank to the floor, wondering if I’d ever have the strength to stand back up again.
Matt
“WhatdidItellyou about hurting her? I should have your sorry ass fired. Married? For fuck’s sake, Matt,” Tanner roared at me while he followed me through the penthouse. “If you weren’t so huge, I’d punch you in the face for what you’ve done to her, but I know that would hurt me more than it would hurt you.”
“It’s not what you think,” I let out as we stepped into the elevator.
“How do you explain a wife youforgotto mention, man?”
“I didn’tforgetto mention her. I don’t talk about her. Ever. Not to anyone.”
“Well, I’m sure she loves being so important to you, you fucker.”
We arrived back at my room, where Tanner had followed me, yelling at me the whole way. I unlocked the door and slumped down on the edge of my bed, rubbing my hand over my face. The stress of the last few months and the look on Frankie’s face today suddenly felt like too much to carry. I needed to release it. I couldn’t keep it bottled up because I would implode, and I didn’t know how I’d recover.
“I don’t talk about her because she’s dead.” Saying it out loud made bile bubble in my throat, images of my wife and son flooding my mind.
“What?” Tanner spluttered, staring at me wide eyed.
“She died. Almost nine years ago.”
“Shit, Matt, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you just tell Frankie that? Why didn’t you tell her you’re a widower?”
“Because she didn’t give me a chance. Because I hate that word. And because it’s my fault Emma died.” I winced at saying her name out loud after such a long time.
“Do you wanna tell me what happened?” he asked, sitting down next to me.
I sighed, the familiar pain of loss and guilt slamming into my chest, forcing me to take a moment to settle my breathing. “They were murdered while I was at work.”
“They?”
“Emma, my wife. She was shot three times and Alfie, my son. He was 11 months old, and someone suffocated him while he slept. I was a cop. I was working on a high profile case, trying to make a name for myself. She called me about half an hour before they died, but I was too busy to talk to her. I could have saved them both, but instead, they died because I was too busy.”
I’d never spoken with anyone outside the detectives investigating their murders and Thomas who’d become a really good friend, supporting me after it happened and helping me distance myself from the stories that filled the tabloids, so that if you searched you wouldn't be able to link me to my past.
I felt Tanner’s hand on my shoulder. “Matt, that’s huge. I’m so sorry, but if you tell her, she’ll understand. She thinks you’ve got a wife waiting for you at home.”
