Guilty

"What did you just call me?"

I had admitted to being jealous the day Miraj had told me about his childhood sweetheart who broke his heart. But then I hadn't seen Tatiana yet or the way she made googly eyes at my husband. I didn't know that her presence would make me so uncomfortable. My admission was guised as an act I put on for our amusement.

Therefore, Miraj calling me jealous to my face felt like a slap of reality. He was the needle that burst my bubble and now I had to confront the fact that I was jealous of Tatiana Mathews. I didn't want to.

"What? I just said that I bought a gift for my wife."

"What the...? Do you think I am deaf?"

"Absolutely not. My wife has perfect hearing."

'Deep breaths, Eli. Deep breaths.'

"Stop treating me like I am a fool, Miraj. You think I am jealous?"

"No, you're not. What you are... is my wife. And I bought you a gift."

That damned smile won't go away from his face. 'You can't kill the father of your child, Eli. Deep breaths.'

I took a threatening step towards him and said, "I know I am your wife. Stop saying it again and again. You make me want to be widowed right now."

He took a step towards me as well and asked, "Did you just kill me in your imagination?"

I walked one more step closer and replied in a low voice, "Oh, I am more than happy to make it a reality."

He broke out into an annoyingly cheerful grin and said, "I bought you a gift and you want to kill me? That's just ungrateful, Bee."

"It would be nice if you hadn't bought me a gift out of guilt. So I don't have any obligation to be polite."

That wiped away his arrogant smile. And it was true. He had bought me a gift because he felt guilty about inviting her for dinner and forcing me to attend it.

"Even if it's out of guilt, it's a gift. You and I both know I won't apologize, so why not accept this and move on?"

"I am not your trophy wife, Miraj. You can't just give me something expensive and expect me to forget things."

He walked up to me and leaned down to speak to me face-to-face. He said, "I know you're the farthest thing from a trophy wife, Bee. But I don't apologize. This is the best I can do. Now turn around so I can put a pretty necklace around your beautiful neck."

My knees went weak and I forced myself to stay upright. I don't know if he had noticed, but he had been calling me Bee. That voice, that body and that look; it was all killing me. I turned around without thinking, giving into his demand like a good little kitten.

"Move your hair."

I moved my ponytail to my right side as he fastened a necklace around my neck. I was still very much entranced by the sexual appeal of my husband when he whispered in my right ear, "Don't you wanna see how breathtaking you look?"

I walked to my dressing area and looked into the mirror. The necklace was a simple single pendant around a shiny gold and silver chain but I had never seen anything like it. It was a ruby red heart with a diamond crusted golden crown. The red of the ruby was so deep, it looked like blood turned to stone. And the crown on top of it had five small diamonds fanned out like petals of a blooming flower, held together by a gold structure, making the round of the crown on top of the heart-shaped stone.

"It's gorgeous",I said.

"I don't think so."

He walked towards me as I turned around to look at him. At my questioning look, he answered, "I think you are gorgeous and that's why you can make it look so beautiful on you."

I couldn't stop the grin from taking over my face. Now we were just two idiots smiling at each other from across the room as he came closer. That's when it hit me and I remembered my behavior over the last five minutes. Why was I being all obedient and smiley? Wasn't I supposed to be mad?

Miraj Giovanni and his pretty smile will be the death of me.