Page 46 of Unfaithful

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" he suddenly roared, making me flinch.

"But I can go back to working at your office, right?" I asked quickly. Sara was on a different floor, anyway. Besides, there's no way I'd let Cole be there with Sara without my supervision. He would run back to her again. Now that I had the baby, I needed to make sure he would always be with me.

Cole was visibly trying to control himself. His fists curled tightly like he was about to punch me.

"You will not work in my office ever again. Not with me, not with Bobby, and certainly not with Sara. You can work anywhere the hell you want, but not in my office."

I frowned at him. "But you can't just fire me like that, right? There are laws against this."

"Watch me, Elsa," he snarled. "I can make you look like the worst employee in the world, and no one would hire you." He leaned down, his face close to mine, looking very pissed. "The only reason I'm here is because of Elena. That's it. I'm here to make sure she's alright, not because of you." He straightened up. "So, stop being so delusional."

He scared the fuck out of me, but I still held a card against him. "Careful, Cole. I still haven't agreed for you to sign the acknowledgment of paternity yet."

He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "I can take you to court over this, Elsa. I can hire the best lawyers in the country to fight for full custody, and you won't stand a chance."

"No judge will grant that," I scoffed. "We're not married, and the court usually favors the mother."

Cole was shaking with fury. I felt the need to brace myself.

"Why are you both yelling at each other?" my mother's voice boomed from behind Cole.

Cole closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself, clearly annoyed with my mother. Or perhaps with me.

"Nothing, Mom," I mumbled, picking at the hem of my gown. "Just a couple quarrels, as usual."

She walked around the bed and stood at the foot of it, looking from Cole to me and then back to Cole.

"Now, young man, you better listen up," she said sternly. "I won't allow you to sign the acknowledgment of paternity. No way." She shook her head. Clearly, she had been listening to our arguments. "You're married. You have a wife." Then she pointed at me. "If you sign it, there's no way my daughter will ever have a chance to marry a good man who will take care of her and her daughter. Until you divorce your wife, you don't get to sign it!"

I grinned. Well, Mom, finally, you said something right.

Now, about that phone again...

CHAPTER TWELVE

COLE

I was furious about everything.

Trapped in this desolate place with her, miles away from anywhere.

And I couldn't leave because of Elena.

Elsa clearly didn't care about her.

Every day, I had to force Elsa to feed her own daughter. She was always reluctant to hold Elena, coming up with excuse after excuse to avoid it. What kind of mother did that?

I even asked Kim if she was willing to go back to the city and live with Elsa. At least Elena would have someone who cared about her.

If only Kim would help, I could probably breathe a little.

Kim refused. Blatantly. She said she would only go if Elsa was married to the baby's father. She was ashamed of having a daughter who had become a married man's mistress. That was why she had only visited Elsa at the hospital a few times. Shame, she said.

But when she came, her attention was solely on her granddaughter. And every time she left, I could see how sad she was. She wanted to be with Elena, but her pride wouldn't let her.

Or perhaps she was holding out, waiting for me to cave and agree to her demands.

Conniving bitch. Both of them.

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