Page 48 of Hidden Heir, Italian Wife

“You, too. And, Bree—” Kabir caught at her hand as she reached for her handbag.

Jax glared so hard at that proprietary touch, the man’s fingers should have incinerated and fallen to the bench in a pile of ash.

“I just wanted to say…” Kabir cleared his throat and stuffed his hand into the pocket of his overcoat, glancing warily at Jax. “Since I have the chance. I’m sorry. I’ve always felt bad about…” He glanced at Jax again, loathing that he was prostrating himself in front of an audience, but his gaze swiveled back to Bree, filled with a plea for understanding. He searched her gaze. “I know how things were with your father. The way things ended between us—”

“It’s fine,” she cut in with a breezy smile. It was the one that grated on Jax’s nerves because it was so fake. “Don’t give it another thought. Have a good life, Kabir. I mean it.”

They left and didn’t speak until they were in the elevator at the hotel. Then Jax couldn’t keep it in any longer.

“He’s still in love with you.”

“I know.”

***

“What do you mean, youknow?” Waves of animosity were coming off of Jax.

Bree was still recovering from the shock of seeing Kabir in a place that was so out of context from anywhere she would have expected to run into him. It was like getting off on the wrong floor at work and not knowing it until you walked into the wrong office.

“I always knew he loved me. I just didn’t know he would lie to his family about my place in his life and leave me anyway.”

The doors opened to reveal a well-dressed older couple.

Bree smiled tightly at them and moved with Jax to their suite.

“Mom?” Bree called out as they entered. She checked her phone and saw her mother had texted that she and the nanny had taken Sofia to a nearby playground.

She let Jax take her coat and glanced at the bar, wondering if it was too early for a drink. Wondering what it was about running into Kabir that felt so unsettling.

“Have you been texting him?”

“No.You heard our entire conversation. It’s the first one we’ve had since he left our apartment four years ago.”

“But he reached out to your friend since then,” he noted, pouring himself a drink.

“Jessica,” she provided. “She was my roommate first year. She was in the same biochemistry track as Kabir, so they were always trading notes on assignments. She probably contacted him about job prospects.” Bree still saw Jessica sometimes when she came to New York, but she had never mentioned Kabir asking about her.

“If you hadn’t had Sofia by then, do you think he would have tried to get you back?”

“I doubt it. His family life is complicated. That’s why he never told them about me.”

“And you forgave him for that?”

“I do now, yes.” She appreciated Kabir’s apology. She had never allowed herself to look back on their time with fondness, too hurt by the rift at the end, but now she could see how young they’d been. It hadn’t been realistic of her to think they were ready for marriage. She was barely ready for it now.

“He would have taken you back today if I hadn’t been there,” Jax muttered.

“Are you jealous?” she asked with shock.

“He talked to you as if he knew you.”

“He did. We lived together for two years.Before I met you.”

“You’re mooning over him.”

“I’m notmooning. It’s nostalgia for the people we were. We had happy times, Jax. Sorry to break that to you, but that’s why we were together for so long. Because we loved each other. And might I remind you that you wereengaged? You loved someone else, too. At least the people from my past don’t insult our daughter and make you feel small.”

He had the grace to look away.

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