Page 9 of Ruin Me Sweetly

Poor Zach. He didn’t seem to be taking the engagement very well. After I checked Zoe’s social media posts, I could see why he came home. He was never the same young man after Clive’s death and Zoe never helped him heal. When I’d asked her to check in on Zach, her response had been a reminder that she had signed her parental rights away.

“What’s troubling you, Bella?” Luke whispered.

“I’m glad Zach came home for Christmas. It’s been five years. This is what Clive would have wanted,” I said as he began to kiss his way down my neck again.

“You are a good woman, Isabella Newbury.”

This man. He had been at it all day long. I thought Zach was going to toss a bone at his head at the dinner table.

“You shouldn’t antagonise him,” I murmured.

“He isn’t a child anymore, amore mio.”

Great. Now he was weaponising the Italian language against me.

I sighed and snuggled into him. The tree lights blinked slow and steady in the background, red and gold reflecting off the tinsel Amber had helped wind through every branch.

The mantelpiece was crowded with cards, and the faint scent of cinnamon still lingered from the candles we’d burned earlier, mixing with the last traces of dinner drifting in from the kitchen. This year, instead of just the two of us, it had been five.

“Mum,” Amber said, poking her head into the living room.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Uh, I just wanted to say thanks for all my gifts, and goodnight,” she said, walking over as I untangled myself from Luke to give her a hug.

“You’re welcome, and I love you.”

“Love you too. Goodnight, Luke,” she said, giving him an awkward wave before turning to leave.

“Goodnight, poppet,” he murmured, waiting until the door clicked shut. “She’s such a great kid, Isabella.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if she’d turned out like some teenagers. She used to spend a great deal of time with Clive. I know she missed him, and then Zach vanished from our lives. I guess we only had one another left.”

“Your parents?”

“They’re not very interested in me or Amber.”

“Hm,” he hummed. “You don’t need anyone. You have me now.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, let me get you a drink, and then we can go upstairs. Hopefully the kids will be asleep by then.”

I pulled my legs up, allowing him to climb over me, and watched him leave the room. It took me a moment to realise I’d not only allowed Luke into my life, but into my home. All my fears of opening myself up to a man again were gone. Amber was eighteen now, not a child who could be exploited. All the single-mother horror stories had kept me from exploring my options for years.

Luke seemed too good to be true.

I raised my hand and studied the large, sparkling diamond on my finger. Logically, I knew it was happening too fast, but the die-hard romantic in me wanted to believe that even at my age, I could find love again. Not the tainted, toxic kind.

He’d married Sadie when he was twenty-eight, and they’d been divorced for almost a year now. I hadn’t been able to find anything untoward in his past, or in his fifteen-year marriage. My phone vibrated just as Luke returned with a glass of chilled Prosecco.

He knew it went straight to my head, but I took it from him anyway. I assumed the message was from Rhea, but when I tapped the notification, it was an unknown number.

Unknown Number: Walk away from him before you regret it.

I glanced at Luke, who had the TV remote in his hand.

Another vibration.