Page 46 of Thin Lives

Emma shrugged, wishing her shoulders didn’t feel as heavy as they did. It was impossible to pretend otherwise. It was like the whole world rested there, pushing her into the damn ground.

“Yes,” she agreed, “it was. I didn’t want to hand my baby over after I’d birthed him and watched him die. The doctor wanted to weigh him and check for any visible abnormalities—there were none, he was perfect, but he just wasn’t ready to come out yet. That was the only reason he died.”

“You wouldn’t give him to the doctor,” Cal assumed.

“No.”

“But you handed him to me.”

Emma clenched her teeth so hard her molars ached. Still, the word slipped out. “Yes.”

Suddenly, he lifted his arm and two of Calisto’s fingers stroked Emma’s cheek. Gently. Tenderly. Almost knowingly.

Before she could stop herself, the familiarity in his action had her tilting her face into the palm of his hand, and then his thumb grazed over her cheekbone like he had done so many times before.

It took Emma all of three seconds to realize what she was doing before she blinked out of her daze and took a huge step away from Calisto. He sucked in a sharp breath at her action, like she’d somehow hurt him.

“I-I have to go,” Emma said.

Calisto took a tentative step forward, hands up as if to reach for her. “Just wait a second, please.”

“No, I—”

“Don’t run right now. I just want you to tell me the truth.”

“I did!” Emma winced at the level of her shout before adding quieter, “I did about the baby and the date.”

“But we’re back to the same thing again like before. How close were we, Emma, that I couldn’t wait outside your hospital room during the delivery? How close that you only gave the baby to me to hand off? How close that I had to tattoo the date of that event on my body forever? What else is there about us that you’re not telling me?”

Everything.

There was everything, and she was scared.

“Stop,” she whispered, willing the anxiety in her tone away.

They were too close to Affonso’s car, or even one of his men.

“Emma, wait!”

“Stop, Cal,” she repeated stronger.

Calisto threw his arms wide, seemingly unbothered by where they were or by who might be watching. “I just want answers.”

“I can’t give them to you.”

Emma knew the truth of their situation, and why Calisto couldn’t see what was right in front of his face. He had so much love and respect in his heart for Affonso that the idea he might have betrayed his uncle was the very last thing he might consider as something he could do to the man. And so, he was looking for other things, instead of the obvious.

She was terrified what might happen if he found out the truth before he gained his memories back. What would that do to him? Would he even be able to protect her and their child, or would he be torn between the knowledge of what he had done and his falsely-grown affection and wrongly placed loyalty for Affonso?

If she was forced to tell him what she knew about the things that had transpired between him and Affonso before she even came into the picture, would he resent her for ruining what he believed was his life?

Would he hate her?

Emma couldn’t bear the thought of that at all.

She just didn’t know what to do. Not for him. But she knew she had to protect herself and his baby. Until things were clearer, that’s the one and only thing Emma would do.

“What is it?” Calisto asked suddenly. “It’s all over your face—you’re just standing there like you don’t even know which way to go.”