Page 111 of To Tango, with Desire

“I’m angry with you,” she muttered, folding clothes.

“Okay.” I paused on the opposite side of the bed. “That doesn’t explain why you’re packing your things.”

“I’m sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms tonight.”

“Amira—”

“Don’t. I’m being serious, Zane.”

“So what, every time you’re angry with me, I’m to come home and find this? Real mature.” My mind raced to figure out the problem. “Is this about the pregnancy scare?”

“No, it isn’t. Being pregnant is the last thing we need in this marriage.”

“Amira, we’ll work it out. Together.”

She snorted, throwing her hands up. “That’s rich. I can’t even expect you to be honest with me.”

“So you’re leaving instead of spitting out what the problem is. You know, ever since day one, it’d felt like you’ve had one foot out the door. We’re married, Amira. We’re gonna have issues.”

“Well, perhaps if you were honest with me, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

I breathed in, steadying myself. I had no idea what I’d done to make her angry, but she wasn’t just annoyed. She was hurt.

“I’m not staying in this bed next to someone who thinks it’s okay to keep things from me. Someone who doesn’t seem to understand that communication is important,” she continued. “I hate being made a fool. I told you that. Yet here I am walking around with a big idiot sign on my back. Again. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

“I’m not sure what’s going on, so how about you tell it to me straight.”

“When were you going to tell me about your ex? That you lied to me on the phone last week? A lunch meeting, you said. I knew something was off, but never in a million years would I have thought you’d be meeting with Chloe. You could’ve told me the truth, but no, I had to find out from Kade—”

“Kade.” I gritted my teeth. “Here’s Kade interfering again in my life when it doesn’t fucking concern him.”

“Don’t you dare blame him for your actions.”

“I told you that man is trouble. What right does he have spying on me and running to you? Huh? He’s fucked up my life once before, Amira, and I won’t sit back and let him do it again.”

Kade wasn’t happy unless he was meddling in other people’s business. Fucking typical.

“Kade’s intentions are beside the point. If meeting up with Chloe wasn’t a big deal, you wouldn’t have hidden it from me. I hate that you lied to me about this. When I called you wanting to meet up last week, were you or were you not seeing Chloe?”

I wished that it hadn’t been the case. That I hadn’t agreed to see her, but I had.

“I met with her, yes.”

“So why not tell me that?”

Regret washed over me now, dousing my anger. “Because it doesn’t matter. She’s not important. Yes, I should have told you, but I didn’t want you to think she was back in my life.”

“If it doesn’t matter, then don’t lie. But it is an issue now, because of you. Why the hell did you want to meet her? Why the hell was it a secret? I’m a big girl. I can handle the fact that you’d want to perhaps get closure given the way things ended. But what I can’t accept is you being deceptive.”

“Point taken.”

“Did you . . . Do you still have feelings for her? Is that why you agreed to see her?”

“What?”

“Kiki said she was the love of your life.”

“Christ, Amira, no. She came to visit me, to apologize for her behavior that night at the charity gala.”