CHAPTER 28

They began with uneasy silence and let it grow until it became unbearable. Nolan and Mitchell waited each other out, neither man willing to reveal or concede anything. Keira and Angela weren ’ t waiting on each other; they were waiting on Mitchell.

Keira had the least amount of patience. “ I am so sorry things turned out like this. It wasn ’ t supposed to be this way. ”

Angela rolled her eyes. “ How was it supposed to be? In your perfect world, I ’ m not here and you and Mitchell can play fairytale and live happily ever after? Would you like me to leave? ”

“ Whether you leave or not is your business. I said I was sorry. It would be nice to work this out like sensible adults. ”

Angela turned to Nolan. “ I hate it when people talk like that — it ’ s privilege. You ’ re only acceptable if you behave the way they decide is appropiate. ” Now she focused on Keira. “ I ’ m sure your apology is sincere, but it doesn ’ t mean anything to me. Whatever your definition of sensible is, decide if getting impregnated by a married man was a sensible way to behave. ”

Mitchell finally spoke. “ Is it sensible to be married with a boyfriend? ”

“ A: I was under the belief I was a widow and B: I ’ m not the one suggesting how other people should behave. ”

“ I was under the belief I was a widower. We all have some level of responsibility for this situation. The media and lack of time and preparation made everything worse, but we can ’ t change that now. So, how do we move forward? What do we do about it? ”

Nobody had an answer for him. Keira waited on him, but he ’ d already given her all the assurance he could. It was Angela ’ s turn. “ Let ’ s start with you, ” he said to his wife. “ What do you need? What can I say or do to help you get through this? ”

Somewhere in the rhythm of his syllables, Angela heard the echo of the man who had once loved and cherished her, who had been her husband for four years. More importantly, her heart received and remembered. “ What is there to say? ”

Mitchell knew Angela better than anyone. She ’ d bristle a bit, but her heart wasn ’ t hard. She ’ d get through it. He ’ d get her through it. “ Can we at least agree we ’ ve all screwed up here? ” he cut a glance toward Nolan. “ Not intentionally, ” he said when his gaze touched Keira. “ But, this is about us all. ”

“ All right, ” Angela said. “ So what? We screwed up. We made a royal mess of this situation. What ’ s the point? What are our lessons? Regardless of the circumstances, ” she aimed her finger at Nolan first. “ Don ’ t get involved with a married woman. ” Next Keira. “ Don ’ t sleep with a married man. ” And then Mitch. “ Keep your penis to yourself. ” Finally, she pointed to herself. “ And me? What ’ s my lesson? What did I do wrong? Don ’ t fall overboard? Don ’ t get rescued? Don ’ t trust the coastguard? Don ’ t attempt to pick up the pieces of my shattered life? ‘ Cause as far as I can tell, that ’ s the list of my crimes. That ’ s the lesson I ’ m getting out of this! ” Her voice raised an octave with each declaration until she ran out of breath.

“ Oh, knock it the hell off! ” Keira yelled loud enough to shock Angela into temporary silence. “ We get it. Poor woebegone you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You might be telling the truth, but at this moment, it doesn ’ t mean jack shit. Especially not to me. You want a pity party? That ’ s too bad, ‘ cause we ’ re fresh out. You can whine all day about what you didn ’ t do, but nothing is going to change because you ’ re so much better than the rest of us. That married woman Nolan shouldn ’ t have been involved with, have you met her? ” Keira kept going even when Angela tried to speak. “ You don ’ t need to waste my evening picking out everybody ’ s flaws, I ’ m pregnant. I don ’ t have time to relive the past. I have a future to worry about. ” She touched her belly. “ My baby. Nolan ’ s little girl. If you want to dwell on who ’ s innocent, start with them. ”

“ Waste your evening? I don ’ t need you here. If you have a problem with my whining, excuse yourself and go attach to some other married man. ”

“ Hey! Hey, hey. Whoa. ” Mitchell stood between them. “ Nix the catfight. ” He caught a glare from each of them. He turned to Keira, “ You, chill. The baby doesn ’ t need that. ” The possessive concern in his tone and the way his eyes lingered made Angela glare all the harder. “ You both are right; you are. But we need to not get sidetracked. We need to move on. ”

“ No. We need to stop. ” Nolan said his first words since coming to Keira ’ s suite. He stood up too. He had seen the death of something in Angela ’ s countenance. Productive communication was not going to happen, at least not right now. “ We need a break. Angela, would you walk with me, please? ”

“ Whoa, whoa, whoa. ” Hearing his wife ’ s name fall from another man ’ s lips in that compelling manner was not something Mitchell would tolerate. He pointed to Angela. “ That ’ s my wife. Do I need to make that clear to you? ”

Nolan looked at him with something close to pity. “ I know precisely who she is. I also know she ’ s too upset for this bullshit. Perhaps you missed it. These ladies have escalated and need a break. As uncomfortable as it must be to your pride to see Angela walk out of here with me, you can ’ t tend to them both. It seems inappropriate for me to whisk Keira away. However, it ’ s your choice. ”

Mitchell took a step forward with his fists balled.

Simultaneously, the women moved. Keira grabbed Mitchell ’ s arm. Angela got in front of Nolan. It wasn ’ t necessary. Nolan stopped him with one sentence. “ Yes, I ’ m sure that will be beneficial. ”

Mitchell saw a red haze. Everything was fucked up. Everything! There wasn ’ t one single thing about this whole situation that wasn ’ t. Angela was his wife. His. But how can the baby not be everybody ’ s first priority? Woods needed his ass handed to him. He wasn ’ t being the voice of reason. Woods was setting him up for failure. Calling a halt and all but telling him to pick a girl. Fuck that! Fuck that bastard. It wasn ’ t up to him. It was up to Angela. He patted Keira ’ s hand to let her know he was back to calm. “ Angela. ”

Angela noted his hand on Keira ’ s. “ I don ’ t have anything to say to you right now. ” She turned to Nolan, ready to give him a dose of her anger as well. “ I don ’ t need anybody ’ s permission to leave. I can go when and where I want. ”

Nolan ’ s expression was unreadable. “ I didn ’ t ask anybody but you. ”

She almost smiled. Almost.

He caught it anyway, prompting her to roll her eyes at him before walking out. Likewise, Nolan did not acknowledge the others as he left. No point in Angela being mad at him.

Instead of going toward the elevators as he assumed, Angela surprised him by taking the stairs. She ended up in an out of the way alcove on the next floor.

They sat close, but not touching. They wanted to touch but nobody defined the rules; nothing seemed acceptable.

“ I hate this. ”

“ Yeah, it sucks. ”

“ Does this make any kind of sense to you, Nolan? I mean, what are we doing? ”

“ It makes perfect sense. ”

“ To you. ”

“ To you too. Nobody has to like it for it to be understandable. This is a billboard moment for ‘ shit happens. ’”

“ Would you lose it, for once? ”

“ Pardon me? ”

“ I wish you ’ d go nuts, get angry, curse, stomp, not always be so damned composed. You make me feel like I ’ m having a tantrum. ”

Viper fast, he grabbed her by the shoulders and locked his grip. “ Look at me. ” His tone was cool and soft, but his eyes were electric. H is temples puls ed and he clenched his jaw as if he were holding back an eruption. “ I am angry, ” he said it slow. “ I want to curse and stomp. But I don ’ t want to have a tantrum. I want to kill your damned husband. I wished he would have stayed on that island and never came back. I want to grab you and Lexie and get the hell out of here. I want to go somewhere where none of this matters and we can pick up where we left off. ” For a long moment, he didn ’ t say anything. He focused his heat and intensity on her and she took it. She felt him. He had somehow gotten inside of her. It was sexual, on the verge of becoming explosive. His breathing came in heavy puffs. “ But I don ’ t get to do that. I don ’ t get to take you away. I don ’ t get to curse or stomp or whine. I don ’ t get to be angry. At least not where anybody can see it. Because you ’ re not mine. I don ’ t have any rights here. ”

He pulled her in close and held her there. His whiskers tickled her bottom lip, made it tingle with yearning. She wanted to cry from the desire.

“ You ’ re not mine. ” He released her. He had to. Otherwise, it would cease to matter. He would take her and make her his, regardless that she already had a husband.

Angela worked to get her breathing under control. “ Careful what you wish for. ” She mumbled. “ This is nuts, ” she added.

He used the time to get his own breathing under control. “ What ’ d you expect? ”

“ I never expected this. That ’ s for sure. ”

Nolan put a hand on her shoulder. This time his touch was gentle. “ What do you want to happen, Angela? ”

She didn ’ t have an answer.

“ What he did. What you thought. ” The dim backlighting in the alcove highlighted the silver wisps at his temple. “ The only thing that matters is what are you going to do now? ”

Angela studied the place where their bodies met. He had strong calloused fingers that were used to hard work. She let her eyes travel up his arm, past his shoulder to settle on his face. His deep-set eyes were more violet than blue — a true testimony of his personal storm.