Page 156 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

Four hours later Matt was halfway through a bottle of whiskey and in the grips of a mental battle. Vacillating between fearsome rage and mind-numbing anguish, he paced the confines of his home like a wounded beast; bottle in hand as he awaited the arrival of his wife. George had long since made himself scarce. Matt’s terse command for him to pack a bag for Madi had been met with silent questions, none which George would ever dare ask. Glancing at his watch, Matt finally settled in his home office, morosely staring at the printed and wholly vile evidence of his beautiful wife’s infidelity.

Why had she cheated on him? How could she do this? Knowing full well the one thing he would not tolerate was a betrayal as such. Was it a drunken one-off? Was he to blame? Had he not paid sufficientattention to her needs? What bloody reason could there be to drive her into another man’s arms? Matt closed the folder which held the pictures, hurting in a way he never thought possible as he desperately tried to make sense of it all. Perhaps she had grown tired of him. There was the ten year age gap between them to consider. When he was Madi’s age, sex with a variety of partners had played a major role in his life. Had he smothered her? Or did she regret not experiencing all the things someone her age did? And he travelled so much with work, leaving her alone, sometimes weeks at a time. Good God! Had he neglected her to the stage where she sought comfort elsewhere? It had to be a disgusting drunken one-off. That was the only explanation. Or was it? Had she been carrying on behind his back for months? He had been so cold towards her recently. Could that be why-

“Fucking bollocks.” He scowled at the folder, the rage he felt obliterated his laughable attempts to excuse her infidelity. She had cheated on him. That was unforgiveable.

Matt set the bottle aside, wanting to drown his sorrows but knowing a clear head was needed as he picked up the phone and called his solicitor. When his unfaithful wife came home he would ask his questions. Madi obviously didn’t believe him when he’d warned her how much of a bastard he could be. Well, she would learn.

I skipped through the front door, buzzing off the extremely productive day I’d spent in my studio. Tossing my keys on the table in the foyer, I toed my sneakers off and let my bag slip to the floor.

“Hon?” I called out as I shrugged my blazer off and hung it up. Matt’s car was out front and I hoped he hadn’t been home long. The lights in the foyer were dimmed but I could see the bright glow coming from the front sitting room. Grinning, I quickened my steps, eager to see my knight and tell him about my day. The grin widened as I entered the room and my gaze rested on Matt.

“Hello,” I travelled the length of the room in record time to where he stood by the unlit fireplace. On tiptoes I went in for some much needed lip loving, which lacked our usual fervour. And there was a light trace of whiskey on his mouth. Hmm.

“How was your day?” I asked quickly. If he had a bad day at theoffice I would dial down my exuberance.

Matt’s grey eyes observed me intently before he answered. “Interesting, quite enlightening actually.”

“Nothing is more honourable than enlightenment, nothing is more beautiful than virtue.” The Mingjiao quote fell from my lips with ease. I was certain Matt would be impressed by my internal Zen-iness. Was Zen-iness a word? Zen-ness sounded better, yeah, Zen-ness was my new go-to word.

Instead of him giving me his usual pleased smirk whenever I blurted out some knowledgeable saying, he tilted his head to the side and maintained that clinical stare on me.

“Mmm,” he murmured after a few seconds. “Quite an apt saying, considering my day.”

I regarded him silently, unsure of his overall demeanour, then pushed it aside. Practically vibrating with excitement I said, “Ask me how my day was, Matt.”

My very handsome husband remained impassive as he asked me how my day went. Again I gave him an uncertain look, perhaps his day at the office hadn’t been good after all. Damned economy and falling oil prices!

“We got the mock up posters for the production.” I gushed, sticking my hands into the pockets of my khaki shorts, while rocking on my heels and feeling very pleased with myself. Things were happening. Within a few weeks there would be posters across London with me and my people emblazoned over it. When Matt didn’t display the expected level of excitement, my buzz took a slight dip. I gave him some more good news.

“AndDante and I have started the choreography for the end of year production.” I started tugging my hair loose from the tight ponytail it had been in all day. “It’s going to be great, I mean, it’s a tough balancing act right now, but once we’ve finished our show at the Royal Ballet we can really focus on it,” I flashed him a Colgate smile. “Who knows? Maybe they will like this production too.”

Matt had yet to crack a smile at me and the way he kept staring at me caused a sliver of anxiousness to tremble within my stomach. Crap. Had he seen the vase? In a pre-emptive move to extricate myself from his ill grace and any allocation of blame, I reached for his arm.

“Is everything ok? You seem,” I shrugged. “Is somethingbothering you?”

Matt stepped back, away from my touch. “You tell me, Madison.”

Crappity crap. Full first name. Yep, he’d seen the vase.

“I swear it wasn’t me, hon,” I explained earnestly. “I found it with the chip and when I pointed it out to George, he had no idea how the vase got that way. Maybe it was the cleaning staff. That woman is more of a klutz than I am.”

Matt didn’t reply.

“Is it expensive? The contents insurance will cover any damage, right? Why are you staring at me like that, Matt?”

Matt moved further away but kept his unnerving gaze on me. “Am I a good husband, Madison?”

Whoa. Where did that come from?

“Um, yes,” I replied, blinking faster than usual. “The best.”

His mouth pulled into a tight line as he nodded slowly. “Have I not given you everything you could ever want?”

Okay.I didn’t know the direction where this conversation was heading and my uneasiness increased. Chewing my lower lip, I thought about my reply before giving it. “I don’t ask for things, but I guess the answer is yes. What’s wrong?”

He nodded once more, as if silently confirming his own thoughts. “You love me.”

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