Fidelity (Infidelity #5)

I shook my head. “I can’t remember. I recall trying to cut back on wine. I even stopped drinking the white during the day. I wouldn’t even have a glass until…” I recalled Alton’s newfound attention in the evening, spending time in our suite before dinner. “…oh my God.”

He again caressed my cheek. “Do you see why I needed to save you?”

“But how? How would you know?”

“It’s a long story. Let’s just say it involves many more people.”

“Who?” I asked. “Who was the Montague staff member?” I’d lived my entire life at Montague. I knew from experience that the staff was sycophantic to Alton’s every wish, but this was different. Who would assist in poisoning me?

“A Brantley Peterson.”

Tears again formed. “Brantley purchased drugs?”

“That’s what the connection said.”

“That’s what you meant about his trying to kill me? Alton drugged me?”

Oren sat back. “Is there more?”

I shook my head. “Everything has been fuzzy for weeks. I don’t remember.” I looked up to his caring blue eyes, swirling with questions. “Do you believe what you just said? Do you believe that I wasn’t drinking as much, that even though the tests say otherwise, this wasn’t my doing?”

“With all my heart.”

I took as deep of a breath as I could. Pushing past the pain, I let his answer sink in.

He believed me.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Because I had the opportunity to help you and you didn’t tell me no.”

The tips of my lips moved upward. “I couldn’t tell you anything in the state I was in.” I squeezed his hand. “Though we spoke often.”

His blue eyes silently questioned me, perhaps my sanity.

“Reality has been bad,” I began. “I don’t even remember that much of it. But when I’d fall asleep, I’d go back to the one time in my life when I was happy.” I lifted his hand again to my face, relishing the warmth against my cheek. “I went back to you.”

Oren leaned forward. “I want to kiss you.”

“Kiss me?”

“Last chance, Adelaide. Say no, or it’s going to happen and once it does, I’m never letting you go again.”

I swallowed. “I-I remember something—my father’s will. I’d finally learned something that I’d never been meant to know.”

“Yes, the codicil.”

I leaned back. “How do you know this?”

“Because I do. Now you can leave him. Even without it, I wanted you to leave him. Now you can walk away and the future isn’t up to him; it’s up to you.”

“Me?”

“Amore mio, the kiss?”

My eyes opened wide. “Oh! Oren, I want that kiss, but first I need to reach Alexandria.”

“She’s sleeping.”

I couldn’t comprehend. Looking to the sunshine, I asked, “Sleeping? Where are we?”

“We’re in New York and so is she. Last night was long. She’s sleeping down the hall.”

“Wait? She’s here in your home?”

He leaned toward me. “Adelaide, I’ve only ever professed my love to two women. I’m not a man who can walk away. I have you here and I can’t wait any longer. Tell me no or I’m going to kiss you.”

My memory went back to a seedy motel outside of Savannah and I smiled. “Kiss me?”

“Yes,” he said with a grin. “I’ve spent the last months—no, amore mio, the last years—remembering your taste and the feel of your lips against mine. You’re so close. I’m losing control. I need to know if my memory is close to reality. Say no.”

I lifted my lips near his. “Never have I wanted to say yes more.”

As our lips touched, Oren’s presence gave me hope for the future. I didn’t know what would happen with Alton, but I knew in my soul that without Oren’s intervention, I wouldn’t be clearheaded, my heart wouldn’t be full, and the man I’d loved more than any other wouldn’t be holding me in his arms.





THE LAST FEW weeks created a drowning sense of exhaustion. Being with Nox, in his arms, was the haven I desired most. Totally spent, I expected to sleep for hours. I expected rest and rejuvenation. That wasn’t what either of us found. From the moment we finally closed our eyes, our rest was anything but peaceful.

Over and over dreams interrupted the serenity of Nox’s embrace. I’d wake, my body tossing and turning. Screams that were supposed to be hidden by the cloak of sleep became audible, echoing throughout the bedroom and waking us both. Perhaps it was the sense of security I had while with Nox. My mind told me that feeling safe shouldn’t bring out my fears, but it did. Each time my eyes closed, the floodgate opened, washing me away.

While in Savannah, I’d kept my personal concerns suppressed, concentrating on my momma and her health. Selfishly, lying in Nox’s arms, my night terrors weren’t about my mother. She was safe, as safe as she could be. The nurse promised that she was through the worst. After all, what could be worse than death?

Each time my eyes closed, the scenes were personal—much more personal.

Though Alton and Suzanna weren’t without blame, costarring as villains in my dreams—or were they nightmares?—their physical slaps were but blips on the radar compared to the fear evoked by Bryce. On Friday night at Montague Manor, he’d morphed before my eyes and now he was doing it again, this time in my sleep.