He's My Husband

FOUR

Max had been smiling at her all throughout dinner. The same Max who'd called her a bitch just a few hours earlier. Every time she looked up from her plate, she found his eyes on her. Staring, analyzing, admiring. The same man who had been chocking her earlier was looking at her as if they had been living together all these years like a loving couple. What changed his mind? In the few hours from when they'd argued about Lisandra to dinner, something had happened to change his view of her.

She couldn't put a finger on it but he must have seen or heard something to make him act like that towards her. Lisandra who had insisted on sitting beside him had glowered at him because he didn't give her the attention she wanted. If she wasn't so angry, Emilia would have slapped Max with divorce papers and leave him to his mistress. But she was angry, so very angry that she was willing to fight with that bitch in order to separate them. Not that she needed to use her energy. Max hadn't stopped staring at her since they sat down for dinner. What was wrong with him?

Or maybe he was just acting for Zander's sake. Otherwise why would he behave like someone who still loved her? Emilia didn't have any delusions about her relationship with her husband. Nine years ago she'd left her home knowing that she was leaving her husband alone and vulnerable. She could have stayed and explained everything that had happened. Or she could have come back after Zander was born. But she'd chosen to stay away. For nine good years she had hidden from her husband.

He had no idea that she'd kept tabs on him though. She knew his every move, knew where he was at all times. Which meant she had also known when he'd started sleeping with Lisandra. Granted he'd resisted her for a while but he wasn't strong enough. Eventually he'd given in to her lies and charm and betrayed her. That had felt like a knife straight to the heart. If she hadn't seen it for herself, she wouldn't have believed Max would do that to her. Not the man she married.

But he'd proved her wrong. And as a woman, as a human being, she was prepared to understand he was man who had needs. A young virile man who was sexually active and couldn't control some urges forever. It would have been okay if he'd slipped and fell into bed with Lisandra once. That would have been understandable. But it wasn't the case. Instead he'd moved that witch into the house and even went as far as to give that woman her place.

They slept together in the same room. The one they'd shared after getting married. He came home to her while she had been out there struggling to stay alive. Alone with a newborn baby, Emilia didn't have anyone to turn to. She had to trust strangers who could have hurt her or her baby if they wanted to. Hendrix and Sawyer had nursed her back to life. If it weren't for those two, she wouldn't have been alive today. Fool her once shame on her.

It would take a lot for her to even look at that man and smile genuinely. She refused to accept that he made her beat faster every time he looked her way. She absolutely refused to accept that she still loved him. The love left in her heart was only meant for one person. Zander. He was the only man she would allow herself to love ever again. So Max could bare his teeth at her all night if he wanted to but nothing was going to change. She would get her revenge on everyone even if it was the last thing she did.

The real drama begun when it was time for bed. Emilia had issued Lisandra a warning for her to move out of the master bedroom she had shared with Max. Of course Lisandra hadn't listened. She'd declined dessert and went straight to bed. The same bed she, as the legal wife, was supposed to share with her husband. Emilia had known what the other woman was doing and let her get comfortable first. She would strike after the other woman thought she'd won. When an hour passed, she went up to the room, sure that she'd find Lisandra sleeping peacefully.

Without a second thought, Emilia had grabbed Lisandra's hair and dragged her out of the room. Not being able to do anything but hold her head, Lisandra kicked and yelled, waking up the whole house who'd come running to see what was happening. It had felt amazing to put that witch in her place. Max who had been in the study had come running to see too what was going on. Surprisingly, he'd taken her side, telling his mistress that she should have moved out when she was told to do so. Not wanting to show him how shocked and happy she was that he'd stood by her, she'd gone back to the room and banged the door close, leaving the couple to argue about sleeping arrangements.