Unhinge - Calia Read Page 0,92

a boy or girl, but she predicted girl.

“Well?” he prodded.

I sat up and closed my baby book. “I like Peter.”

“Peter?”

I nodded. “Please don’t shout out the name.”

“We’ve had enough name shouting for tonight. I’ll wait for another time.”

“Good.” I traced the letters on the front cover. “So…do you like Peter?”

Sinclair was quiet for a moment. “I do. It fits.” He reached out and wrapped a hand around my arm and yanked me to him. He nipped at my finger, making me jump slightly. “I love you. Your name is written on my heart, you know that?” he said into my hair.

“Yeah?”

He nodded.

I reached out and traced a V against his chest. He stayed perfectly still. His hands braced against my head. I slowly wrote my name out. I crossed the t and dotted every i with precision.

I could see my name. It was perfect and it had never looked better. I leaned in and sealed it with a kiss. His eyes became half-masked.

“Sometimes you scare me,” he said.

“Why’s that?”

“Too much power. You’re a dangerous woman.”

“There’s nothing dangerous about me.”

“Of course there is. You made me fall deeply in love with you. All the power is yours.”

“I love you,” I whispered.

And I meant it. Every single word.

I kissed him. Not sweetly, but deep. It was so intense that I could feel a piece of myself being given to him. Millions of heartbeats in this world and I knew someone could hear mine. I knew that I was heard.

I had finally found a love that involved no pain and there was nothing in the world that would take this from me.

I settled back against him, my head against his chest so I could hear the steady beat of his heart. In these quiet times came peace, but sometimes I felt a fear. Fear that we came together at the most unexpected time. For all we knew we could be cursed from the beginning and never even know it.

I didn’t want to imagine a life without Sinclair.

“Do you think we’ll survive this?” I asked.

“Of course we will.” He rubbed my arm. “Never, ever question us.”

How could I explain to Sinclair that it wasn’t him I feared? It was what Wes was capable of.

Minutes later Sinclair turned off the TV and the lights. We settled in for the night. I was close to falling asleep when Sinclair whispered into my ear, “If you ever worry about us you just have to press your palm to your chest and feel your heartbeat. For as long as you still have a beating heart, you have my love.”

I laid my palm against my heart. He placed his hand over mine.

“Heartbeat?” he asked.

“Heartbeat,” I whispered back.

March 2015

“I feel like an elephant compared to these ladies,” I muttered to my mother.

We were attending the Ladies Luncheon of Falls Church. It was an annual brunch that took place at a nearby country club. These “luncheons” were all under the guise of raising money for numerous charities, but it was really just the richest women in Falls Church getting together to gossip.

Even so, I went for one reason: my mother. I had attended the event with her almost every year since I was sixteen. I would sit next to her as everyone sipped their champagne and drink my water. Every so often a friend of my mother would compliment me while my mother sat there beaming.

But this year it was different. Walking toward our table, I saw how the eyes locked on my stomach, drifted up to my face and then back down. Quickly the ladies would look away and talk to the person next to them.

I was branded as this terrible wife to a wonderful husband. I was a whore. In their eyes I was a modern-day Hester Prynne. Give these ladies a few minutes and I was sure they’d try to slap a scarlet A on my dress.

“I shouldn’t be here,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

My mother kept her head held high and smiled to this woman and that. “You’re staying. Let them talk.”

We were escorted to our table. It was beautifully decorated with a pale pink tablecloth. A stunning bouquet of flowers in a glass vase was in the middle. The crystal champagne glasses sparkled. And on top of every plate was a place card. When I found my name card, I grabbed the edges of my seat and sank into the chair with a deep sigh. I rubbed a hand over my baby