All Chapters of The Wife He Never Married: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

JUNEThe line went dead, I handed the phone back and sat there in the too-bright room trying not to fall apart.He got there in twenty-six minutes and I know because I watched the second hand on the wall clock crawl through every one of them.When the door finally opened, Dante walked in first.He was wearing black, of course—black shirt, black slacks, black expression. His face looked carved from something cold and unforgiving. The lawyer beside him was older, silver-haired, carrying a briefcase and the kind of confidence that came from charging obscene amounts of money to make problems disappear.I stood so fast my chair scraped the floor. Dante crossed the room in three strides and pulled me into him before I could say a word.His hand cupped the back of my head while the other wrapped around my waist so tightly I felt it in my ribs.“You okay?”I nodded against his chest.He leaned back enough to look at my face, eyes moving over me like he was checking for bruises, handprints, da

JUNEWhen we finally pulled apart, he smiled against my forehead. “So…” My stomach growled, I looked down then back at him. He raised an eyebrow. “The burger place again?”I laughed through my tears then I nodded. “Yes, please.”“Coming right up baby. I think my confession made me hungry.”I rolled my eyes. “You really know how to ruin a moment.”“I thought I improved it.”“You definitely ruined it.”He grinned. “I’ll survive.”The restaurant was almost empty when we got there so we ordered far more food than two people needed.I watched him while we waited and it was only then that I noticed the shadows beneath his eyes, the tightness around his mouth and the exhaustion he hadn’t bothered hiding anymore.He looked tired and worn down, not sleepy. He’s dealing with his own things and now I’ve added mine to it. He caught me staring. “Why are you looking at me like that? Want to kiss me or something?”“I’m studying you.”“I feel judged.”“You should.”He chuckled.Our food arrived at t

RICK“For fucks fucking sake, can you shut up!?” My voice exploded through the house before I even realized I’d raised it.Diane recoiled as though I had hit her. Good. Maybe that would finally stop the constant sniffling that had echoed through this house for days. All she ever did was cry like a damn faucet. Utterly and completely useless to me.June wouldn't. The kitchen smelled faintly of burnt coffee and antiseptic cream. Dirty dishes crowded the sink, untouched since the night before, and the curtains remained drawn even though the afternoon sun pressed insistently against the windows.Fuck, everything about this place felt suffocating. Ever since the arrests, she had cried over everything. Our child, the future, money, the surgery. Every conversation somehow ended with tears, and I was sick of hearing them.I'd paced around the house for a while, rapidly losing my shit as the seconds flew by.Diane stood near the kitchen counter, one hand resting on her cheek, wiping the tears

DANTE“What now?” The words left my mouth before Enzo had even finished walking into my office.He stopped in front of my desk, one hand still resting on the doorknob as though he’d considered turning around and pretending this conversation never needed to happen.It wasn’t like him, Enzo dealt with pressure better than most people so if he looked this uneasy, whatever waited outside these walls wasn’t small.“The board called an emergency meeting.”I leaned back in my chair and stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city buzzed beneath the afternoon sun, oblivious to the storm that seemed determined to follow me wherever I went.“Why?”His jaw tightened. “They received an anonymous tip.” I already hated where this was going. “They’re saying the newly produced infusion pumps were found defective.”Silence settled over the office. That wasn't even remotely possible, unless…Then he added quietly, “the units already delivered to hospitals have malfunctioned. Causing the deaths of

JUNE“I’ve got it under control.” My father’s voice was calm and steady, the complete opposite of the storm brewing inside my chest.He reached into the leather folder resting on his lap and slid a plastic card toward me and the moment I saw my name printed beneath the Medical Board’s seal, the knot in my stomach loosened.“My license…”He smiled faintly. “The renewed one.”I picked it up with trembling fingers, the smooth plastic feeling strangely reassuring against my skin.“I thought…” I swallowed. “I thought they said it’d take weeks.”“They did,” he confirmed, adjusting his glasses. “They issued you a temporary permit while processing the renewal.”“I know.”I remembered the day vividly, walking into the licensing office only two days after returning home, submitting every required document and being told the official card would be mailed later.I had tucked the temporary permit into my wallet and never gave it another thought. Why would I? It had never been a problem when I was