• Amelia •

I called the hospital to talk to my tiny, precious patients and I was relieved to hear that their surgeries had gone well.

Listening to their little voices over the phone brought tears to my eyes. I mostly listened because my throat had closed in on itself and was threatening to cut off my airway.

I couldn't believe how strong they were. Stronger than I ever was at their age.

Nothing drastic had ever happened to me up until my mother died when I turned seventeen.

And boy, did I learn to be strong after that. I practically raised myself from that point on. My father had given up on life, and I had to find a way to keep living... by giving other people a chance to live.

After talking to five-year-old Alima and eleven-year-old Steven, the nurse handed the phone to doctor Bendon, my replacement.

I liked how he sounded over the phone. He had a soft voice, but when he talked, he knew what he was talking about. And that's exactly what my kids and their parents needed.

Dr. Bendon reassured me that there were no complications during the surgeries, and I thanked him for his excellent work over and over. At that moment, I was the guilty single mother who'd left her children alone so she could get high with her lover.

Chasing love was a high in itself, wasn't it?

I wanted the love they talked about in books. I wanted someone who could make me smile just by looking at them. I wanted a man who would remember all the little things I liked.

I wanted love notes on Tuesday mornings and chocolate hearts on Friday evenings. I wanted heat and passion. I wanted a shoulder to cry on when I had a rough day. I wanted to have his babies and name them after his grandparents.

I mean, why else had I forsaken my career as a pediatric surgeon at one of the most influential hospitals in the Dutch Caribbean?

Why else did I leave my poor father alone with no one to look after him? What if he fell and broke his hip? It could be days before the neighbors noticed that something was wrong.

Although I was angry at my father for lying to me, I didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

I knew that coming here to meet Willem was a risk. Just like that mother who'd left her children sleeping to get her freak on knew it was a risk.

The children could wake from their slumber at any time and find her gone. They could wander out onto the streets looking for her, frantic and afraid. And then Child's Protective Services would come knocking, leaving her with no choice but to face reality.

And all that for what?

A piece of ass that made her feel wanted for five minutes and an orgasm that lasted less than twenty seconds. The latter wasn't even a guarantee.

I sighed and went to take a shower. I got dressed in a black structured sheath dress that left my shoulders bare and my legs mostly bare from the mid-thighs down. I pulled my hair back in a big puff, slayed my edges with some edge control, and coated my lips in red lipstick.

I found Hunter sitting on the hood of his car right outside the gate. He had one leg stretched out and the other was bent at an angle. The light coming from his phone highlighted his serious but handsome face.

He looked up when he saw me. "I didn't think you were going to show up tonight."

Pausing next to the car, I cocked my head to the side. "Why is that?"

Hunter stood up and shoved his phone in the front pocket of his black jeans. He wore a black dress shirt with low hanging pockets and the top two buttons were undone, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of his hard chest.

He took a step toward me, putting him within touching distance and I could smell the strong scent of his cologne. He took my left hand in his and stared down at the ring on my finger.

"I didn't think you would make it because of this," he said. "You're married to my boss, you know that, right? I could get in a lot of trouble with this. It doesn't matter that I want to fuck you badly, because that's not a line I'm willing to cross."

I still hadn't gotten used to Hunter's crude mouth. My cheeks heated up at the thought of him fucking me like he so eloquently put it.

"He said he was going to fire you if I kept on seeing you," I spoke softly.

"And still you show up here like nothing is wrong?" He let go of my hand and looked away in frustration.

I shook my head. "Nothing is wrong. We don't have what one would call a normal marriage. He hasn't been my husband for years. I can do whatever I want."

At the back of my head, I had to remind myself that I had somewhat agreed to give this marriage a try. So maybe it was time I started acting like a married woman.

"So, why is he here?" Hunter demanded. "His son is sick to death and he shows up here for no reason. That's not like him."

"His son? What son?" I narrowed my eyes at Hunter, my body going stiff with shock. I could hear the truth in his voice and it was ugly.

"Oh fuck me," Hunter cursed. "He has a grown-ass son. He's eleven, I think, and his name is Bradley. How the fuck did he manage to keep something like that from you?"

"I don't know... He has a son?" The disbelief in my voice was evident as betrayal settled its grisly claws around my broken heart.

"I just told you. The boy got knocked over by a car while riding his bike and now he's in a coma. Willem loves that boy, so I didn't expect to see him here with all of that going on." He sighed before continuing, "Such a bomber. You and I would have had a great time together if he wasn't here."

For some reason, I couldn't grasp the information that was coming at me. I blinked back tears and turned away from Hunter. I felt like the world was closing in on me as my chest tightened painfully.

The most important men in my life were all liars and I didn't know how to protect myself from the assault of emotion I felt simmering beneath the surface.

Willem's son was eleven years old and that's exactly how long we'd been married. Whoever he had the baby with was still pregnant or had just given birth to the baby when he and I got married.

"Amelia, are you okay?" Hunter asked. "I didn't mean to drop this on you like this. I can tell you're shaken up. As his wife, I assumed you knew."

I slowly turned to face Hunter again, a forced smile on my face, cheeks hard like marbles. "I'm okay. As I said, we don't have a conventional marriage, never did. There's a lot we don't tell each other."

"I don't understand. Why would you settle for a marriage like that?" He spoke as if he was talking to a rebellious teenager, his voice laced with serious concern.

"Don't worry about me," I said, but at this point, to be honest with myself, I needed to get my mental health checked.

Hunter frowned. "Is he holding you against your will? Did you come here to get away from him? Tell me the truth, otherwise, I won't be able to help you."

"And risk losing your job?" I asked, wiping unwanted tears away as discreetly as possible, but I knew Hunter couldn't be fooled.

"Once I don't lose it because I did something utterly stupid or retarded, I'll be good. And helping you isn't any of those things. It's a good thing. You deserve better."

I nodded and tried to smile again. Why was I even trying to be strong right now?

"Come here," Hunter whispered and I went willingly into his warm embrace. He wrapped his strong arms around my shoulder and waist and I rested my cheek on his chest.

The steady pounding of his heart beating reminded me of what I would never have. A love, so strong that our hearts beat in sync whether we were next to each other or not.

The tears fell in earnest now and I couldn't help the little choking sounds I made as I cried.

"I was going to get a divorce, but then I let him convince me to give us a try. He drives me crazy. One minute I want him and then the next minute I don't."

"The sex that good?" Hunter chuckled, rubbing his hand in circles over my shoulder.

"We haven't had sex."

"Well, shit. What's the story here? I mean, what are you doing in a loveless, sexless marriage? The things I would do to you if you were mine." He glanced down at me and I saw that he was serious.

"What would you do?" I sniffed and wiped the tears running down my cheeks with the back of my hand.

"What happened in the room the other night was just a tease, you know that, right? I love to love and I love being intimate with my woman. And by intimate, I don't even mean sex. The possibilities are endless."

I mulled his words over in my head and they coincided with some of the things I wanted in a man. Too bad they were coming from the wrong man.

Or so I thought. Maybe Hunter was the man of my dreams and I just didn't know it yet.

He kissed my forehead, his lips gliding gently against my skin, and I melted a little inside.

"I should let you go," he said, "before your husband comes out here looking for you. And before I decide to do naughty things to you at the back of my car because the trip to my house would take too long."

"I could use a bit of distraction right now," I muttered.

"Yeah, not the kind of distraction I'm offering." He smiled and slowly let go of me.

"Thank you for being so understanding."

"You'll be okay?"

I nodded. "I think so. I'm stronger than I look."

"I know that. Take care of yourself, and maybe hire an expensive lawyer to get the ball rolling with high speed toward that divorce?"

I laughed, not because it was funny but because it was a truth I found difficult to accept.

I was getting a divorce before I was even married. And yeah, I was still a virgin at twenty-eight, although that was a minor detail.

Behind me, I heard the sound of running shoes and I turned around to look. A woman was running toward us, a light summer shawl wrapped around her shoulders and covering her mouth.

"Is that Xiomara?" I asked.

"Yes, and it looks like she's crying."

Xiomara stopped short when she saw us and then ran in the opposite direction.

"Should I go after her?"

"Yeah, better you than me. She's the new maid and I don't know her that well. Do you think your husband has something to do with the tears?"

I shrugged. "Nothing would surprise me at this point. The two of them seemed pretty cozy."

"I don't know anything about that," Hunter said.

"Fine. I'll go see what's wrong with her." I hugged Hunter one last time and followed Xiomara deeper into the dimly lit backyard.

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