An Echo in the Mafia (Echo Reid, Reid Family Book #1)

Part 67

He was disgusted with himself.

Echo tried to face him, she really did. Often times she would open the room door and take a few steps down the hall as she heard him coming into the foyer, but she always ran back. She was too much of a coward. She wasn't sure what she would feel. Would she be angry and proceed to through anything she could get her hands on? Would she burst into tears and recriminations? No, she was safer hiding in that room. She had so much to think about, so much to sort out and until she knew what she felt or what she was going to do, she needed to ride this out with as much dignity and grace as possible. At this point, her dignity was pretty much all she had left and she'd already bent too many times for him.

The problem was she didn't want to leave him. She couldn't even contemplate it. That bag she packed on the first night was supposed to be for her to go to a hotel but the moment she stepped out of the their room, she realized she couldn't do it. She loved him too much and she believed him when he said he didn't mean to hurt her.

She believed firmly that if he didn't think that she had cheated, he wouldn't have gone and cheated on her. She believed that if he hadn't gotten that drunk, he wouldn't have gone home with that bitch. Echo chided herself. As angry and hurt as she was, this was not the moment to hate a woman she hardly knew. Luke was a grown man and it took more than one person to do what they did.

Now she stood outside their room, telling herself it was okay, she could go in, he would not be home right now. She walked in, noting immediately the state of disarray. The comforter had been dragged off the bed and was now laying half on the floor and half on the small sofa at the end of the room.

Luke's shoes were tossed about carelessly, and when she walked into the closet, it was to find that he hadn't done a thing to sort out the mess she'd made. She wondered why the housekeeper hadn't done anything about this, then she remembered one of them saying that he'd asked them to stay out.

Echo sighed, shaking her head and moving towards her dresser. She just needed to get a few things and get out. She turned to the bench, remembering what Luke told her. Again, there was the ache in her chest. She felt for him, she felt his pain. But now he'd hurt her, and although love was supposed to be forgiving, forgetting was too hard.

She grabbed her things quickly, needing to leave the room before she started crying again. She had spent so much time crying lately that her head was constantly pounding.

"Oh." She let out a small sound as she stepped back into the bedroom from beyond the closet. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of Luke, sitting on the sofa, his face in his hands. He looked up, his eyes looking her over slowly as she stared at him in surprise.

"Echo." He said softly without getting up.

"I'm sorry." She said, looking around nervously. "I just came to grab a few things."

He nodded.

"You're home early." She said, wondering why she hadn't left the room, wondering what she was still doing there.

"I couldn't focus." He said, looking back down. Echo walked closer to him, again wondering why, but also unable to stop herself.

"Everything okay?" She asked, standing in front of him. A part of her wanted to reach out to him... and hit him as hard as she could.

Another, less dominant part wanted to sit by him and try to soothe him.

"I don't know." He said, "It will be, I'm sure of it. I'm just... tired."

She looked him over, he certainly looked tired. She wondered now as she noticed the comforter on the opposite end of the sofa if he'd been sleeping here instead of the bed. That didn't make any sense.