Chapter 30
Rosalee
Violet and I spent a little more time in town than I'd planned, but I couldn't help myself when we stopped at a local toy store and found an adorable princess tiara with long, colorful, sheer fabric that hung down her little back.
It was purple, pink, and blue, and she hadn't stopped swinging her head since I put it on her.
"You are the prettiest little princess in the whole wide world," I cooed to her as we walked toward the front door. "Just wait until your daddy sees you."
Violet babbled happily. She might not understand a lot, but she was a happy little girl with a sparkly tiara on her head and a dump truck clutched in her arms.
I unlocked the front door and we spilled inside, still laughing and feeling good from our day in town.
My gaze landed on Xavier, and I felt my smile brighten despite my determination to keep a healthy distance between us.
"Hey," I said, setting Violet on her feet and smiling as she toddled over to her father.
"The good news is that Violet is a very healthy little girl.
She scored in the top percentile for all of her year-one milestones. "
He didn't smile back, and that was my first clue that something was wrong. His lips were pulled into a tight line, his gray eyes dark and unreadable.
"Is there something on your mind, Xavier?" I wouldn't tiptoe around whatever problem he had with me. Not this time. Not ever again.
"You could say that." His words were cold and distant, like we were strangers rather than people who knew each other intimately.
"Well," I bit out, folding my arms over my chest. "Are you going to tell me what it is, or should I guess?" I used to play this game with Jason all the time, and there was no way to win it.
Xavier sighed heavily and produced a pale green envelope that he tossed on the coffee table. It landed with a soft thud that seemed to reverberate through the room. His steely gaze tracked my movements as if he thought I might take off back down the mountain.
"Right." My voice was tight with anger, but I pushed it down and picked up Violet, carrying her to her room so she wouldn't be subjected to whatever was said next.
I got her set up in her playpen with a few toys, but she was enamored with her new truck, running her palms over the rugged wheels and smiling at the sounds it made.
I kissed the top of her black curls and sighed heavily.
I had a pretty good idea what was in that green envelope, and my heart was as heavy as my legs when I made my way back to the living room.
The weight of Xavier's angry glare added a few more pounds to my already overburdened shoulders, and I refused to sit, instead standing with the coffee table as a barrier between us.
He nodded toward the envelope. "Go on. Open it." His tone was angry yet smug, as if he'd caught me doing something nefarious.
This is how he wants to do this, I reminded myself as I picked up the envelope and turned it upside down, letting the photos scatter across the table and onto the floor.
Photos of me and my ex-boyfriend from the last year of our relationship.
Looking at the woman I was back then was like a punch to the gut.
I smiled when I was supposed to, but it was never a real smile; it didn't quite reach my eyes.
I wore the right clothes: silky blouses and skirts, stiletto heels, with my hair in the latest styles.
Jason was beside me, looking smug and satisfied with the world he'd crafted with his obedient and insecure woman.
"Nothing to say, Rosalee?" He leaned forward and picked up the letter I'd missed, but I didn't miss the slanted scribble of Jason's handwriting.
"What is there to say when it's clear you've already made up your mind?" My heart pounded in my chest because he believed what he saw and what he read.
"Wow," he sighed. "I really thought you'd put up more of a fight." He picked up the letter and waved it beside his head. "No, Xavier, I'm not after your money. I love you."
I smiled in the face of his sharp words even though my heart crumbled in my chest. "I do love you, but clearly, it was one-sided."
"Like I'd ever believe a gold digger again. The letter lays out your plan perfectly, Rosalee. Get your hooks into me and get a big, fat payday. But your partner double-crossed you."
"Partner? You mean my ex-boyfriend, Jason, who has basically been stalking me since I left Florida? But hey, you've already decided who you believe." I looked up, as if that act alone would keep my tears from falling.
"You're a liar."
I barked out a bitter laugh at that. "I'm the liar?
I have been nothing but honest with you, Xavier.
Can you say the same?" I didn't wait for him to answer.
"Of course not! I have tried to get to know you, tried to get you to open up to me so I can learn about you, and you've blocked me at every turn.
Clearly, Jason looked into you while I stupidly waited for you to tell me about yourself.
" I shook my head and swiped at those stupid, traitorous tears.
I still couldn't even believe this was happening, but another look at Xavier proved that it was.
"Stop lying to me!"
I wrapped my arms around myself and let my tears fall silently while he raged at me.
"I opened up to you, Rosalee. I let you in my house and in my bed."
"But never your heart," I accused as my voice broke. It was all so clear to me now and I couldn't believe how na?ve I'd been, how thoroughly I believed him. "I believed you when you said you were just a burned-out executive, but apparently you're more, while I am exactly who I said I was."
"You saved up your virginity for nothing," he snarled, a look of disgust on his face.
Those words hit me like a physical blow, and I took a step back.
I wanted to fight, but what would be the point?
It didn't matter that I loved Xavier, that I'd given him my heart when he was never in this with me.
But I also refused to just sit back and take it.
"If I had known you were just as bad as Jason, I guess I would've lost it during some drunken one-night stand.
At least he wouldn't have made me feel like I mattered. "
That got a small reaction, but he covered it quickly. "And don't even think about trying to sue me, Rosalee, because I will ruin you."
"You already did!" I bent to pick up my purse, grabbing my phone and my own green envelope that had been nestled underneath my windshield wiper this morning.
"And worse than that? You let Jason make good on his threat to ruin me.
" The tears fell as I unlocked my phone and set it on the table in front of him.
I didn't bother swiping at the tears because it was pointless.
"You hid who you were from me from the beginning because you think your money is your best asset.
You never trusted me. I shared my body with you and the ugly parts of my past, but you never did.
You were never in this with me. I was completely alone. " The last word came out on a sob.
His gaze flicked to the phone screen, but his expression was blank, not that it mattered. He believed the photos. He believed Jason.
"I was just a convenient fuck," I growled, ignoring the way my body rejected that claim.
"I have to accept that. Maybe you never cared for me, and none of this will bother you, but look at those photos.
When have you seen me wearing any of these clothes?
Never, because they're locked in a storage locker in Houston.
You've seen me naked. Am I still that small?
I'm not, because I was safe here—at least I thought I was.
But unlike Jason, you never policed what I ate.
Then again, you never planned on being seen with me, so it never really mattered to you.
" I rubbed a fist over my heart to soothe the ache.
"Apparently, you're a rich man who treats people however you want.
Use them and toss them away." I dumped the contents of my envelope on the table, watching with the smallest hint of satisfaction as his gaze landed on the photos.
There were photos of him on magazine covers, red carpets, and other places where wunderkind businessmen were welcomed with open arms. "I guess you and Jason aren't that different after all.
Somehow he knew you were hiding the truth from me, and he knew how much it would hurt me, so thank you, Xavier.
Thank you for reminding me that no man will ever find me good enough.
It's a lesson I'll never forget." I took one last look at him, letting my gaze linger on his features before tears blurred my vision, and I fled to the safety of my room.
I gave myself five minutes to cry for everything I thought I'd lost but had never really had, and then I got busy. After a quick call to Serenity to see if she could replace me by morning, I packed my bags and checked on Violet.
I didn't want to leave the little girl, not because I questioned Xavier's ability to care for her, because I didn't. He loved her and would do everything in his considerable power to protect her, and I trusted that.
But she'd claimed my heart in a thousand different ways in the past couple of months, and leaving her was harder than I realized.
"I'll miss you, sweet girl." I didn't know how long I watched her play and laugh, walking around her room with her legs growing steadier with each step. Soon she would be talking, and I wouldn't be here to see it. I would miss it all because she wasn't mine.
Nothing in this cabin was mine. Not the man who owned it and not the little girl I cared for as if she were my own.
It was all a lie. I'd lived a lie in this bubble of happiness that had never truly existed. It was a dream sequence that lasted too long, but it was over now.
The bubble had burst.
Just like my heart.
There was only one option for me: leave this cabin and the mountain man I'd fallen in love with and start over.
Again.
This time, however, I would be starting over right here in Texas.