Todos os capítulos de My Husband's Stepbrother Is My First Love : Capítulo 21 - Capítulo 30

Aurelia's POVCassian didn't come home until well past ten. I heard the front door, heard his footsteps on the stairs, and for the first time in longer than I could remember, I didn't lie awake waiting to hear whether he'd come to bed or fall asleep in his study instead.I got up before he reached the top of the stairs and went into the bathroom to wash my face, giving myself something to do besides listening for him. By the time I came back out, he was already in bed, his back to my side, his breathing slow and even.I got into bed beside him and closed my eyes. Somehow, something inside me quietly decided to let go.I stopped waiting for him. I stopped counting the hours between his promises and the calls that always seemed to ruin them. I stopped lying awake in the dark, thinking about how many times he had said, “I’m sorry,” compared to how many times his apologies had actually changed anything.It wasn’t dramatic. There was no argument or confrontation.....no one in the house wo

Kael's POVSeraphine had picked the restaurant, a small Italian place near her apartment they'd started going to since she'd relocated to New York with him....already a familiar enough spot, after a few months, that the owner knew their names and brought out the same bottle of wine without either of them asking for it anymore."You're quiet tonight," she said, once the waiter had taken our orders and left us alone. "More than usual.""Long week.""It's always a long week lately." she said lightly. There was no accusation in her voice, just an observation she'd made more than once. "The gala is coming together well, though. Aurelia and Priya seem to have everything under control.""They do." I reached for my water glass, more out of habit than thirst. "She's good at what she does. Better than Cassian gives her credit for.""You've said that before." Seraphine studied me over the rim of her wine glass, something curious in her expression rather than suspicious. "You talk about her more

Aurelia's POVThe event was small by Blackthorne’s standard....a private gathering for a group of investors, held in one of the firm’s function rooms instead of a hotel ballroom. Cassian had asked me to come with him almost as an afterthought, like he usually did. But this time, I actually noticed that he had asked me.Vivienne arrived before us, she was already near the bar, talking to two women I didn't know. Bianca stood beside her in a pale blue dress that looked expensive and seemed specially chosen for tonight."There they are," Vivienne said, waving us over with the particular warmth she reserved for rooms full of people worth impressing. "Cassian, darling, come. Mr. Faulkner's been asking about the acquisition timeline."Cassian went, the way he always did when his mother called, and I found myself standing near the edge of the group, half-listening to a conversation about market projections I had no real stake in."Bianca has been such a big help lately," Vivienne said loudly

Aurelia's POVNeither of us moved for a long moment after he said it. I could hear my own heartbeat, too loud in the dark, competing with the wind still throwing itself against the windows.Then, somewhere in the building, a generator started with a low rumble, the emergency lights came back on, glowing a dim orange and casting half of his face in shadow as he sat across from me."Say something," he said quietly.“I don’t know what to say about six years.” My voice sounded rougher than I intended. “I spent all that time believing I wasn’t worth fighting for. That’s not something I can just let go of because you’ve finally explained why.”"I know.""Do you?" I stood up, needing to move, needing to put a few feet of cold air between us before I said something I couldn't take back. I walked toward the tall windows, watching the snow come down sideways in the parking lot lights. "I waited two years, Kael. Two years of telling Rosa I was fine, telling myself you'd come back any day, checki

Aurelia's POVCassian arrived shortly after seven in the morning. His car slowly made its way up the part of the road that had been cleared of snow only an hour earlier. I watched him through the ballroom window as he stepped out into the ankle-deep snow, he was still wearing the same suit he had apparently slept in, and his face was still tense, as if whatever had been bothering him overnight hadn’t gone away.He didn't say anything when he walked in. He just looked at me, then at Kael, standing several feet apart near the radiator where we'd spent the night, and something in his expression shifted from worry into something harder."You look fine," he said finally, his voice flat."Cassian....""I drove through a blizzard because I thought something had happened to you." He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking at Kael. "And you're standing here looking perfectly comfortable.""We were stranded, Cassian," Kael said evenly. "Same as anyone would have been.""Funny how it's alw