CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Griffin
I was always the kind of man who used someone’s weakness against them. My enemies. Not a woman. Not my wife . But here I am...
That’s not how I want to get married.
Ava had confessed that nugget the day I rescued her and suggested we get married in the state she was in. When she said no, I backed off immediately.
All I’ve tried to do since then is make the wedding special. A big ring, a nice dress, and the ballroom at The fucking Sterling hotel.
She kept fighting me.
And I broke.
I certainly didn’t want to get married sweating like a pig with scratches on my arms from my feral bride.
But I did.
This is not what being a king looks like.
As much as Ava is fighting me, I know she’s scared. All I want to do is hold her, tell her it will all be okay.
How do you hug a cactus?
Or kiss an angry wasp?
Despite that impromptu marriage, I know we still have to go through the real ceremony her aunt planned. It would look suspicious to cancel. As far as I’m concerned if that’s the next time Ava and I speak, so be it. I’m done. I thought I felt something for her and that she felt something for me.
Clearly, she doesn’t. How stupid of me.
Today was a calculated move to break her spirit. The way she’s breaking mine. I’ve never let my emotions get this out of control. Seeing Ava so close to Shane felt like lava running under my veins.
Enough. I’ve had enough.
In six months, she’ll be gone, and all I have to do at this point is not kill her. And hope she doesn’t kill me.
All I want is to be alone in my bedroom. A bedroom I’m no longer going to share with her. She and her emotional-support clown can have whatever damn bedroom they want. I’m cutting her and Bozo loose.
Passing the kitchen, I see Ava in the backyard covered in mud and crying. I stop in my tracks.
Damn it.