Page 76 of The Wrong Husband
I was about to leave when the door opened, and Damian walked in, his eyes locking onto mine immediately.
"Emilia," he said, his voice a lifeline in the oppressive atmosphere.
I gave him a tentative smile. "Your mother has something she wants to talk to you about."
Tate and Duncan followed Damian. They also calculated what was happening in the room. Tate looked at his wife who shook her head, as if saying, "Yeah, this is a clusterfuck."
Damian crossed the room and took my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
"What the fuck is happening here?" Damian demanded.
"Something we should talk about in private as a family," Marcela said, looking pointedly at me.
Damian looked at me and kissed my forehead. He led me out of the room.
"Em, I'm going to take care of this, okay?"
I froze. He didn't think I was family? His mother had said they had to discuss this, our marriage, as a family and he was sending me away?
"Duncan," he called out to his brother who walked over to us. "Can you take Emilia home?"
"Of course." He gave me an avuncular smile, a comforting one that I never thought he was capable of. He put an arm around me. "Let's get you out of here."
Chapter 25
Damian
"What were you talking to Emilia about?" I demanded, my fists clenched, my jaws so tight it was hard to get the words out.
"Sit down, Damian." Mom waved a hand at a chair.
Bianca was sniffling and her mother had an arm around her. Gideon had a drink in hand. My father had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall next to a Rembrandt.
I shook my head at my mother. "Just tell me what's going on."
Mom sighed. "We're concerned that you brought Emilia here."
My nostrils flared at her insinuation. "Why? It's an Archer Gala and she's my wife."
Bianca sobbed and I barked, "Stop the fucking acting, Bianca."
"Damian, son, she's upset," Gideon tried to calm me down.
"Your daughter has been fucking Matt Stanton for the past several months. Four of those were while we were together," I spit out. Enough was fucking enough. I had been so busy trying not to upset my family and Bianca's that I ended up hurting Emilia.
"That's not true," Bianca protested. "We're friends. We—"
"Don't make me pull out videos of you fucking him in front of your parents and mine," I threw back at her. "You think I didn't get that shit investigated?"
Mom looked like the world had collapsed. Her shoulders slumped. I'd never seen her look this guilty before. My father handed her a scotch, and she took it from him.
"Bianca, you've been telling me for months that you want to repair your relationship with Damian. Please explain this."
My ex looked like a figure in Munch's, The Scream.
She shook her head. "It was…I've been seeing him now…after Damian married—"
"Cut it out, Bianca. The videos come with date and time stamps. I have a report from a PI. Why the hell do you think I married Emilia?"