How Much I Love (Miami Nights #3) - Marie Force Page 0,3

weeks.” I return to my spot on the sofa that used to belong to Maria until she moved into Austin’s mansion and didn’t need it anymore. I also inherited her bed, dresser, TV and coffee table.

“I went by the restaurant, but they said you weren’t working tonight. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing and this is Sofia’s weekend. We alternate, as you know.”

“I can tell just by looking at you that something’s up. You always do this when the shit hits the fan.”

“What do I do?”

Maria sits next to me on the sofa. “Go into hiding.”

I fixate on the enormous diamond ring on her left hand. I feel like an asshole for being jealous of what she has with Austin—a beautiful man, a beautiful little girl, a beautiful home and a stunning engagement ring. She’s the best person I know and deserves every good thing. “I’m not hiding.”

My phone chimes with a new text. I’m almost afraid to look. It’s Marcus—or I should say, Bianca. I can’t believe how selfish you’re being.

Now I’m selfish? How rich is that? I should’ve asked her how long he’s been in the hospital so I’d know when he last texted me himself. They’re going to blame me for this somehow. I didn’t respond to his texts, so he did something stupid and dramatic. Did he do it to get my attention?

I’ve almost forgotten Maria is there. I glance at her, wishing I could keep this to myself. But that’s not how things work in my family, which is one reason I was so eager to move to New York in the first place.

“Marcus is in the hospital.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Bianca said he took something he shouldn’t have, and she’s trying to guilt me into going there. He was blowing up my phone, and I was ignoring him, so I guess now it’s my fault he’s in the hospital.”

“She said that?”

“She said I’m selfish for not going there.”

“No, you’re not. You owe him nothing.”

“You and I know that, but she sees it differently. If he dies, they’re going to blame me.”

“Let them. You know the truth of what he did to you.”

Maria doesn’t know the half of it. No one does. Then I’m sobbing. She moves closer and puts her arms around me. I’m furious because it shouldn’t hurt this much after all this time.

“I’m so sorry, Dee. He’s an asshole for doing this to you—and so is she.”

“There’s more to what happened than you know.” I wipe the tears from my face and decide to tell her the truth. Maybe if I say it out loud, I can finally get some peace.

“Tell me,” she says, giving me her full attention.

I realize it’s been a while since I had my sister’s full attention. Between her ass-kicking job as a nurse at the free clinic and her new life with Austin and Everly, I hardly see her.

“Six months before he got married, Marcus and I had gotten back together—or so I thought.”

“What? You guys were together when he got married? Are you kidding me?”

I shake my head. I wish I were kidding. “We were keeping it low-key and working on our issues. I’d just seen him a month before, and I thought he was coming back the following weekend.”

She stares at me, incredulous. “This is unbelievable.”

“I found out he’d gotten married on a Friday. The following Monday, I had a miscarriage.”

Chapter 2

DEE

Now someone else knows, and I’m not sure how to feel about sharing something that’s been such a raw wound for more than a year.

“Oh God, Dee,” Maria says, her eyes filling with tears. “Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come!”

“I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t want him to know.”

“He didn’t know you were pregnant?”

I shake my head. “I was going to tell him the next time we were together in a couple of weeks. But then… Everything fell apart. He got married, and I lost the baby. I lost them both within four days.”

“Wait… Was this the week last winter when you weren’t answering anyone’s texts, and everyone was calling Dom to find out what was wrong with you?”

Nodding as I wipe away tears, I say, “I told him I had the flu.”

“Yes! That’s what he said. You had the flu. Why didn’t you tell me? You know I would’ve come. Carmen would have, too.”

“I couldn’t. I was… It was so awful, Maria. So awful. And when I came home for Carmen’s wedding, and you guys told me he was telling people