The tears escaped despite her best efforts to control them. “It’s not a betrayal. I swear it isn’t.”
“It can’t be anything else. Not when you lied to me. Not when you pretended to be something you aren’t.”
Her laugh splintered on heartbreak. “I never pretended to be anything other than I am. You were the one looking for the perfect wife. What you don’t realize is you ended up with someone who’s more than perfect…at least for you. Don’t throw it away now.”
But he was already pulling back, shaking his head. He stepped clear of her and tossed her suit into her arms. “Get dressed. Then we’ll discuss where we go from here.” With that, Lucius turned on his heel and left the bedroom.
Angie pulled on her clothing without a word, not bothering to change out of her wedding undergarments. Pointless now since they’d never be used for a wedding. She took a final look around, attempting to determine if there was anything too urgent to leave behind. There wasn’t. Just one final stop before she left the apartment, left behind the life she’d hoped to build here.
She walked into Mikey’s room and found him batting at dust motes, having just woken from his nap. “Hey, there, little guy,” she greeted in a soft voice. She lifted him from his crib and cradled him close, tears clogging her throat. “You have no idea how much I’m going to miss you.”
He smelled of sweet, clean baby with a hint of powder. He grabbed the loosened tendrils of her hair and tugged them toward his mouth. She untangled her hair from his chubby fist with a tearful laugh. He was so beautiful. Had managed to become such a vital part of her life. She didn’t think she’d ever recover from the loss of both Mikey and Lucius, the two men she’d come to love with all her heart.
“I tried. At least I tried,” she whispered against the top of Mikey’s head. “I thought I’d be… I wanted to be… Oh, Mikey, I’d hoped I’d be your mother. To care for you. Nurture you. Watch you grow to manhood.” She held him for endless minutes, absorbing his baby warmth, his baby scent, the quick, eager heartbeat thumping against her breast. “I love you. I’ll always love you.”
She needed to go. A quick, decisive end to it before she lost control, altogether. She carried Mikey into the living room. Lucius stood in front of the bank of windows overlooking the city, the light streaming behind him settling on her and the baby, while framing him in darkness. It was a calculated maneuver, one she’d seen him use before. She negated his advantage by crossing to his side and settling the son in the father’s arms. Now that she knew the truth, it seemed so obvious. The set of the eyes, the curve of the mouth, that stubborn, authoritative chin, one a miniaturized mirror of the other.
“Before we take this any further I want to know, once and for all, whether you’re working with the Ridgeways,” Lucius announced, taking immediate charge. Devil Devlin at his most intimidating.
She released a distracted sigh, glancing around for her purse. She spotted it on the couch and retrieved it. Then she walked to the foyer and stabbed the call button for the elevator.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going? Don’t you even think of walking out on me, Angie.” He took a step in her direction, seemed to suddenly realize that holding Mikey in his arms prevented him from physically stopping her. Frustration bloomed across his face. “You aren’t leaving until you explain why you did this.”
“Actually, Lucius, you should already know why I did this. You asked often enough.” The door slid silently open and she stepped into the car. Turning, she pushed one of the buttons on the panel. “You just never listened to my answer.”
And with that, the door closed between them.
Lucius glared at the elevator doors. “How am I supposed to hear something she never said?” he demanded of Mikey. “If she thinks this is the end of it, she’s about to learn otherwise.”
Mikey leaned in the direction of the elevator and held out his arms, making clear his displeasure at Angie’s disappearance.
“You and me both,” Lucius muttered.
He continued to bore holes through the elevator doors as though they held all the answers to the universe and were deliberately keeping them from him. Ever since the call from Pretorius, Lucius had stewed over what Angie had done, the coast-to-coast flight providing him with all the time in the world to first whip himself into a full-blown, brain-melting, self-righteous rage, before chilling into the sort of bitter cold reserve he’d perfected ever since Lisa’s marriage to Geoff. It had been his only defense during that bleak time.