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“Yes…water under the bridge.”
“My job was to have Axel learn from me, but I’m the one who should be taking a page from his book.”
I smiled. “He’s very wise.”
When Axel broke apart from his mother, he introduced me. “Mom, this is Scarlett, my very sexy wife.”
“Oh my god.” I stood there in embarrassment, unable to believe he’d said that.
But both of his parents chuckled.
“It’s lovely to meet you.” I shook her hand. “I’m excited we’re all here together this evening.”
“Me too,” his mother said. “Me too.”
“That went well.” Axel loosened his watch and walked into the closet to put it away.
“Yeah, it did.” I sat at the foot of the bed and slipped off my heels.
He came back out of the closet, his shirt gone and the belt from his slacks missing. “I can tell they liked you.”
“They just met me.”
“But I can tell. What did you think of them?”
“Well…” I stood up and unzipped the back of my dress so I could step out of it. “I guess it’s more difficult for me to forget the way they treated you. I remember watching you go through their rejection. I find this a little harder to accept.”
He regarded me for a moment, his blue eyes having beautiful depth. “I think if you love someone enough, it’s easy to accept them without reservations. Even in our estrangement and silence, I still loved them. I wouldn’t have protected them otherwise.”
“I know.”
“So I guess it’s easy for me to forgive and forget. Theo taught me that.”
“Theo?” I asked incredulously. “He doesn’t strike me as the forgive-and-forget type.”
“Well, that’s not the lesson he was trying to impart, but it’s the lesson that came across.”
“When did this happen?”
He moved to the armchair and took a seat, the top of his slacks fastened with his dress shoes still on. Both elbows moved to the armrests. “When I was angry and ended things with you, I told Theo I was done. Ready to move on. But then he asked if he could take you out. I thought it was a bluff at first. Theo is a really good liar, so it’s hard to know with him. But he continued on and said if I was done with you, why couldn’t he have you since you two…had chemistry…as he put it. That was all it took for me to pull my head out of my ass. Because the idea of you with him, or anyone else, made me sick. That was when I realized I didn’t care what your shortcomings were. I love you, and that’s all that matters. So I came back…and you were nice enough not to make me beg.”
“I wanted you so much, I would have begged.”
He smirked slightly. “Anyway, that’s when I learned that lesson. And I think it’s something you should take to heart.”
My heart folded over in my chest because I knew what direction he was about to take this in. “It’s not the same thing?—”
“If he died tomorrow, would you be devastated?”
“Just because I don’t want a relationship doesn’t mean I want him dead.”
“Not the same thing,” he said. “Now, answer the question.”
“No.” I took a seat on the foot of the bed again.
He continued to watch me. “Baby?—”
“Don’t tell me what to do or how I should feel.”
