Read Online Sophie's Surrender [Viper's Dungeon 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Abby Blake - Free Book Online Page B

be willing to help us all find the path to true love.”
    Malcolm grunted, but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until that moment that Alex realized he was already thinking of Malcolm as part of the relationship with a woman he and Adrian both adored. Sophie had already accepted two men in her bed at one time.
    Perhaps she would consider three.
    “I need to make a few phone calls.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Sophie pulled the car into her usual space and tried really hard to find the enthusiasm she’d once felt each morning. She loved baking for the shop, but a part of her had also imagined baking for her family. Special birthday cakes, children’s parties, family milestones, and celebrations had always been a part of her dreams for the future. But with her track record for choosing the wrong men, those dreams seemed further away now than ever.
    Her breath caught in her throat when she noticed there was a man standing where Adrian usually waited, but it took another half a second to realize it wasn’t him. She sat in the car, squinting into the dim light and hoping to hell she wasn’t about to be mugged or worse.
    Thankfully, he stepped closer to the light and she finally recognized her ex-husband. It was so silly but the disappointment that Adrian wasn’t here combined with the residual fear of not recognizing Malcolm at first, the worry that she’d done the wrong thing by kicking Adrian and Alex out of her bedroom, and the love for her ex-husband that had never truly gone away all rolled into a ball of misery at the pit of her stomach.
    She didn’t even realize she was crying until Malcolm stepped closer and opened the door to her car.
    “Baby,” he said as he undid her seat belt and lifted her into his arms. She clung to him the way she’d done in the early days of their marriage when she’d been so in love with him she couldn’t see straight. “Don’t cry, Sophie. We’ll find a way to make everything okay.”
    She opened her mouth to say that nothing would ever be okay again, but managed only to cry harder. She knew she should insist that he put her down, that leaning on him this way was terribly unfair, but couldn’t form the words. He was a caring, loving, giving man. How would he ever move on to the type of relationship he wanted when he still felt responsible for her?
    “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to stop herself from crying.
    “It’s okay, baby,” Malcolm said as he cradled her close. “Sometimes it’s necessary for a woman to cry.”
    She’d spent her whole adult life trying not to be so stupidly emotional but it felt nice to know Malcolm didn’t think she was attempting to manipulate him with her tears. “Only women?” she asked as a small measure of calm flowed through her.
    “Mostly,” he said as he carried her to the back door of her shop. “Men tend to prefer hitting things, but either way it’s cathartic. Bottling the emotions away is not healthy for either sex.”
    “Do you hate me?”
    “Never,” he said as he put her on her feet and reached for the keys. He had them inside the store in no time, his warm hand wrapped around hers as he led her to the coffee machine. “I was going to suggest you sit down while I make a pot of coffee, but I honestly have no idea what to do with that thing.”
    She laughed, despite her misery and lack of sleep. “I need to keep moving anyway. I think if I sit down I might not get back up for several hours.”
    “Do you have someone you can call to take over?”
    “No,” she said with a tired smile, “but lately I’ve been thinking about maybe hiring someone else.”
    “You’ve been here four years, six days a week, and haven’t taken a single day off?”
    She nodded, but turned to the coffee machine, too cowardly to see his reaction. If they’d still been married, she might have hired someone to help a long time ago so that her shop was her livelihood, not her life, but with nothing else to do it seemed silly to arrange time