Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
But I’d stayed…and I would stay again.
11
ASTRID
I sat at the dining table with a bottle of wine and a glass.
Dinner should already be in the oven, but I didn’t have the appetite or the heart.
In silence, I enjoyed my final moments in this house, memorized the golden chandelier, looked at the artwork that decorated the walls. The patio had a black ashtray where Bolton would smoke when he was up in the middle of the night. His slippers were still tucked underneath the couch where he’d left them. This was his house when we got together, but it quickly became our place, and I knew I would miss it.
The sound of the garage door was audible a second later.
My heart started to race. My palms started to sweat. The half-empty bottle of wine suddenly felt heavy in my stomach. He was home earlier than he’d said he would be, so the job must have gone smoothly.
I was relieved he was okay, when I shouldn’t care in the slightest.
The door opened, and his footsteps were audible a moment later. He came in and set his bag on the side table, the other with the weapons on the floor. He stripped off his coat, his back to me. “Baby?”
I stared at him, not having the voice to speak.
He turned toward the kitchen, expecting to see me at the island making dinner. When he didn’t see me, his eyes flicked to me where I sat at the dining table. He froze, taking in the gray color of my face. He stilled, reading the room with the intuition of a killer.
I stared back—and the anger frothed in my mouth.
He didn’t say a word as he approached the table. He didn’t sit. He grabbed the back of a chair and looked down at me, trying to gauge what was wrong without incriminating himself. Just like when you were negotiating, you should never make the first offer.
I wasn’t going to say a damn thing.
He continued to stare, doing his best to appear unbothered.
I knew how smart he was. He must have realized he’d left his tablet, and he must have realized that I’d looked at it when those messages came in. Must not have been aware he’d left his tablet at that time. He’d thought that conversation was gone the second it happened—but I’d watched the whole thing like a fucking football match.
He pulled out the chair and took a seat. “Baby—”
“You lied to me.” I told myself I wouldn’t cry. Wouldn’t let him know how much he’d destroyed me. But I barely got the words out before my eyes started to water from the cold sting of his betrayal. “You looked me in the eye…and fucking lied.”
His face started to turn gray like storm clouds, like he had the humanity to feel sick.
“You acted like I betrayed you for even thinking it.” He lied so effortlessly, made me look like the asshole for just asking. What else had he lied about? He probably lied about things I didn’t even know he lied about because he was just that good. I wanted to know how many women there had been. I wanted to know when it had started. But I had to make my peace with never knowing the full story. “You ripped me apart for having a relationship with Theo, but you’ve had your side chick for years.”
His eyes flicked away.
“Look at me, asshole.”
My eyes were so wet that the tears were about to fall off the cliff. “Years.”
His eyes met mine again, and there was a distant sheen there.
“I…” My mind couldn’t consolidate all the feelings I had, the raw betrayal, the overwhelming agony, and the self-loathing that I’d been so naïve and fucking stupid. Plain stupid. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
His eyes flicked away again.
“I asked you a question.”
“Baby—”
“Call me that again, and I’ll shoot you.” I grabbed the gun strapped underneath the table and placed it on the surface beside me. It was fully loaded. The safety was still on.
He didn’t look at the gun.
“Answer the question. How can someone lie like that? Just lie like it’s the truth. Tell someone that you love them and not mean it?”
“But I did mean it. I still mean it—”
“Don’t insult me.” Tears streaked down my cheeks.
The sheen in his eyes started to increase. “She never meant anything to me.”
“It doesn’t matter if she’s a whore or the love of your life—I’m the one who never meant anything to you.”
His eyes flinched like my claws sank deep.
“Theo tried to tell me, and I didn’t listen.” He told me I deserved better. He told me Bolton was cheating before he asked for an open marriage. “Taking you back…is the biggest mistake of my life.”
The sheen built until a tear rolled down his cheek.
“Marrying you is the biggest mistake of my life.”