Page 112 of My Heart's Doctor
“Whatever you say, doctor,” I said, smiling.
“No.Divonis not my doctor, she’s my mommy,” Aurora said, with a frown and her hands on her hips, making Devon and me burst into laughter.
If Devon wanted to torture me, she had succeeded. That black bikini looked spectacular on her. Her body was fabulous, and you could tell she exercised a lot because her entire body was toned and perfectly shaped. I was a damn lucky bastard. Inoticed men turning to look at her—it was impossible not to—but she didn’t seem to notice. I was invaded by a deep possessive instinct and had to make a great effort not to punch every guy who laid eyes on her. She was mine. I had never been a jealous guy, but with Devon I felt a fierce jealousy.
Devon and Aurora were playing at the shoreline, walking and collecting seashells and colored pebbles, storing them in a little beach bucket. They walked hand in hand and laughed happily. I was sitting on the sand under our umbrella and couldn’t stop watching them, feeling like the happiest man on Earth—what am I saying—in the entire Cosmos.
At one point, I saw a man approach them and greet Devon. It was an innocent kiss on the cheek, although his gaze was anything but innocent, and she seemed uncomfortable. I immediately tensed up. Before approaching, I preferred to observe the scene because I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, and perhaps he was a friend and I was the one behaving like a crazed jealous man. The stranger was a tall guy with a gym-built body and a playboy appearance. He must have been just over 30 years old and was looking at Devon in a strange way, as if he was claiming her, and that made me furious. I stood up immediately. My eyes fixed on her, and she seemed nervous, as if the man’s presence had disturbed her. Something told me I needed to approach, and I didn’t hesitate.
When I reached her side, I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to me. The guy looked at me with a frown, and Devon smiled at me, but I confirmed what I thought—she was tense and nervous.
“Good afternoon,” I greeted.
The guy looked at me with an unfriendly face, and I returned his gaze with even less friendliness.
“William, we were just about to come back to you,” she said, which confirmed to me that the guy wasn’t a welcome presence for her. “This is Lino Coller...”
“Her husband,” he said, interrupting her and leaving me completely stunned.
What? What do you mean her husband? Weren’t they supposed to be divorced? To my relief, Devon immediately clarified.
“Ex-husband, Lino, don’t make mistakes or say things that aren’t true. We’ve been divorced for quite some time now,” she stated, frowning, and at that moment I noticed that the discomfort disappeared from her face with lightning speed and gave way to anger, which made me glad.
“I am her future husband,” I said, looking at him with increasing seriousness and tightening my arm to pull her even closer to my body, “and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t address my woman in those terms.” I looked at Devon with a calmness I didn’t feel and added: “Shall we go, my love?”
“Yes, let’s go because Aurora is hungry,” she said, and under the watchful eye of that wretch, she bent down to pick up Aurora in her arms.
“I want to keep playing, mommy,” Aurora said, looking at Devon.
This Lino guy opened his eyes wide. He looked at Aurora and then at Devon.
“Mommy?” he asked, completely bewildered, though I could also see irritation reflected in his eyes, and that not only concerned me, it made me feel a monumental fury. “How old is that little girl?”
Who did he think he was to pry into our lives? Especially him, who had abandoned Devon because she couldn’t be a mother. Damn bastard! I had to make an even greater effort not to land a good punch on him, and I would have gladly done so if it weren’t for Devon’s look stopping me. She seemed to understand my intentions and with her gaze begged me not to do it.
“Goodbye, Lino. Take care,” she said, looked at me and nodded, letting me know that we should leave without giving any explanation.
I didn’t even bother to say goodbye and took Devon’s hand to get my family away from there, though Coller’s voice stopped me.
“We’ll be seeing each other soon, my queen,” he said, with a mocking tone in those last words.
I turned and confronted him again, though I noticed Devon tugging at my hand to keep walking, but nobody messed with my family or me.
“Coller, I told you to address my woman with respect. She is nothing to you anymore, not your queennor anything else, you lost that right a long time ago. Devon ismy woman,” I stated, emphasizing my woman.
“I don’t think I disrespected her, I simply said that because she was and will always be my queen.”
And he really shouldn’t have said that because in a second I was in front of him, and I didn’t grab him by the neck only because they were watching me.
“I believe I told you that she is nothing to you.” I lowered my voice and added: “And let me tell you that you didn’t treat her like a queen, so don’t come here boasting about what Devonmeans to you and leave her alone because you don’t know who you’re messing with. Devon is my woman, only mine. If you come even within a meter of her, you won’t live to tell about it,” I threatened, looking at him with a deranged expression.
I turned, seeing how his face contorted with fury. I went back to them, took Devon’s hand again and we continued walking toward our beach umbrella.
“What did you say to him?” Devon asked.
“To leave you alone, not to mess with my family.”
“I’m sorry about what happened. I didn’t think he would behave like that,” she said, as she set Aurora down on a towel on the sand.
