Broken Claim (The Ruined Vows #3)

Chapter 1

My stomach growled loudly, my mouth watering. I laughed, amused. My little cub wasn’t even born yet, but he already knew how to impose his will.

I didn’t argue, heading for the kitchen…

… I stopped dead, the impact of the sight almost making me swallow my tongue and my heart stop. Then it started beating fast and hard, nearly bursting through my rib cage.

Frozen inside.

Shaken.

Surprised.

An avalanche of feelings and emotions I couldn’t distinguish or name pushed a single word past my lips:

“Thor?”

God…

It really was him, leaning over the island.

Thor was here. He actually was. My gaze swept over him from head to toe.

He looked a little leaner in his jeans and blue button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and yet just as handsome and attractive as I remembered.

Actually, more. Thor had a beard now, a charming, neatly trimmed shadow.

It gave him a rougher, wilder edge. A walking temptation.

I liked it… Scratch that. I loved it!

His jet-black gaze caught mine and left my mouth dry.

“Hello, Antonella. How are you?” The cold, distant voice shattered any hint of a smile on my face and threw me completely off balance.

“Fine. And you?”

“Great.”

He ignored me. Completely. Plucked an apple from the fruit bowl and ate it. That hurt, while I stayed there, standing, staring like an idiot. I didn’t know what to do. The longer I looked, the harder my heart beat.

“Do you want anything special for breakfast, bambina?”

“Waffles,” I murmured, without taking my eyes off him.

Martha said something, but I was deaf to her.

Unable to contain myself, with this timid feeling of joy aching to take over, I asked:

“You… uh… got here today?”

“No.”

Heithor didn’t even look at me.

Short and sharp.

It was like standing before a statue stripped of warmth, of any feeling.

Just a whole lot of nothing, which shouldn’t have shocked me, but did.

Which shouldn’t have hurt, but hurt enough to make my eyes burn with tears while I kept looking at him, indifferent to my presence.

As if it didn’t matter. As if I didn’t exist. As if being in the same space as me was already the most he could tolerate. So distant and different from my Thor…

P’s words from months ago filled my mind.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, my heart tightening endlessly. Sick. Suffocated. I wanted to cry, curl in on myself until the pain passed.

He found someone.

P and Nathan came into the kitchen. She caressed my belly, said something, a morning murmur settled over the room, but I didn’t hear a single word. Trapped in him. In the feeling of exposure, in the humiliation making me small and lost before his indifference.

He found someone.

I moved automatically when everyone began taking a seat at the table.

Heithor sat as far from me as the table allowed.

I knew that, probably, it shouldn’t have been any big deal, that I shouldn’t care.

Still, I cared enough for it to bleed and for my eyes to insist on burning.

So I kept them lowered to my bland plate of waffles. Even so, I made an effort.

My son would not go hungry because his father was ignoring me.

Stupid bastard.

I was deaf, mute, and blind to everyone around me.

Cut. Spear. Eat.

The flavor meant nothing to me. I ate methodically, so slowly I wouldn’t have been surprised if we made it to dinner and I still had a full plate.

He found someone.

He found…

“Good morning, love!”

I pulled the glass away from my lips, my eyes widening.

This had to be a joke, and a cruel one!

Shocked, I looked toward that horrible sound only to prove I wasn’t crazy. Norah. She swept into the kitchen, went to him as if she were the lady of the mansion… and kissed him on the mouth.

Norah? He found Norah?

I wanted to get out of there, but pride held me in place. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much it affected me.

“Hello, Antonella. How are you?”

Gamble is going to be very, very disappointed.

I stared at her with an icy, severe look.

Sitting beside him, while he talked to Nathan, she smiled with superiority.

“You look very well, if I may say so.”

Rage circled me, tempting me, dragging me to the edge of fuck it.

I struggled to swallow the piece of waffle, and when I managed it, the food scraped its way down and dropped into my stomach like lead.

I sipped some juice, fighting at all costs not to let my nerves win, and took more deep breaths than I could count.

Not worth it. Not worth it. Not worth it.

Looking at the food was starting to make me nauseous, and the lump in my throat didn’t help. I decided to leave before the bitch had the chance…

“Wow! Your belly is really showing now. How is the pregnancy going?”

Total silence.

I threw daggers at her.

She made an embarrassed expression. “Oh, I’m sorry, dear. I shouldn’t have asked anything about that. I don’t know if this is still a taboo subject for you. God! I’m so sorry, I… It’s none of my business. Forgive me.”

Stiff from head to toe, I said:

“Excuse me.” I stood and left.

***

Ben didn’t question it when I sat up front with him.

My heart was heavy and aching, sobs clogging my throat and airways, but I refused to cry like an idiot. I could still feel wild anger taking over me. I just didn’t know if it was because of the bitch, Heithor’s indifference, or because they were together.

With her!

God, that disgusted me on epic levels.

How long had they been together? Was that why he never called? Why he hadn’t come back with the guys? Had he gotten over me that fast?

Of all the women in the world, why did he have to choose her?

Not that it would have made much difference if it had been a stranger.

But her?

It made everything even more unacceptable!

Still, this shouldn’t have been any surprise, right?

In a way, they had always been together.

My stomach lurched… and exploded.

“PULL OVER, BENJAMIN!” I covered my mouth with my hand.

He slammed on the brakes, throwing the car onto the shoulder. I had just enough time to get out of the vehicle before emptying my guts. Ben rushed to my side, pulling my hair out of the way. When it was over, he gave me a handkerchief.

“Better?”

I wiped my lips. “Yes.”

“I’m going to buy water at the café up ahead. That one there, see? I’ll be right back,” he said in an unsettled tone, then hurried off.

I used my fingers to comb my hair back and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the foul taste in my mouth.

Ben came back and handed me the little bottle of water.

“Drink slowly.”

I took sip after sip until half of it was gone. “Grazie.”

“Are you feeling anything?”

Anger. Sadness.

“I’m better. Breakfast didn’t sit well.”

“Are you sure? We can go to the hospital just to check.”

I smiled a little. “No, Ben. Everything’s fine. I promise. Don’t worry. I didn’t feel like eating and ended up forcing too much… Thank you for the handkerchief, but I don’t think it has any use to you anymore…”

“I’m not worried about the handkerchief, Antonella.”

“I’m fine. I swear.”

“Why don’t I believe that?”

“Because you’ve been spending too much time with Pietra. Listen, I’m fine. Breakfast didn’t agree with me. These things happen to pregnant women.” He didn’t look convinced. “Let’s do this. If I feel anything at all, I’ll tell you immediately, and then we’ll go to the hospital, va bene?”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

He nodded.

“But if I see anything, anything at all, we’re going.”

“You definitely need to stop spending time with Pietra.”

“I do not spend time with Miss Castellammare.”

“I do not spend time with Miss Castellammare,” I mimicked him crudely. “You think I don’t know you two scheme behind my back about the best way to torment me?”

“She might. I would never do that to you,” he said, looking at me with such intensity that I actually felt embarrassed, and then he smiled. “I won’t deny she tries to push me onto her team, but I resist well.”

I poked his shoulder. “Good to know.”

“Can we go?”

“I’d like to walk for a little while,” I murmured softly, suddenly, out of nowhere, feeling anxious again.

“There’s a small park on the other side. We can go there. Or to the beach. We’re close.”

“The beach sounds great.”

Ben helped me with my jeans, folding the hems. I held my sandals, and we started walking side by side while silence made a path between us.

The feel of the fresh breeze was very pleasant. The warmth of the morning sun spilling over my skin almost comforted me. Almost.

Was it possible to make the mind go blank and completely silent?

My mind wouldn’t stop. It felt like it was going to explode.

All this time, Heithor had been with her!

It shouldn’t have surprised me, because Norah had always been at his side, sniffing around like the good bitch she was, looking for the smallest opening to attack.

And why wouldn’t she, when the opening had become a gaping hole?

It occurred to me then that she was the one who had really had him.

Always. For one reason or another, Heithor was the one who ran to her.

They even lived in the same place. Worked together.

Always together. And as much as it hurt to admit, Norah had never been the intruder.

But it was his fault… that idiot had pushed and pushed, and for what?

To come back now and rub it in my face that he’d gotten over me?

He would have been better off never showing up…

Shit. With her. With that damned bitch.

Could this get any worse?

My mind rewound, and tears tracked down my face. I felt sick in my soul as I summoned that damned afternoon in the office.

Oh, heavens, it could get much, much worse.

“What’s wrong, Antonella?” Ben stopped in front of me, holding my shoulders. I tried and failed to control myself. “Shit. I knew you weren’t okay. What are you feeling? Where does it hurt?”

“Did you know he was coming back?”

“He?”

“Heithor.”

“You saw each other?”

“What do you think, idiot?” I snapped angrily, using the backs of my hands to wipe uselessly at the wetness in my eyes.

Ben only looked at me.

I shook my head and exhaled hard.