Secrets in the Marriage Bed by Nalini Singh Read Free Book Online Page B

he could blink it away, she glimpsed an incredible anguish that had nothing to do with Lara or his parents and everything to do with her.
    A crushing knot formed in her heart. God, but the man was proud. Proud and stubborn. Not once in those two months of separation had he ever hinted at the depth of his pain at the way she’d asked him to leave. Then again, neither had she ever told him how badly he’d hurt her when he’d taken Miranda to his bed. They were both too good at keeping their emotional secrets.
    But that, she thought with a new spurt of determination, was in the past. It was the future that was important—a future built on trust, shared burdens and hope. Maybe asking for a separation had been the only way she’d known to get him to pay attention to their marriage, to her, but they’d gone beyond that now.
    This was it. Time for action. Despite her fear that she’d do the wrong thing and their truce would go bad all over again, she nonetheless shook her head. “No. I’m not. I told you I want to be married to you. You’re my husband, my family. I don’t have anyone else, either.”
    He hauled her into a tight hug, saying with his body what he couldn’t say in words. For so long, he’d spoken with his body but she hadn’t been listening, hadn’t known how to listen, but now she intended to hear every single whisper.
    “It’s Lara’s kids I worry about. She can look after herself but what about them?”
    Vicki had always been swayed by the same thought. “How about a trust fund? For education and anything else the kids might need. Your family doesn’t get to treat you like an open checkbook anymore.” It wasn’t the money that made her mad, but the way they acted as if it was Caleb’s duty to support them while putting up with their ingratitude.
    She’d never been able to understand why her tough, powerful husband let them get away with it. She knew that taking care of Lara’s children wouldn’t even scratch at the surface of Caleb’s problems with his family, or tell her anything of the reasons behind the way they treated him. But it was a start.
    Caleb was silent for a moment. “If we were the trustees, we could ensure the money was used how it was meant to be.”
    Neither of them had to mention their fears that Lara might have succumbed to drugs. But, so far, she’d never harmed her kids, apparently being a devoted mother.
    “Yes,” Vicki agreed, then decided to say something that had been bubbling up inside of her for quite some time. “Don’t you dare let them make you feel bad because you dreamed higher than they have the capacity to imagine. Be proud.” The Callaghans’ motivations made no difference to her. In her book, nothing could excuse the neglect and pain Caleb had suffered because of them.
    His chin dropped to rest on top of her head. “They’ll always be in my life.”
    “And I’ll never try to push them out. We both have relations we have to deal with though we’d rather not. But they have to learn to treat you with the proper respect.” She refused to back off on this. Too many times in their marriage, she’d stayed silent and it had torn them apart. However, that particular dam had broken forever when she’d walked into Caleb’s room and bared her soul. “Next time one of them calls, I’ll take it. This is the last chance they’ll ever have to hurt you.”
    Caleb was astounded by the cold fury he could hear in her voice. Vicki had always been so gentle, so non-confrontational. But beyond his surprise was the glow of hope. She was right. He was holding his real family in his arms. Maybe their marriage was rocky but they’d made a promise to see it through. The lack of ambivalence in Vicki’s comments gave him back the sense of stability he’d lost the moment she’d demanded a divorce.
    “I want to ask you something,” he said, reminded of it by his thoughts of the cool, non-combative woman he’d married. A woman in whom he’d seen embers of