“But getting back to your question,” Hugh says, “have you asked her to marry you?”
My feet halt and my blood freezes, and that poking finger digs into my heart a little deeper.
“I wanted to speak to you both about it,” Niko says, artfully dodging the question.
“So that is why you brought us here?” Hugh rebukes.
“Are you asking if the trip was a bribe?”
“Well, if it’s not, you could always try,” Hugh offers with a cheeky chuckle.
“You’ll go far in life.” Niko’s tone is wry as he reaches to ruffle Hugh’s hair.
“I don’t want to go far. I just want to play for Arsenal.” He pauses. “You could always buy the club.”
“For your permission?” Niko replies, sounding amused.
“It wouldn’t hurt,” the mercenary replies with a shrug.
“I’m sure I don’t need to. If you want to play for Arsenal, I’ve no doubt you could. Set your mind to it, put in the hard work.”
“That’s what Mummy tells him,” Archie butts in. “She says nothing worth having comes easy.”
“Your mother is a very wise lady.”
“And very pretty,” my littlest white knight says.
“She is the prettiest,” Niko agrees. “But that’s not why I want to marry her.”
Hugh clears his throat and presses his right fist to his thigh. “Then why do you?”
“Because I love her. I have loved your mother for a long time.”
“Really?” Archie asks. “But she was married for ages.”
“I loved her before she was married.”
My heart does a traitorous pitter-pat, though I try hard to ignore it. I can’t put any stock in his words. He’s just trying to smooth things over, make things easier for the boys.
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
“It’s a very long story.”
“I’ve got time,” Hugh answers in a serious tone.
“Let’s just say young men make foolish decisions, which is something you’ll find out for yourselves. I wasn’t kind to her,” he adds quietly. “I didn’t deserve her.”
“What’s different now?”
“Have you ever experienced regret, Hugh?”
“Well, yes,” my son offers awkwardly.
“He once lied to Mum and—”
“Shut up, Archie!” Hugh retorts.
“It’s okay,” Niko soothes, “we’re human. We all make mistakes. In fact, it’s nice to know I’m not alone.”
“You mean you lied to her, too?”
A prickle of warning runs over my skin, but curiosity wins out, my body straining closer to hear. Lied to me about what?
“It was a very long time ago, but I still regret it.”
“Me, too.” Hugh shoulders slump.
“Your mother deserves so much better,” Niko adds so softly, I almost miss it.
“She deserves everything,” Hugh agrees, “Because she does everything for everyone—she’s always trying to make other people happy.”
“When she smiles, it feels like being in the sunshine.” At Archie’s interjection, my vision becomes a little tear hazy.
“What a wonderful way to put it.” Niko turns, resting his hand on Archie’s shoulder.
“Will you lie to her again?” my youngest asks.
“I will try my very best not to,” Niko answers, deftly sidestepping the question.
“Mum says trying your best is all anyone can ever ask of you.” Cursed by my own words, I almost don’t hear Hugh mutter, “Dad didn’t try his best for her.”
“Not with anyone, really,” Archie pipes up. “I’m not allowed to play at Tiberius’s house anymore because he said something mean to his mummy. My feet are hot. Can I go and put them in the pool again, Uncle Van?”
“If you put on your hat on promise to stay in the shallow end,” he answers.
Off Archie trots, and just when I think this is my opportunity to arrive, Hugh’s next words are like a lance to my heart.
“Dad didn’t say something mean. He kissed Tiberius’s mum. I know because I caught them.” As he stares up at Niko, his bottom lip begins to wobble, though my little man does his best to stop it. “He made me promise not to tell her.”
My poor boy. I thought it was the divorce and his father’s lack of interest that had been taking its toll. But making him keep secrets is the lowest of the low. I’ll twist off Tom’s testicles for putting my child in this position, making him keep a secret from me.
My love. Well, there’s one thing for certain. Hugh understands honor more than my shit of an ex ever will. I didn’t know—I suspected when Tiberius’s mother stopped looking me in the eye when I dropped the boys to school, but they were only suspicions.
“Hugh.” Niko turns and rests both hands on my son’s shoulders. “I hope you know you’ve done nothing wrong. You mustn’t feel bad about this.”
“Can’t help it,” he mutters with an uncomfortable looking shrug. “Tiberius is such a stupid name.”
“It’s never okay for a grown-up to ask a child to keep a secret, especially one that makes them feel uncomfortable.”
“I know.” Hugh drops his head. “But if I’d told Mum then she would feel bad, too. And it wasn’t her fault,” he adds quickly, his head coming up sharp. “He wasn’t supposed to kiss anyone else. He was only supposed to kiss her!”