Page 218 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

Dante grabbed my arm, not hard enough to cause any pain but making sure I got no further than his side. “Stop being a coward.” he ground out. “Stop being selfish. I’m tired of it. Yeah, you’re right. I’ve got daddy issues. My father didn’t stick around. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about me. I was nothing to him, worthless. He didn’t care about me, or my mother. He left before she came home from the hospital. Did you know that? My grandmother said he left her a fucking note, stuck to the fridge. It said:‘I can’t’. Yeah. That’s the type of man who fathered me. If I ever have kids, I would be there for them,” His voice cracked a little. “I would fucking be there, every single day, because growing up without a father sucks. I used to think something was wrong with me. Why else would he leave?”

I didn’t know what to say. I knew the pain of growing up without my parents, but I also knew I was loved by them, wanted. They hadn’t left by choice, they were physically taken from me through death. And no matter what my life was like with my aunt, uncle and cousins; they had taken me in. They had wanted me enough to take me in.

Dante’s father had left him and never looked back. No calls, no visits, no cards, no child support. He had simply discarded Danteand his mother and disappeared. The cold-hearted son of a bastard.

“No matter what happened between you and Matt, he’s not the sort of man my father was.” Dante’s gruff words were filled with belief. “Don’t make the three of them suffer because he made a mistake and hurt you. Don’t let your pride get in the way.”

“He broke my heart.” It was all I could say, it was the truth. It was my truth. I pulled free from Dante’s grip and wandered a few steps away.

Matthew Bradley had broken my heart and the pieces would never fit together again. He had done so without any regard for me and the effect it would have on my life. He hadn’t loved me enough to trust me, and Dante was right. My pride, my self-serving, spiteful, ha-proved-you-wrong pride had been shattered. I had been vindicated and a part of me did want my ex-husband to suffer. I wanted him to hurt the way I had been hurt. Matthew Bradley always got his way, and I hated it. Why, after everything he put me through, why should he get to share in my joy? Why should he get the chance to be a father tomykids? He had thrown our marriage away! Damn it. I loved him but I despised him too.

“You don’t understand,” I raged. “I’m tired of other people influencing my life. This ismy choice, my life.”

Dante closed the distance between us and gripped my chin with his hand, forcing me to meet his unrelenting gaze. “Yeah, you’re right. This is life not a damned story! Stop being selfish and think about what’s right for your kids.”

I jerked my head away, stung by the harshness of his words. “You said you had my back.”

“I do,” Dante’s low reply was full of pain. “God, I don’t want us to mess this up, Madi. I don’t want them ending up fucked like we are.”

A loud knock sounded on the office door, then Gloria’s voice penetrated the barrier. “Is everything ok in there? Madi?”

“We’re fine.” Dante shouted back.

“Madi?” Gloria called again.

“We’re fine.” I shouted in assurance before glaring at Dante and lowering my voice to a vicious whisper. “You want me to tell him? Hmm? Is that what you want? Is that whatyouthink is best?”

“I don’t want you to be a coward.” Dante said quietly. “I don’t want you having regrets and I definitely don’t want to be a part of fucking up their lives.”

“Oh, so I’m fucking up their lives now, am I?” I shot back in anger. The skin on my face felt hot. Hell, my whole body felt hot.

“Maybe,” Dante shrugged.

“I’m fucking up their lives.” I repeated, stalking over to the desk. I grabbed up my cell, scowling at my best friend. “You want me to tell him?” Turning it on then quickly unlocking the screen, I dialled Matt’s number as Dante regarded me with an unspoken challenge shining from his eyes. “You and me,” I exhaled as the phone rang in my ear. “You and me, we’re done. You’re the bloody coward. You said you had my back. You’re a liar-” My words broke off when Matt answered the call. “I’m 25 weeks pregnant,” I said into the silence after his hello. “With twins. They’re yours.”

Everything seemed to stop the moment I uttered those words. I could see Dante’s shoulders relax, could see the relief on his face. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears, feel the air trapped in my lungs.

I definitely heard Matt’s sharp intake of breath before he said, “We need to talk.”

Yeah, those four words never led to anything good.

“Would you have ever told me?” Matt kept his eyes on her. “How could you keep this from me? How could you lie to me?” He lowered his gaze to the ultrasound picture he held before returning it to her face. “I can’t believe you would stoop this low. Not only am I disappointed in you, I am appalled and- ”

“Well, you know now.” she interrupted from across the room.

“Am I supposed to be grateful?” Matt asked, incredulous over her demeanour. He shot Dante a crazed look. “You fucking bastard-”

“Hey,” Madison unfolded her arms. “Don’t even start that crap. Theonlyreason I told you is because ofhim.” She glared at Dante, who stood in the opposite corner of her living room.

Matt could sense the seething undercurrents between them, and it perplexed him. Madison and Dante were as close as two people could be, but even he could plainly see the rift between them.

“Youlied.” He took a step in her direction, barely able to contain the rage he felt, wanting nothing more than to shake some sense into her and wipe that look off her face. “For months, mind you. You’vebeen lying to me for months. How could you do that? Why would you-”

“Why?” she cut him off, eyes narrowed into brown slits of fury as she folded her arms once more over her stomach, blatantly protective.

Matt’s gaze lingered on her round stomach, it was much more visible with her clutching herself, and he was swamped with a mixture of overwhelming emotions. Right now he could only focus on his growing anger at her deception.

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