It was in no way helpful.
“There were wine glasses in your sink. Did he stay over?”
“What are you, a detective now?”
“Unless you’ve taken up daytime drinking…”
“You have absolutely zero right to stand here and ask me this.” She glared at him with fire and fury zipping from her slight frame. “I haven’t seen you in almost five weeks, after you pretty summarily dismissed me from your life. And now you show up out of the blue and act like you’re jealous or something?”
Fiero looked down the street, unsure how to respond to that.
“You don’t want me but you don’t want anyone else to have me, right? What a chauvinistic, selfish – do you think I should just spend my life single and pining for you?”
He whipped his head around to face her. “So you are seeing him?”
She glared at him and then took a step backwards, freeing her hand from his. He hadn’t even realised he was still holding her.
“Elodie?” Her name was a plea on his lips, but she wasn’t budging.
“Go to hell, Fiero.”
It wasn’tuntil Jack was asleep that night that Fiero had any opportunity to give their conversation more thought. No, it wasn’t that. He’d forced himself to push it to the back of his mind during the day, because he’d wanted to concentrate on Jack, but once the little boy was fast asleep, Fiero found hecouldn’tget Elodie off his mind.
He’d gone to her apartment to see her and to prove to himself that he was glad things between them had ended, and instead, he felt like he’d been slammed in the solar plexus.
He swore under his breath, pacing to the balcony and staring out over Kensington Gardens. The evenings were getting cooler and the sun was down, so only a hint of light could be seen, coming from the old fashioned lamp posts that ran through the street.
She hadn’t answered his questions, and she’d been right not to. She had an excellent point – he had no business asking about her private life. He had no business expecting her to tell him whatever he wanted to know. She’d offered herself to him on a silver platter and he’d backed away as quickly as possible.
Because he couldn’t forgive her.
Hewouldn’tforgive her. How could he? He’d already missed so much of Jack’s life, and that was her fault. It was her decision that had led to him being absent.
If it wereonlythat, perhaps he could move past it. But even now, the only reason he knew about Jack was because of a freak accident. If she hadn’t been hit by that truck, his son would still be out there, a stranger to him.
Pain shifted inside of him.
Panic, too.
Because he couldn’t forgive Elodie, but the idea of living his life without her in it was like being pushed into a sea of lava. The pain was immense. What was the alternative? To find a way to get her back in his life even though he couldn’t forgive her? That wasn’t fair on her. It wasn’t fair and it would hurt her in the end and he couldn’t do that.
So there was only this.
Separate lives, and that meant she could date whoever the hell she wanted.
He prowled back inside, his legs restless, his chest hurting.
Logically, he knew it was the right decision, butChristo,the idea of that man being in her home right at that very moment was suffocating. Hehatedto imagine her being with someone else, but she was right on that score too. It was chauvinism, nothing more. It didn’t mean anything.
None of this meant anything, just as he’d said all along.
In the middleof the night though, Fiero awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed, and it was as though someone had poured ice water on him. He woke up, and the first thing he thought of was his aunt Camilla, who’d been exiled when she’d married a Middle Eastern prince. He’d never met the woman, and he barely thought of her, but at a few minutes past three o’clock, his mind went to his aunt and everything else seemed to click into place.
14
“HANG ON A SECOND,” she called, looking around for her robe. She couldn’t find it, nor could she remember – at this hour – where it had been left the night before.
The banging started up again and she muttered an oath before pacing through her apartment in just her camisole top and a pair of yoga pants, risking immodesty over her neighbours being woken up. It was only just gone six, and still dark outside – way too early for anyone to visit.