Page 95 of Blue Gold

“And what about Maya?”

“I’ll be leaving her mother, not her. She’ll still be my daughter and I her father. Nothing needs to change.”

Snuggling closer, he heaved a sigh. “I think everything will change.”

I was glad he’d brought up this subject because I needed to hear myself promising I’d do everything to ensure my relationship with Maya stayed the same.

“You’re right. But I’ll work hard to keep Maya’s life as normal as it can be. And while it will be hard at first, she’s a bright little girl, and I’m sure she’ll adjust in time.”

Moving my hand along his body, I slid it down to his hips. I’d noticed it before, but he truly was as thin as a feather. He’d lost weight since last year, enough for his hip bones to stand out⁠—

“I was heartbroken after my dad left us.”

His sudden confession startled me back into focus, only for Elliot to go silent again.

“You mentioned before he had an affair, right?” I asked, trying to make him share more.

Shifting his head ever so slightly, he nodded.

“I never understood why he left us, but now I do.” Hugging my arm, he took in a deep breath. “Do you know what coup de foudre mean?” he asked in English, voice so faint you could hardly hear it even in this silence.

Translating it in my head, I asked, “Lightning… strike?”

He hummed a yes.

“Americans call it love at first sight, but I think that isn’t enough.” He now spoke French again. “Because when I first met you, it truly felt like the strike of lightning. So overwhelming that nothing could ever compare.”

What a beautiful way of putting it. One I absolutely agreed with because to this day, I still recalled how my heart paused in my chest as if I were electrified the first time I saw him.

He let out a short laugh, one that lacked humor. “I’m such a hypocrite for judging my dad all those years, aren’t I? I mean, now I’m the reason you’ll leave your daughter⁠—”

“I’m not leaving Maya.”

“But you already did.”

I could feel his body tensing.

“I mean, you’re here with me while she’s there… aren’t you?”

My stomach tightened with guilt, not that I needed Elliot to remind me of it. I carried this shame anywhere I went, but the fact that I had a daughter wasn’t about to deter me from chasing love. Yes, right now, I was being unfaithful, but that was what those divorce papers were for—to put an end to the lying and sneaking around. Because loving my daughter and loving him shouldn’t be at the expense of the other.

“You’re anything but a hypocrite, Elliot. And you had every right to be mad at your dad for leaving, but I promise I would never do that to either you or Maya.” I tightened my arm around him. “And if there is anyone to blame for cheating, it’s me, not you, so please, stop being so hard on yourself because of my sins.”

I closed my eyes and breathed him in, helpless in the face of our imminent separation in a few hours.

“That’s the thing… I don’t think we committed any sin. And if we did, I don’t care.”

His confession might have made him sound selfish, but I guess it was needed if two people chose to have an affair. There was no going around it, as I’d been cheating on my family for over a year now, and I’d forever have to live with the consequences. And yet, I had no regrets because⁠—

“I love you,” I said, unable to come up with anything else because it truly all summed up to this. To my love for this young, marvelous Frenchman I was lucky enough to meet on a winter day.

With the two of us still naked under the blanket, Elliot shifted closer until his butt pressed to my—until now—flaccid cock.

“Say it again,” he requested, eyes determined, as he glanced at me over his shoulder.

“I love you.” With one hand on his chest and the other on his hip, I leaned down. “I love you like I have never loved in my life.”

Biting his bottom lip, he nodded right before I closed the remaining distance and kissed him.