THAT MAN 5 (The Wedding Story-Part 2) by Nelle L'Amour Read Free Book Online Page A

trusting him and for making him take the test. But he was still mad as hell. What was most infuriating him was that he didn’t know what do next. He explained all the ramifications of taking Kat down. Exposing her. Moreover, Kat most likely still had all the photos on her phone and could use them to spin more evil.
    He slammed his fist against the bed. “Fucking, fucking bitch.”
    Thank God, for the cushy memory foam mattress (we’d never bought a springy one) because on any other surface, Blake would have likely broken some bones with the force of his fist. I lifted the hand to my lips and tenderly kissed the back of it.
    “Fucking, fucking bitch,” he muttered again.
    “No, baby, fuck the bitch.” My father had always preached, “Don’t get mad. Get even.”
    I told Blake my idea without giving away too many details. And that I needed his help. “I trusted you, baby. Now, you must trust me.”
    “I do, tiger.”
    After a sweet kiss, he did as I asked and made two calls. Yes! Things were working out.
    Sucking in air through his nose, he set the phone down on the bed and asked me to face him. His large hands took hold of my shoulders. He looked anxious.
    “Jen, there’s something I’ve got to tell you about Kat. About our past that I should have told you before.”
    My pulse sped up and my eyes fluttered. He hadn’t been honest with me?
    He took in a shaky breath and on the exhale he simply said, “I got Kat pregnant.”
    My heart skipped a beat. “You have a child?”
    “No, tiger.” And then a long tense pause. “She had a miscarriage.”
    “When did this happen?” Though shocked, I kept my tone even keeled.
    “The summer after high school. We were at some graduation party, and I got drunk. As always, she was all over me. Stupid me succumbed. The fucking condom must have torn from her nails, and I guess she was off birth control.”
    “Jeez.”
    “Jen, she wanted to keep the baby so I would marry her. My parents were up in arms. Rightfully, neither of them thought we should do that. We were too young. I wanted nothing to do with her, and believe me, the last fucking thing I wanted was to be a father at the age of eighteen. Her parents, however, wanted us to marry. The recession had hurt them, and they were going through lean times. If Kat married me, they would no longer have to support her extravagant lifestyle, and they could smooch off my parents, who had protected their investments. So, they supported Kat’s decision. I was fucked. Afraid of a scandal that would embarrass my family, I lied and told her I’d marry her if she kept my identity under wraps until the baby was born. She went along with it, taunting me each day she would break her promise if she caught me with another girl.”
    Blake had stunned me in into silence. Wordlessly, I listened on. His voice faltered.
    “Six months in and barely showing—her friends thought she’d just gained weight—the bitch went horseback riding.” Blake paused, taking a breath. “She went into labor. My sister was discreetly there for her, but the baby was stillborn.”
    “Oh, Blake!” So, that was what Marcy was hiding. I cupped my petite hand over his large one, still splayed on my shoulder. Raw emotion poured through my veins as he went on.
    “It was a boy. We had a proper Jewish burial for him and had to name him. Gabriel… after an angel.”
    The angel of revelation .
    “Just our families attended.” Blake’s voice softened, and he closed his eyes for a long moment as if he were going back in time.
    “Jen, I’ll never forget that day and that tiny shoebox-sized coffin being lowered into the earth. My little mistake. As our rabbi recited the Kaddish, the prayer for the dead, it began to drizzle, and the anger I had toward Kat turned inward. I hated myself and grieved for the little boy I didn’t want or would never know. With each shovel of the earth, I grew numb. Kat didn’t shed a tear. At the end of the service, she spat in my