She quickly threw on her robe as her husband pounded on the bathroom door. She stood there, frozen to the spot, a small shiver of fear shuddering through her. “Mia! Please come out!”
When she didn’t do as he said, he called out again. “Please!” he begged, agony in his voice.
Making her way to the double doors that led into the sitting area of their master suite, her hand hovered over the lock. She wanted to run. She didn’t want to face this. Yet she knew she needed to find out what was going on with Ethan, find out if what she thought was actually true.
She turned the lock but didn’t open the doors yet. With a deep breath, she opened the doors and found a miserable looking Ethan waiting for her. He strode to her and without asking, undid her robe. Another time, this would be really hot, but now all she wanted to do was hide from his eyes.
His breath caught at the sight of the chest bruises. He pushed the robe the rest of the way off so she stood naked before him. Holding out his hand, he hovered above her bruised arm and then letting it fall to her hip. He fell to his knees, hugging her to him, his face against her stomach, and cried.
“I’m so sorry, Mia.”
She could count on one hand how many times she had seen her husband cry, and each of those times had been a momentous event—getting back together after three years apart and the birth of their sons.
Needing to see his golden eyes, she lifted his head. He resisted for a moment before acquiescing and showing her the pain he held in his eyes.
“Ethan, what’s going on? Talk to me. Make me understand. Please!”
When he didn’t answer, she decided to throw it all out there. She had to see how he’d respond. “What’s going on with Kristen?”
His eyes shot open wide before he quickly shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Ethan …”
Stop lying to me.
“Nothing is going on,” he insisted again but his eyes fell from hers and she knew.
“Explain earlier to me. What was that? Was she on your mind, because you certainly weren’t making love to me? I don’t mind passion, but that wasn’t it. It was like you wanted to hurt me.”
His arms dropped from her waist and he pushed himself to his full height, towering over her. “I wanted Kristen out of my mind.”
“What happened, Ethan?” she asked, her voice quivering with fear. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, staring off at the floor in front of her.
“While you were in Europe, Kristen called me to do an interview. I didn’t see the big deal. I always knew I would be interviewed by her at some point in the future,” he paused, deep in his own thoughts for a few moments before he continued. “Anyway, fast forward to the day of the interview. She kissed me and I didn’t stop it.”
The shock of his words held her immobile. Okay, so she kissed him. Mia could understand why Kristen would do that. But …
“Why didn’t you stop it, Ethan?”
“Because I’m a fool and the entire time you were gone, I kept picturing you and Todd together. It made sense, explained so much about you … I mean, your chemistry together is insane.”
“We all have chemistry!” she shouted. “That’s why we’re a band!”
“Yeah, but with Todd it’s different. It’s sexual.”
So he was throwing that back in her face?
“The sexual is gone. It’s been gone. I’ve had so many opportunities to have sex with him, Ethan, but I haven’t. I’ve known for a long time what I wanted and that was you. It still is you. It will always be you. Even though I’m so fucking mad at you right now,” she paused and gathered the courage to continue. “So, you kissed her?”
“Yes,” he responded, his eyes still not meeting hers.
“That’s all?”
With his silence, she knew that things were not good. Oh, God, she felt like her whole world was crumbling down around her. “Ethan, please. You’re breaking my heart. Did you sleep with her?”
He looked up and held her eyes and spoke the one word she dreaded to hear. “Yes.”
The one word that blew her world to shreds. Her husband—the love of her life—slept with another woman. He sought comfort from someone other than her. Again, she wasn’t enough for him. Again he chose Kristen—and that made her angry. How could this happen?