Gypsy

Chapter 34

·Zara·

Maddox meets me at the door and I offer him a tired wave. I don't feel much like talking. I'm exhausted and all I want to do is lay my head down, close my eyes, and not think or talk again until tomorrow. But the look in his eyes tells me that's not likely going to happen. At least, not yet.

"Was wondering when you'd find your way back," he says.

"You know I always do."

"I might know that, but there's a fella in the other room who was worried you wouldn't."

Adam.

I let out a sigh, then nod my head. I have every intention of talking to Adam, but I just don't know if I'm up for that right now. I look longingly at my bedroom door but Maddox interrupts my thoughts of sleep.

"You need to go talk to him. Don't leave him hanging, he doesn't deserve that."

I look back at Maddox, a little surprised. What does he know that I don't? By the pleading look he's giving me, I can tell it's probably a lot. I let out a sigh.

"Okay, I'll go talk to him."

He just nods, then turns and heads to his own room. Once he's gone, I make my slow way to the living room. I look inside to find Adam sitting on the sofa and staring at the floor. He doesn't look up immediately when I enter, waiting until I've seated myself next to him on the couch.

"Hey. I was worried you weren't coming back." His tone is bleak, and the light frown he wears pulls at my heart.

"I know, Maddox told me."

He turns to me and reaches for my hand, but I pull it away and lay it in my lap. He lets out a sigh, nodding his head.

"Guess I should have expected that. Look, Zara, about this afternoon--"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Adam. I don't own you."

"It's not what you think it was."

I look up at him and the sincerity in his voice. He's pleading with me, I realize with a start. I give him a tiny smile--it's all I can muster.

"I don't know what I think it was. My mind had been messed up all morning, and then I walked in and saw you with--"

"My ex-wife."

That revelation blindsides me and whatever I'd been about to say is knocked clean from my mind. I just stare at him, not knowing what to say to that.

"Can I explain what happened?"

"I'd appreciate that."

He reaches for my hand again, and this time I let him take it. I might have had a shitty day, but if that had been his ex-wife, I know his was a hell of a lot worse than mine.

He begins from the beginning, with her walking into his office building, and the more he talks, the angrier I get. By the time he finishes, I'm actually shaking.

"Please, don't be mad at me."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not mad at you."

He eyes me carefully now, as well he should. No one messes with mine, and he's just as much mine now as Maddox and Andre have ever been.

"Are you sure? Because from where I'm sitting, you look pretty pissed to me."

"I was never mad at you, Adam. I've just been confused."

"Welcome to my world. I've been confused since the day I met you," he says with a relieved smile as he tugs me closer to his side. He slips an arm around me then leans his cheek against the top of my head.