Page 109 of Adrift

Rani sucks in her bottom lip, trying to hide her smile. “How dare you use my adorable nephew to manipulate my decision.”

“I never said I was above it.”

Rani smiles, placing a hand over my cheek while holding the lily Arman gave her in the other. “Well, you did call yourself a dumbass. You’re an oaf and a dumbass.”

I rest my forehead on hers. “Agreed. An oaf and a dumbass. But a handsome dumbass, who loves you more than he knows how to put into words.”

“A handsome dumbass who’s all mine,” she whispers.

“Just yours. Always yours.” I find her lips again, sucking them in between mine, pulling her to me with my hand at her waist. “I missed you.”

She giggles. “Eighteen-hour breakups are the worst.”

“Worse than eighteen-hour stomach bugs. Let’s never do that again,” I murmur.

“No. We were foolish. Let’s never be foolish again.”

I stare at her, taking in her beautiful face and her perfect lips. “Forgive me?”

She hums, pretending to think about it. “Can you think of a good way to earn my forgiveness?”

“I can think of a few good ways . . .” I bring my mouth close to her ear, feeling her shiver in my arms, “but they all involve me being balls-deep inside you.”

She leans back, her cheeks slightly flushed. “How about you take me back home and show me? I’ll make my final decision after that.”

Chapter Forty-One

Darian

“Thanks for meeting with me. I know it was last minute.” I enter Emily’s office, and she ushers me to a chair in front of her desk.

“When I saw your text, I knew we needed to talk.” Emily seats herself, her petite frame looking almost childlike inside her oversized office chair.

I haven’t spoken to her since Sonia’s funeral and on that day, I could barely decipher night from day, so I don’t quite recall if Emily and I even spoke more than a few words. I look around at her neatly kept office at the local university where she teaches, the shelves full of physics books.

“You didn’t seem surprised when I texted you yesterday to tell you about mine and Ryan’s altercation or when I sent you the text Sonia mistakenly sent to her sister.” I clear my throat. “Were you . . . were you aware that Ryan and Sonia . . .?”

She nods, understanding the reason I’ve trailed off. “Was I aware that Ryan and Sonia were having an affair?” She chuckles mirthlessly. “No. Not until after her funeral. I actually found the same text you found on his phone one day, except he’d written back to it.” She sighs. “I’ve had some time to make peace with it, but to be honest, you can never really get over your husband cheating with one of your best friends.”

I run a hand over my scruff. “I’m guessing it was the reason you divorced him.”

She smiles tightly. “I was distraught over Sonia’s death–she was so young and healthy. She had so many dreams of raising Arman. It wrecked me when I found out I’d never see her again. But something about the way Ryan was agonizing over her death–not eating, not sleeping, crying–for weeks set off an alarm bell inside me. I’d never really had a reason to not trust Ryan before. I mean, he was always flirty with women, but I never thought he’d cheat on me.”

Emily plays with a pen on her desk. “So, I searched his phone one night and found the text exchanges between them.” She shakes her head, her straight brown hair brushing her shoulders. “I couldn’t believe it. Apparently, it had been going on for over a year. I couldn’t be with him after that.” She scrutinizes me over her table. “I didn’t want to tell you, Darian. I’m sorry if you thought it was wrong of me not to, but you’d just lost Sonia and had a newborn you were taking care of. I just . . . I didn’t have the heart to tell you.”

My jaw tightens. “Do you mind me asking what their texts said? I’m just trying to put the pieces together, and I never found anything more on Sonia’s phone when I tried going into it recently.”

“Ryan told Sonia he didn’t want to tell me yet. I was mourning the loss of my father, and Ryan replied to that text from Sonia saying he needed more time and that he would appreciate it if she held off until after the baby was born. She wrote him back, saying she’d give him until Arman was born and that at that time, they’d tell us together. Apparently, they were in love.”

The pit in my stomach deepens, and I take in a couple of deep breaths to keep myself from feeling nauseous again. How could I have been oblivious to all of this? How could I not have known my wife was having an affair . . . and sleeping with me as well? How fucking clueless was I?

“Darian, I’m so sorry.” Emily regards me warmly. “I’m sorry you had to find out that way and for what it’s worth, I’m glad you punched him. I wish I’d done it myself.”

I sit back on the chair and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I guess I don’t understand what he gets out of it now. I’m Arman’s legal guardian. I signed his birth certificate, I’m the one he’s been staying with. I did a lot of research over the past couple of days and even called up a friend of my dad’s who’s in family law. Even if Ryan was Arman’s biological father, he would have to petition in court to try to get custody, but the chances of him winning are low.”

“Ryan never wanted kids, Darian. Believe me, I know because it was something we argued over. He never wanted to be a dad because he felt like he’d be a lot like his own dad, who was never there. I frankly think he didn’t want the responsibility of having children, either.” She scoots up, placing her elbows on the table. “I don’t think you have to worry about him petitioning for custody.”

“So then why tell me? What did he get out of that?”

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