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I chuckled. “When are you going on maternity leave?”
“Whenever I have the baby. Want to keep working as much as possible.” She rocked Andrew gently as she continued to feed him. “I just hate staying at home all day. So boring.”
I knew that all too well.
“What’s new with you?”
I assumed Hades had already told her what happened with Liam. “Nothing much.” I didn’t want to discuss my complicated feelings for Damien when he was right across the table from me. He didn’t seem to be listening to anything I said, but still.
“Damien being good to you?”
He was much more than I deserved. “Always.”
She gave a slight smile before she continued to rock her son.
Hades and Damien excused themselves from the table and took their drinks onto the balcony, as if they wanted to discuss business away from us. They stood outside and leaned against the stone railing, drinks in hand.
I watched Damien for a moment, admiring his sculpted features and that handsome face. “Damien told me Hades had to quit drinking.”
“Yes. He wasn’t happy about it, but too bad. He has to live a long time for us.” She watched her husband out the window while holding the bottle.
“Sometimes, I worry Damien drinks too much.”
“He does,” she said immediately. “He’ll fall into my husband’s footsteps if he hasn’t already.”
“He told me I can’t be concerned about his health unless I’m sleeping with him.”
“As in, you aren’t?” she asked, surprise in her tone.
“No…”
“You have the restraint of a monk.” When Andrew was finished with his bottle, she set it on the table and wiped his mouth with a napkin. The second he got his drink, he went right back to sleep.
“I haven’t been divorced very long… Don’t want to jump into anything.”
“Well, your ex-husband jumped into another woman’s bed when he was still married to you—twice. If the reason you aren’t doing what you want is out of guilt, then that’s unnecessary. You owe him nothing, Anna.”
“I know…”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
“I don’t know… I guess that is the reason.”
“Then forget about it,” she said. “You’ve wanted Damien the entire time you were married. You can have him now—so, have him.”
“Exactly…that’s why I feel guilty.”
She gave me a confused expression.
“I blame Liam for our divorce, but it’s really my fault.”
“You didn’t cheat, Anna. He did.”
“I know, but it’s more complicated than that.”
She watched the guys out the window for a while before she turned back to me. “If you wanted another man while you were married, getting divorced was probably the best thing for both you and Liam. You were never going to last if you were head over heels for someone else. It’s unfortunate, but that’s what happened. And let’s not forget, you got divorced in the first place because Liam was unfaithful. It’s still not your fault.”
I stared out the window a long time, not even really looking at Damien. My thoughts just started to wander, to drift away. “Can I tell you something?”
“You can tell me anything, Anna.”
“And for it not to be shared with your husband.”
“Honey, I don’t share any of our conversations with him. I know he’ll tell Damien every little thing.”
“Well…I haven’t really thought about Liam much.”
She leaned back in her chair once Andrew was asleep. Nestled in one arm, he slept with his favorite blanket tucked around him. Instead of questioning me about my exact meaning, she let me continue to speak.
“I really wanted that marriage to work, but once he hurt me…I mentally checked out. I lived alone for a while, and I was upset. But now that I’m around Damien all the time, I don’t think about Liam at all…and I guess I feel bad about that. I got over my marriage really quickly. Moved on to someone else like it never happened. It just… I don’t know.”
“I don’t think you should feel guilty about that. If anything, I think you should feel excited.”
I had no idea what that meant, so my eyes shifted back to hers.
“It means you know Damien is the right person.”
My heart raced at the idea of getting what I’d always wanted, what I wanted the moment I met him. Our time together had been short, but the amount of love I’d developed in that amount of time was enormous…and it never went away.
“And since he’s the right person…be with him.”
After we said goodnight to Hades and Sofia, we returned to his bedroom, where the table was as clean as new because Patricia cleaned everything the moment we were gone. It was spotless, a vase of fresh flowers in the middle of the table instead of the bottle of wine.
The fire had been almost dead by the time they’d left, but now it was burning at full blast once again.
“It was nice having them over.” I stood in front of the fire before I turned to look back at him.
