Page 97 of Unfaithful

"I don't know yet," she admitted. "But whatever it is, I hope it's a good thing foryou."

I held in a sigh, realizing that, to her, whatever was happening with me no longer had anything to do with her.

"You're still wearing your wedding ring," she said, her eyes dropping to my fingers.

Meanwhile, my gaze fell to hers—bare, absent of the ring that once symbolized us.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I never took it off." Not even when I betrayed her. Not even then.

But I knew that it didn't mean a thing. I still betrayed her.

"Are you happy now, Sara?" I asked carefully, cautiously.

She was quiet for a moment before finally answering.

"I'm halfway there."

I was about to ask her what she needed from me—because I would do anything, anything for her—when someone suddenly stepped in front of us.

Sara and I both looked up to find a tall woman with dark hair and brown eyes smiling at us.

"Hi," she said. "Sorry to interrupt. I was actually on my way to see you, but when I walked by and recognized your face, I thought I'd approach you here."

She held out her hand to Sara.

"I'm Nicole De Luca. I need to talk to you, if you have a moment."

I tensed.

Sara did too. And at that moment, I knew she recognized the name.

Nicole.

She was the only woman Archie had ever been in an actual relationship with, the mysterious one he never introduced to any of us. Archie was so secretive about her, I only learned her name from Julian. I hadn't realized Sara knew about her too.

"Yes, okay." Sara shook her hand before turning to me. "Cole, if you don't mind?"

"Oh, sure." I stood, my gaze lingering on the woman. What did she want with Sara? As far as I know, Archie had broken up with her years ago. So why was she here now?

I gave Nicole a curt nod before stepping away, though I had no intention of going far. I planned to monitor her from a distance.

But then my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a message from Leo.

"Elsa took Elena and fled. She was supposed to be in court today."

My chest tightened as I reread the words. Once. Twice.

I needed to decide whether to leave now or stay and see what Nicole was going to do.

My phone was in my hand as I stared at it, thinking. Then, I began typing a message to Leo.

"Can you try to find her?"

His reply came almost instantly.

"Of course. I'll find her."

There was a pause. The typing bubbles appeared, dancing on the screen.

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