The Husband Beside Me(64)

“Daimon, I came to give you my condolences,” Darren offered.

“Thank you,” Daimon said coldly.

“Look, man, I'm here because you’ve been my friend for over ten years,” Darren added.

“I know, but all I see is you wanting her, and I fucking hate it,” Daimon said angrily. I was disappointed in him. This was his mother’s funeral, but Daimon being Daimon, avoided feeling what he needed to feel.

“Whatever, man, I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to see you and maybe I can take you out for a drink. I figured you might need one.” Darren extended the olive branch and I waited, wondering what Daimon would do.

“Not today, but thanks.” Daimon pulled me toward Ted.

“We’re leaving,” he said to Ted as he pulled me into the car.

“Daimon, we have to stay. It’s your mother’s funeral,” I implored.

“We’re going home,” he stated coldly.

“But Daimon—” I tried pleading.

“BUT NOTHING,” he turned and shouted. I sat there stunned, sinking slowly back into my seat as Ted drove us back to the penthouse.



We finally stepped into the penthouse, the afternoon sun shined softly through the front windows. Drako ran to us but stopped the moment he saw Daimon and how he stood ahead of me.

“So what now, Addie, you flirt with Darren at my mother’s funeral?” he seethed.

“Are you crazy?” I spat out. “He was there for you.”

“He said he missed you.” He turned and glared at me.

“As a friend, Daimon. Darren and I were friends in high school and the last ten years. Only since I married you did I have to give up my friendship,” I huffed.

“Oh, that’s right, Darren, the protector. He watched over you all throughout high school, while I didn’t,” he said callously.

“Yeah, he did,” I admitted.

“So why don’t you just go to him then? Just go! Go be with your sweet loving Darren,” he bellowed. Daimon looked like shit. His world had stopped when his mother died.

“Why can’t you trust me? I would never do anything with Darren. I married you,” I said. Why couldn’t he see I meant it when I said it?

“Trust?” he said in disbelief. “Addie, my own mother abandoned me and she was supposed to love me unconditionally and yet she left me and died drinking. You? You don’t even like me that much,” he said, looking at me sadly.

“I don’t like you? You think I blurred the lines because I don’t like you? I’ve given everything that is me to you and you think it’s ‘cause I don’t like you?” I shouted.

“You don’t like me. You can’t even stand me half the fucking time and yet I thought—” He stopped and snaked his fingers through his hair.

“You thought what?” I pushed.

“In high school…you liked me back in high school,” he said bluntly.

“Who said I liked you?” I challenged.

“YOU! YOU SAID YOU LIKED ME!” he shouted.

“I never said that to you,” I said guardedly.

“No, Addie, you never did, but your letter said it all,” Daimon corrected.

“My letter…what letter?” I said, taken aback. My mind halted as I remembered how I felt for him in high school, before he began bullying me.

“I never gave you a letter,” I muttered.

“No, you didn’t, but it fell out of your bag when you fell in history. I barely knew who you were, yet at my feet, a tiny little paper landed.” He reached into his pocket fumblingly as he pulled out his wallet. Inside was a folded worn-out note. “You wrote how much you liked me and how much you wanted to be with me.”

My heart stopped, remembering how I wrote it, thinking that one day I would work up the courage to give it to him, but I never did.

“I was a stupid kid back then,” I said, trying to take the note out of his hands, but Daimon pulled back his hand and held it above his head.

“That’s why,” I murmured, staring at him. “That’s why you started bullying me. You knew how I felt and used it against me,” I accused.

“You think I bullied you? You think I did all that for nothing but my amusement?” He narrowed his beautiful sky-blue eyes at me. “I did it because I wanted you. I wanted you then and I want you now! Don’t you understand, Addie? This feeling inside me, this feeling I hardly understood then and still can’t understand but when I'm with you… I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOU!” he bellowed. “I loved you then and I love you now,” he declared as he stared down at me. I was fused to him, his eyes willing me to say something, but I just couldn’t.