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That was very much the truth. Nicola couldn’t remember one meal that she’d made for Abagail aside from this one, because Abagail had a private chef who made all of her meals ahead of time. Nicola had seen the benefit of that, even though she still preferred a bowl of sugar-filled cereal in the mornings.

“I was making us a late afternoon snack.”

Why had she said that? She’d cringe if she thought it would do her any good, but she knew it wouldn’t. Warren was on the war path based on his tone, and she was going to bear the brunt of everything he did and said in the next few minutes. Nicola had no doubts of that.

“Why are you here?” Nicola asked, trying to keep her tone as innocent as possible. “I thought this was Abs… Aunt Abagail’s house.” God, how that correction had hurt to make. Nicola flicked her gaze to Abagail, hoping that it had gone unnoticed, but the hard stare back at her and the stern look told her it hadn’t.

She didn’t know what to say or do in this situation. They hadn’t talked about this. They hadn’t planned for it. Yes, she’d initially wanted Warren to find out all about what was going on and feel the pain of that situation, but Nicola was pretty damn sure that he wouldn’t feel a thing knowing that Nicola and Abagail had amazing sex almost every single night and rarely ever thought of him.

“Chaya and I decided to come to the Cape for the weekend.”

Of course they did. Nicola had never been allowed in this house before even though Warren had taken many trips here over the years. Maybe this was where he was doing the majority of his cheating—at least the long term cheating, the one that involved Chaya. Nicola’s stomach sank again.

“To my house,” Abagail stepped into the conversation finally.

Nicola had wondered if she would.

“Without my permission.”

Warren’s jaw clenched, and Nicola knew that he was working hard to keep his anger in check. Surely Abagail could see that too. All the people in this room knew him well enough to know what he was like when he was mad.

“It’s the family home.”

“No.” Abagail shook her head, putting her hand out in front of her as if that would help her make her point. “This ismyhome. And I’ve let you and your family stay here on occasion in the past, but I never intended for you to have full access to it without permission.”

Warren stuttered. “I-I-It’s our family home.”

“No, it isn’t,” Abagail stated again. She pointed to Chaya. “And we wouldn’t have the problem of both of us showing up here if you would have simply asked if the house was full this week. But it’s my home, so I don’t have to seek permission to stay in my own home.”

Nicola’s cheeks burned. When was the question going to come up? When was Warren going to figure out that they were fucking? Surely he wasn’t that dense, was he?

“Fine, we can both stay here,” Warren fired back.

“Absolutely not.” Abagail put her hand out in front of him like a crossing guard with a stop sign. “You will head back tonight.”

Warren squinted, flicking his gaze from Abagail to Nicola and back again several times over before he paled. “What the fuck? Are you two fucking?”

Bile swirled in Nicola’s stomach. Here it was. She knew she wouldn’t be so lucky as to escape this, and now she just had to figure out how bad the drama was going to be and how much Warren was going to yell at her.

“You’ll do anything for a few bucks, won’t you?” Warren stepped forward, getting closer to Nicola’s space.

She’d barely said anything since he’d walked into the room, knowing full well what direction this argument was going to go, and she knew that it was going to turn into an absolute disaster. And here it was, fears becoming reality.

“This isn’t for the money.” Nicola’s voice was weak, the words barely breaking through the frenzy of emotions and the rush of static to her ears. She was ready to cry, to burrow her way into a hole, or to drown herself in the ocean.

Because this was for the money.

At least that’s how it had progressed, and if asked, she couldn’t lie to him. She could never lie to Warren. Not like he could lie to her.

“Love then?” Warren guffawed loudly. “Don’t feed me a line of bullshit. I can smell it a mile away. You’ve always been desperate for cash so you can funnel it to Alanna. And Aunt Abagail is full of cash. You found an easy target, and you took advantage of it.”

“I’m not a weak woman who is easily taken advantage of.” Abagail literally stepped between them.

Nicola looked up, finding Abagail’s back to her and Warren glaring at her over the top of Abagail’s graying head.

“And neither is Nicola. You underestimated her for years while you two were in a relationship together, and that’s to your own disadvantage. She would have made an amazing wife, and she certainly would have been a better fit for this family than you are.”

“Aunt Abagail!” Warren squeaked, not used to the admonishment.