Page 236 of The Heart You Kept

“But what?”

“Who is this Isadora anyway?”

“She’s the daughter of an oil tycoon and a very well-connected socialite around Monaco.”

“So I will run into her?”

“Yes.”

My shoulders slump. “Well, I’m on Hermione’s side…. For the record. Not yours.”

“Of course you are.” He shovels another mouthful of food in. “I feel better now that you know.”

“Well, that makes one of us.” I gulp my wine. “Fuck this shit, I need tequila.”

He smiles and keeps eating and I watch him in a detached state, halfway between hell and denial. The man that I’m in love with seems a million miles away from the story I just heard, and an uneasiness begins to crawl across my skin.

An eerie snapshot into my future rears its ugly head.

He glances up and smiles over at me. “I love you.”

Is that so….

Who even are you?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ALORA

Is it possible to know too much about someone?

I would have thought no, but as I lie here in the dark as he sleeps beside me and I contemplate my life choices, I would have to say it’s a hard yes.

I want to erase my newfound information from my mind; nothing good can come of knowing how cold Edward can be.

For the first time since we’ve been together, Hermione is weighing heavily on my mind. Which is ridiculous in itself because I didn’t care that he left her for me…it was a fair game. But now that I know that she never stood a chance, I really feel sorry for her.

The thing is, I know what it’s like to be in love with Edward Prescott. I know what it’s like to want to move heaven and earth to please him sexually. The fact that she couldn’t, breaks my heart for her. I can’t imagine loving him and everything being perfect on the surface and yet underneath in the shadows…. Him needing more than you are.

Is this a peep into my future?

We made love tonight, and while he was completely lost in the moment and whispering words of adoration and love, I was hovering up above, absent and detached. Wondering what he was really thinking. Gauging his every moan…. Trying harder to bring him undone.

I close my eyes, disgusted where my thoughts are taking me.

I roll onto my side and watch him in the darkness, he’s sleeping and relaxed. He’s relieved that I know, his dirty little secret not his to bear alone any longer.

The irony is I know that’s just the tip of his secrets.

My mind goes back to the charity ball and his three friends that he was with. Handsome, powerful, royal, and wealthy.

They all had beautiful women on their arms…but what goes on behind closed doors? They would never tell, I’m positive the secrets run deep.

I want to know how and when the attraction started?

Was he checking out Isadora while she was with his girlfriend, did his friends all know that he was lusting after his partner’s friend? Was he having thoughts about her when he was alone…. Was she his fail-safe? Was he just waiting for Hermione to suggest that he sleep with her?

I get a vision of Hermione sitting to the side as he went down on Isadora, and I know he would have because he loves it more than anything.