Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem

Chapter 365

Elysia defiantly lifted her chin, her voice strong but betrayed by the unstoppable tears streaming down her face. Some wounds, she realized, weren't so easily numbed by time or distraction.

The presence of her kids had been a salve to her aching heart, but now, facing the very source of her anguish, her emotions spiraled out of control. She was determined not to cry over this anymore, yet she couldn't help herself. Her tears flowed like a breached dam, beyond her control.

Tarquin, his heart aching for her, tentatively reached out to wipe her tears, only to be met with rejection. "I told you, don't touch me!" Elysia snapped, batting his hand away.

Tarquin's hand froze mid-air, his expression one of a bewildered child, unsure of what to do next.

Elysia, in a futile attempt to regain some composure, roughly wiped away her tears and defensively claimed, "I'm crying because you mentioned something from six years ago, reminding me of issues between my husband and me. It has nothing to do with you!"

Tarquin was skeptical. "So, you're saying it wasn't you last night?"

"No, it wasn't!"

Tarquin challenged, opening his robe

pressed

a stranger in. If it wasn't you, then it must have been me or

- it could only have been

"It was me! You tried to take advantage of me when

collar to reveal bruises

life, it's only been you. I would never touch another woman, even in a drunken stupor. My heart responds only to you. I know it

how others, like Nola Slater, had tried to seduce him in his drunken state,

in my arms, and six years ago at the

panicked, denied it vehemently.