Chapter 45. The Past Revealed (1)
About 30 minutes later, Escallion finally made it to the dining room.
He’d planned to just wash up and come down quickly, but Hazel stopped him and wasted time, so he was late.
If I leave them alone, Bella will be uncomfortable…
Escallion hurriedly opened the dining room door—and stopped in his tracks at the scene before him.
He frowned.
“What the hell is this…?”
“Oh, you’re here, friend!”
Graham, with a bright red face, raised his glass and shouted.
And in front of him…
“Has my foolish friend completely lost his mind?” Escallion muttered under his breath.
Graham didn’t seem to realize anything was wrong, and kept shouting with his glass raised.
“Lost my mind? Did you know your wife could drink like this? She almost matched me drink for drink!”
Escallion pressed his hand to his aching forehead, frowning. He walked up to his wife, who was swaying with red cheeks and closed eyes, and glared at Graham.
“If you made her drink as much as you, you’ll pay for it.”
Finally, Graham realized the situation and quietly put down his glass.
“She didn’t drink as much as me. Really. Only a little less.”
“Bella, are you okay? Want to go lie down?”
Belladonna shook her head hard, eyes still closed.
“She says she can drink more!”
“Ugh… what is this…”
Escallion put his hands on Belladonna’s shoulders and looked at all the scraps of paper on the table.
“Your wife and I chatted by writing notes. She was curious about your childhood, so I told her all about it!”
“How you grew up in the mercenary band, the battlefields you traveled, even about that idiot who betrayed you in the desert and how you dealt with him—every detail!”
Escallion shuffled through the many slips of paper.
[Tell me about when my husband joined the mercenary band.]
[What cities did you and my husband visit together?]
[Was my husband ever badly hurt?]
“She really asked a lot,” Escallion muttered.
He looked annoyed, but deep down, he liked her interest in him—even if she asked Graham instead.
[What was my husband like as a child?]
[Cute.]
[Liar.]
“Geez…”
After that, the writing got messier—she must have been getting drunk. The questions got shorter and the words felt friendlier.
“Looks like you two drunks had a good time without me.”
“Yeah! She was way more fun than you!”
“Time for Bella to go rest…”
Escallion was about to send Belladonna away when he saw a paper next to her hand that hadn’t been given to Graham yet.
He picked it up, and his face turned serious.
[Who is Scarlett Rayton?]
Belladonna groaned and twisted her body.
She remembered Graham pouring her drinks and herself drinking them eagerly, but the middle parts were hazy and she was out of breath.
“Are you awake?”
Escallion’s voice sounded close. Belladonna’s eyes flew open.
Where am I? It was still dark—her familiar bedroom.
Escallion was sitting in a chair by the table, but now he got up and came over.
“It’s still hours till morning.”
“Don’t be surprised. I brought you in after you got drunk with Graham in the early evening.”
“You kept groaning. Are you dizzy? Want water?”
She tried to nod, but Escallion bent down faster.
He kissed the top of her bare foot.
“Ah…!”
Startled, a sound popped out of Belladonna’s mouth.
She was so surprised by her own voice that she quickly shut her lips.
Escallion didn’t seem to mind. He pressed more kisses onto her.
She felt herself getting hot all over.
“There’s something I want to give you, but you’re so drunk I wonder if you’ll remember.”
He kissed her a few more times, then lifted his head.
Belladonna looked up at him, her lips parted, wanting more.
Seeing her, Escallion swallowed hard and forced himself to speak.
“I heard about what you talked about with Graham. You asked a lot. Did you have fun?”
Belladonna nodded quickly, but her mind was far away from that dinner table now.
“Damn, those eyes…”
Escallion murmured, covering his own eyes with one hand. After a moment, he asked in a low voice,
“Are you curious about Scarlett Rayton?”
Scarlett Rayton.
Just hearing the woman’s name, Belladonna sobered up.
She stared up at Escallion, wide awake.
“I saw the question you wrote on the paper.”
“I didn’t realize you’d been holding it in your heart. I guess I was careless.”
Belladonna let out a small sigh.
She wanted to know the truth, but it also scared her.
If Scarlett really is his secret lover, what should I do?
Escallion frowned and messed up his hair, sighing deeply.
Watching him made Belladonna’s heart pound with fear and anxiety.
Maybe some truths are better left hidden… she thought.
She put her hand over her racing heart.
“So, Scarlett Rayton is…”
“Don’t say it,” Belladonna whispered.
Her voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear, but Escallion stopped.
“What?”
He looked at her with golden eyes. This time she said, a little louder,
“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”
Escallion stared at her, not answering.
His burning gaze made Belladonna look away.
“Go on,” he said.
“Say something. Anything.”
Escallion moved, climbing onto the bed, caging her in his arms.
Belladonna blinked up at him, caught between his chest and his arms.
He touched her lips with his fingers.
“Maybe it’s because I can only hear your voice sometimes, but it drives me crazy wanting more.”
What is he saying…?
She tried to talk, but no words came out.
“Oh, don’t want to talk now?”
“…”
“I know a way to make you speak.”
He started to play with her skirt, making her blush as she guessed what he meant.
“Sorry, but can we have water later? I need you right now. I’ve been waiting all day.”
Before she could answer, his lips silenced her.
She could only melt into the heated kiss, her voice escaping her lips before she could stop it.
Escallion bit her lower lip and smiled in satisfaction.
“I like that sound.”
She came to her senses just as dawn started to show through the window.
Belladonna glared at Escallion lying beside her.
“Why do you get mad at me if you like me?”
Escallion looked truly puzzled and shrugged.
This is too much…!
Belladonna blushed and glared harder. Escallion just laughed and stroked her cheek.
“You look like an angry baby bird.”
“…”
“Don’t be mad. Go to sleep.”
Belladonna shook her head. He gently tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Going silent again?”
“…”
“It’s fine. Actually, I might like this more. Just thinking about others hearing your voice makes my blood boil.”
Belladonna rolled her eyes, unimpressed.
Escallion grinned and covered her up carefully with the blanket.
She wiggled to find a comfortable spot.
“Now it’s my turn to tell a secret. You shared a secret with me, so I’ll share one too. That’s fair, right?”
Belladonna looked at him with just her eyes, and Escallion began without hesitation.
“I met Scarlett Rayton eight years ago.”
Eight years… That was a long time—much longer than the two months Belladonna had been married to him.
“One day, I got a letter from someone I didn’t know. It had some basic information about her. It said she’d lost her mother a few months ago and was wandering around alone.”
Who sent that letter? Belladonna frowned, listening.
“I didn’t really believe it, so I decided to go see for myself. I thought maybe things would seem different if I saw it with my own eyes. When I met her for the first time…”
Escallion narrowed his eyes, lost in the memory.
