21. Leah
CHAPTER 21
Leah
H eartbreak was an old, familiar companion. It had crept in after Kevin’s affair, stayed for years as I pieced my life back together, and now it was back again, wrapping itself around my chest like a heavy, unwelcome weight. But this time, it wasn’t going to break me. Not again.
I hadn’t called Marco since that night. He hadn’t called me either.
Two days. That was the time that had passed, and I missed him. I missed him more than I had Kevin when we’d been married for freaking years . It made no sense.
Yes, it does, Leah. You fell in love with Marco in a way you were never able to with Kevin .
I still didn’t understand what happened. One minute we were having fun, and then the other, he told me about Kevin, and I freaked the fuck out. Now, I didn’t know how to backtrack or find my way back with Marco.
He hurt me. He really hurt me.
“You just don’t have the courage to stand up for what you want. When you find your spine, Leah, we’ll talk again.”
But he wasn’t wrong, was he? I didn’t have the courage to stand up for what I wanted, which was him. I wanted Marco Cabrera, but I was so scared he was going to leave me. And then what would happen?
But what if he doesn’t leave, Leah ?
Yeah, things like that didn’t happen to me. My own kids dumped me, and even now, I felt like I was walking around on eggshells with them. One wrong word, and I’d be in the doghouse again.
I went to work, and when Alana asked why I looked like shit, I told her not to ask me that for a few days. When she asked me how Marco was doing, I told her not to ask me that for a few days, either.
“Did you guys break up?”
I glared at her. “What did I just say?”
Alana sighed. “What did you do?”
“Why do you assume it was me?” I exclaimed. “He might’ve?—”
“That guy is so gone for you,” Alana cut me off. “I doubt he’d do more than kiss your feet…or other parts of your body.”
I took a deep breath. “I don’t even know what happened,” I confessed. “We argued, and he called me spineless and told me to get back to him when I found my courage.”
“Huh?”
I sighed. “Can we just go through the Freeman case file, please?”
Alana cut me some slack and after work, insisted that we go for a drink. I knew she was planning on pumping me for information—but I needed a drink, and the truth was that I wanted to spill my guts so someone could help me understand how I’d messed up the best relationship of my life.
That was how I ended up at Leon’s Full Service, a cozy Decatur bar with exposed brick walls and an eclectic menu of craft cocktails and late-night bites with two fingers of Ardbeg 10, neat.
“Ladies.”
You’ve got to be kidding me! My ex was showing up everywhere. He was like a puss-filled boil that wouldn’t quit, and I had had it up to fucking here!
“Christ!” Alana muttered.
My stomach churned as I thought about what he’d said to Marco. Really, he thought I’d still sleep with him. In which universe did he think I’d do that? The moment he told me he’d been having an affair, and I knew that wasn’t the first time even though he swore up and down it was, I’d walked away at a very severe personal cost. Someone with that kind of integrity would not be going back to sloppy seconds.
“Well, if it isn’t Atlanta’s Divorce Lawyer of the Year.” Kevin’s voice oozed with mockery.
“And if it isn’t the city’s worst ex-husband,” Alana remarked.
“Oh, you brought your Pitbull along.”
Did he just call my paralegal a bitch? Asshole!
I raised my glass in a mock toast. “I don’t think she’s the one you should be worried about. My bite is worse than my bark.”
Alana giggled, and Kevin looked like I’d slapped him. Oh, yeah, for years, I’d been his bitch, but not any longer.
“Where’s the boyfriend?” he crooned. “Dumped your ass did he?”
My answer to that, truthfully, was it’s complicated . But I wasn’t giving him that satisfaction.
“Why would he do that?” I asked, feigning innocence, and then because I was out of fucks, I raised my voice, “Was it because you told him I was still having sex with you?”
He gaped at me as some people chuckled, and the whispers around us intensified. Lawyers and judges frequented this bar because it was close to court. Plenty of people knew both Kevin and me.
“You think I’d go anywhere near your infected dick?” I demanded casually and took a leisurely sip of my whiskey.
“You tell him, lady,” someone slurred.
“You’re gagging for my dick.” Kevin got into my personal space. “You think I don’t know what that Marco dude is? Your rebound.”
“We got divorced five years and four of your bimbos ago, Kevin; you really think this is the first man I’ve been with?” I picked up the glass of water the waiter had given me and brought it close to his face. “Step the fuck back, or I will throw this at you.”
I didn’t want to waste good Scotch on this asshole.
He, thankfully, stepped back, but he unfortunately didn’t go too far. He now had to save face, didn’t he? I’d showed him up, and he needed to gain that ground back, which meant he’d come after me. He knew how to push my buttons, yes, but I knew him just as well, probably better since he did the talking and I the listening in our marriage.
“Your own kids think you’re a failure, you think you can keep a man like that?”
Okay, so that hit hard.
“Marco isn’t my kid. Unlike you, he’s a fully grown man,” I threw back at him. A few women chuckled. Someone clapped.
Kevin clenched his jaw. “The only reason Davis and Presley are even talking to you is because I told them to.”
“The reason they’re talking to me, Kevin, is because they’re my children. The reason they felt they couldn’t earlier was because you manipulated them. Now, they’ve seen who you are, a man so petty and bitter that he’ll ruin his children’s relationship with their mother.”
If we were washing our dirty linen in public, I would also want the undies with skid marks out there.
“Marco and I talked about you,” Kevin continued, now grasping for straws. I was starting to enjoy this.
“Yeah, he told me how you’re still panting after me.” I had no idea what Kevin had said because I lost my shit before Marco could tell me, and now I’d probably never know.
Damn it! I had to apologize to Marco for being a grade-A bitch.
“You are the one doin’ the panting. You think I don’t see how you chase after me? You’re not over me. You’ll never be over me. You’re still the insecure little woman I walked out on five years ago.”
I laughed, and Alana joined me.
“You think he’s drinking too much and that’s why his memory is faulty?” Alana mused, tapping her chin with a finger.
“Probably because I remember clearly filing for divorce on grounds of infidelity. I even named…what was her name?”
Alana shrugged. “Mindy, Cindy, Candy…something?”
“You bitch.” Kevin moved again to get close to me.
“Hey, buddy, you need to close your tab and walk out of here.” The bartender could see trouble was brewing, and since I was stone-cold sober and Kevin wasn’t, he knew where the trouble was coming from.
“Do you know how much money I spend here every month? More than your Goddamn salary,” Kevin barked at him.
“Christ, Kevin, you’re such a miserable little shit.” I pushed my barstool back and stood up. “You’re not that wealthy. In fact, my boyfriend has a bigger portfolio than yours…a bigger cock too.” I looked at his crotch with some disdain.
So, that was really petty and so fucking satisfying.
Kevin blinked, clearly not expecting that. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I took a step closer, challenging him like I never had before. “Do you honestly think I’ve spent the last five years pining after you? Because let me tell you something, Kevin—you’re not worth it. You never were.”
The bar had gone quiet now, the murmurs of conversation fading as people began to listen.
“You cheated on me, you dipshit,” I continued. “You lied to me and betrayed your marriage vows. And you dare to act like I’m the one who can’t let go? Newsflash, Kevin—it’s you . You’re the one who can’t stand that I’ve moved on, that I’m happy without you.”
“Like hell you’re happy,” Kevin sputtered, his composure slipping.
“Oh, I am. I am, after all, the Best Divorce Lawyer in Atlanta, and I’m dating one of the hottest CEOs in the city.” I sneered at him and added, “You couldn’t handle a strong woman then, and you can’t handle one now.”
“Heard that Brittany dumped his ass because he couldn’t perform,” a woman called out from the back.
I grinned. “No kidding. Really?”
A few people at the bar chuckled, and someone muttered, “Ouch.”
Kevin’s face went beet red, but I wasn’t done.
“And for the record,” I said, my voice rising, “Marco didn’t leave even though you tried to poison him. We’re still very much together .”
The bar erupted into applause, the sound filling the room like a wave. A few people booed Kevin, who looked like he wanted to sink into the floor.
I stepped back, my chest heaving.
Kevin pulled out his wallet, dropped cash on the bar, and stormed out.
“Drinks on the house for that one!” A bartender called out, pointing to me. “Darlin’, if you ever get rid of that other guy?—”
“His name is Marco,” a keen listener of our argument helped the bartender out.
“Yeah, if you get rid of Marco. I have a thing for a sexy, mature woman.”
“And his dick is fabulous. I can confirm.” A sexy blonde winked at me.
“Thanks for the offer.” I finished my drink. “But I’m taken.”
So, I didn’t know where I stood with Marco. But damn it, I wanted him back, us back. What if he was too angry and didn’t want to have anything to do with me? What if he was relieved it was over?
Oh, no, no, no! I silenced my inner critic. Hell no!
I was Leah Stahl. Lawyer of the Year. Mother. Friend. Hot, mature woman. And I was worthy of a man like Marco.
I just had to win him back.