Page 101 of The Hotel Room

“I’m going to check on Lily,” she said, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her.

James stayed behind, his hands pressed together, his gaze fixed on the floor.

He didn’t move, didn’t speak, even as the silence of the house swallowed him whole.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

James

The silence wrapped around James like a heavy, suffocating blanket. He sat on the couch in the dimly lit living room, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped tightly together. The clock on the wall ticked, each passing second dragging him deeper into his thoughts.

He deserved Noah’s anger. Hell, he deserved far worse.

The words his son had spat at him earlier—pathetic, irresponsible—echoed in his head, replaying over and over until they twisted into something even sharper.

Coward.

That’s what he really was, wasn’t it? A coward who had destroyed his family for something so meaningless, so ugly.

His hands clenched into fists, a wave of self-loathing crashing over him.

James leaned back, his head resting against the couch cushion as he stared up at the ceiling. The soft hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen was the only sound, punctuated by the occasional creak of the house settling.

He thought about Kate. About the quiet devastation in her eyes tonight when Noah had found out the truth. She had tried so hard to protect the kids, to keep the weight of his betrayal off their shoulders. And he—he’d failed her again, unable to even manage that much.

He thought about Noah. His boy, now almost a man. The son who had looked up to him, who had always sought his approval. And now? Noah had stared at him like he was a stranger. Like he was nothing.

And James couldn’t blame him.

He had ruined everything.

The clock ticked on.

When the front door finally creaked open, James sat up straight, his heart thudding dully in his chest.

Noah stepped inside, his expression unreadable as he closed the door quietly behind him. He stopped when he saw James sitting there, his shoulders tensing.

“You’re still up?” Noah muttered, his voice low.

James nodded. “Yeah. I wanted to make sure you got home safe.”

Noah didn’t respond, his gaze dropping to the floor as he kicked off his shoes.

“Noah,” James said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

Noah looked up, his eyes guarded.

“Can we talk?” James asked.

For a moment, Noah didn’t move. Then, with a heavy sigh, he stepped into the living room, dropping onto the armchair across from James.

The silence stretched between them, thick and uncomfortable.

“I screwed up,” James said finally, his voice quiet but firm. “I know you don’t want to hear excuses, and I’m not going to give you any. What I did to your mom was wrong. It’s the biggest regret of my life.”

Noah’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t interrupt.

“I love your mom,” James continued, his chest aching with the weight of the words. “I’ve loved her since I was your age. And what I did...I don’t even know how to explain how much I hate myself for it. There’s no excuse, and there’s nothing I can do to take it back. But I need you to know that it had nothing to do with her or with you or Lily. It was my failure. My weakness.”

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