bChapter /bb69 /b

    Julian’s POV

    +15 bBONUS /b

    bI /bbsat /bin the driver’s seat of my sedan parked on the street out front of Amber’s house. I shouldn’t be here, I knew, especially right now in the middle of the day. Anyone could happen by and see me here. The tabloids would eat up a story like that.

    Alpha Can’t Let Go Of His Ex.

    I could practically read the headlines already.

    Yet, even knowing the dangers in being here, I couldn’t force myself to leave.

    I was worried about Amber. More than I probably should have been. More than I had any right to be.

    She acted so strongly at the hospital, dealing with Ken and with Elder Jeffers. But in her eyes, I could see the pain haunting her. She guarded it well, but I knew her. I had spent hours in the past staring at her, memorizing every line and contour. Every feature. Even the depths of her eyes

    In the past, I had been enamored with her in ways that even I hadn’t truly understood at the time. I thought it a fleeting fixation. Something I would eventually work through my system and be done with.

    But I never seemed to be done with it. With her. With my own feelings that tied me to her.

    When I thought she had died, I was ruined. The hurt was so strong that I had blocked out all feelingsb, /bnot allowing myself even the smallest semnce of emotion. To allow one in was to allow them all in, and I couldn’t risk that. I couldn’t risk the hurricane of pain that would surely follow

    Now that she was back and I was allowing my feelings to return once more, I continued to sense the danger.

    The worst of the pain might have been gone now, but there was still pain to feel.

    Amber had returned, but she didn’t want me still. She had kept her life a secret from me.

    Just as she had kept her affair a secret.

    Alice wasn’t my child. By the timeline, Amber had to be seeing Alice’s true father at the same time she had been with me.

    Did she ever truly want me? Or, as I suspected back thenb, /bdid she really only want me for the money and lifestyle I could provide to her?

    While the questions do awaken me from my lovesick fantasies, they do not totally divest me of my own fondness for Amber, for her beauty and kindness and strength.

    She had been so strong when handling Elder Jeffers and his family. I had been ready to step in at any moment, yet she proved herself capable.

    And herpassion was unbelievable. Even after Ken said all those terrible things to and about her, she still tried for understanding. She knew he was hurting and she had been willing to bept /bthe weight of his anger at the loss. But who would help Amber carry that weight? She shouldnt have to bear it alone,

    I was pleased to see her friends Anna and Noah were here to help her, but where was Alice’s father? bWhere /bwas Roman?

    Shouldn’t he be here, ready to help, to hold and protect her?

    bMy /bannoyance for him made me grip the steering wheel tightly with both hands. I had to force myself to loosen my grip when the wheel started to creak. Thest thing I needed was to damage my car and be unable to get out of

    hereb. /b

    Amber deserved better from the father of her child. She deserved to have Roman here for her, if he was the one she wanted. They were engaged after all.

    Closing my eyes, I pushed those feelings away. Yet in their absence, I felt a measure of embarrassment.

    What was I even doing here?

    Amber didn’t want me. She never wanted me. And I was just embarrassing myself by being here.

    bI /bstarted the car.

    Amber’s POV

    I maybe had too much to drink. We had switched to water a bit ago, but head still felt like I was sticking it

    underwaterb, /beven though it was upright like the rest of me. At least, I thought I was upright. I was upright, wasn’t

    I?

    No. Yes. I had to be. I was sitting on a chair.

    Noah was passed out, his head resting on his arms on top of the table.

    Anna was looking at her phone while calmly continuing to sip at her wine. She was the only one still drinking. I had no idea how a woman so slight could have such a high tolerance for alcohol. I was a Healer, I had knowledge, and still this made no sense to me.

    “Drink more water,” she said, when she noticed me staring She pushed the ss a little more towards me.

    I looked down at it, and then up to her. “You first,” I said.

    Before she could reply, the doorbell rang.

    I turned toward the living room where the door was. b“/bCome in,” I said.

    Anna rolled her eyes. b“/bI’ll get it.” She started to stand.

    Feeling somewhat belligerent, and a little annoyed that my friend could hold her wine better than I could, I hopped to stand up quicker than her. I nearly fell, off–bnce, but after righting myself, I said, “My house, my rules.”

    She chuckled some and fondly shook her head. “Be careful on the way to the door.”

    She had no cause for concern. I might have been drunk, but was fully capable of –

    I tripped on the carpet, but quickly righted myself before I could fall. Did she see that? I really hoped she didn’t

    see that,

    For the sake of my pride, I kept my gaze forward, walking toward the door.

    The doorbell rang again.

    “Hold your horsesb,/b” I grumbled. I utched the lock and pulled the door open, realizing toote that I hadn’t checked the peep hole to see who was there first.

    If I had, maybe I wouldn’t have opened the door.

    Because Roman was standing on the other side of it.

    ET

    $15 BONUS

    “What are you doing- hup here?” Lasked very eloquently, thank you very much

    At first sight, Roman had brightened seeing me, but when he looked longer at me, likely realizing that I was slightly worse for wear, his mood soured.

    “If you are going to make that face, you can leave,” I told him.

    That sobered him and he tried to calm his expression. “I just want to talk,” he said. Then he sighed. “No, that is inefficient. I want to apologize. I left when you needed me the most. I saw everything on the news. You’ve been through so much, you needed me here, and I left byou /balone

    I shrugged. “You told everyone we were engaged.”

    b“/bI wanted us to be,” he said.

    “Yeah, but I told you no…” I frowned at him.

    He nodded and swallowed, “I understand why you are angry.b” /b

    “I’m not just angry,” I said. “It’s like you don’t know me at all. You really think I would mess around like that…”

    His brow drew together. “Mess around…?”

    “I’m no two–timer, thank you very much,” I said belligerently.

    “Amber…?” he asked, confusion evident.

    So I sought to clear this confusion. “I would never cheat on my husband!”