Page 68 of The Disputed Legacy

I heard the satisfaction in his growls when he came deep inside me.

We kept it quiet with Oscar in the apartment, but I relished it no matter what. Loud and dirty. Quiet and sweet. Making love with this man was a fulfillment of so many dreams I’d held for so long.

Margo noticed it too. She claimed that I was “glowing” and that I had never looked happier.

On the third day of our just being together, she commented about it again.

“I guess the theory that he had a wife he was hiding from was nonsense.”

I paused in wiping down the counter to smirk at her.

“Because every stinking time he sees you—and Oscar—he looks like a man in love.”

I nodded, lowering my gaze. It was getting harder to deny that. But I was still so nervous. Iwashappy that Saul and I were committing to loosely being with each other and kind of planning to “figure this out”. The nervousness about lowering all the walls around my heart wouldn’t stop, though.

“No?” she quipped at my cringe. “You don’t think so?”

I opened and closed my mouth, unsure how to reply.

“He’s just getting some and that’s it?” She grunted. “No romance?” She rolled her eyes. “I call bullshit.”

“No, I…” I huffed, catching myself from trying to explain thatcomplicatedwas an understatement.

“What?” Margo left the dishes and faced me fully. Crossing her arms and propping her hip against the wet counter where her thick waterproof apron would keep her dry, she eyed me down. “What is it?”

“Oh, come on,” Irene teased as she breezed by. “If you want advice about men, askme. Not her.”

Margo flipped her off. “I was young once, too, you know.”

“What’s going on with you and Saul?” Irene asked. “Getting too serious?”

I furrowed my brow.

Irene smiled, not meanly or judgingly. “It’s obvious you’ve got trust issues.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I mumbled.

“It is and isn’t. You’ve got Oscar, so yeah, you need to be pickier when you’ve got a new man in your life, but if it’s this hard to trust him and, I don’t know, let love in, he’ll pick up on that and give up.”

I dreaded that she could be right. Now that I had Saul in my home and bonding with Oscar, I really couldn’t imagine him not being there.

“It’s just that we haven’t talked much about our pasts,” I said.

Irene laughed once. “Then do it.”

Margo shoved her out of the dishwasher area. “Oh, shut up. It’s not that simple.”

“What?” Irene protested. “Everyone’s got secrets. And not all of them are deal-breakers. Jeez. It’s just part of life. Part of human nature.” Rolling her eyes, she walked away.

That was just it. I couldn’t tell if my past would be a deal breaker for Saul or if his would be for me.

Too many unknowns remained between us, threatening like a ticking bomb to go off. The longer I went without knowing more about this mystery man, the more it started to feel like a gross lie. That he was lying by omission to not offer up more details about himself.

Oh, like I can talk.

I was more secretive. Until I could have utmost faith that Saul would not only listen to me about how I was owned by another, about how my son could be a pawn to use against me, but also heed my orders to continue a life of staying off the grid as much as I could, I was stuck.

It wasn’t only the fear of unveiling how I’d come to have Oscar in the first place. It was also the anxiety of Saul potentially turning me in. Or the trepidation that Saul wouldn’t want a part of someone else’s mess.