Chapter 28 #2
With the edge of his collar, he mopped sweat from his upper lip. “You wanted it,” he said with a flippant jerk of his shoulder. “You made that very clear from the start and you never let me forget it.”
I tried to remember whether he’d always been this repulsive. Why had I found this man attractive? What about him had I liked? And it wasn’t all about physical appearance but everything about him was stale white bread. That was it. He was bland and boring, and righteous in his flavorlessness.
“And yet that doesn’t address the question,” I said. “Why propose if it wasn’t what you wanted?”
He shook his head and slapped a hand on the picnic table. The people on either side of us turned to stare. “I didn’t fucking care one way or the other.”
A chill started at the base of my neck, swept down my torso, curled low in my belly. It felt like dread and it felt like something I’d always known but couldn’t face. It was awful.
“Hooking up with you was convenient. You took care of the condo. You knew how to play along at cocktail parties and business dinners. But you were just”—he pounded his fist on the table several times and I noticed people pushing to their feet nearby—“nonstop with the marriage thing. Wouldn’t let it go. ”
I’d always resented him for canceling the wedding with a phone call. I hated that he refused to look me in the eye as he ended it.
I knew better now. I knew that watching him form the words and giving oxygen to the dark thoughts that lingered in the mean, self-loathing corner of my mind was far, far worse.
“I figured you’d ease up once you had the ring,” he went on.
I was frozen all the way to my toes now.
“But I was wrong about that. You just turned into a nag. It was always fucking something.” He wiped his forehead again.
I didn’t understand how he could be warm enough to sweat when I was as cold as a corpse.
“You don’t know when to give it a rest, Shay.
You force it. You do it all the damn time.
You invent projects and force everything to be exactly the way you want. ”
Jaime hadn’t said it that way but there were a few similar threads.
I’d made up my mind about Xavier and no one could talk me out of it.
I’d barreled forward, not only in ignoring her concerns but also in ignoring his disinterest. Not to mention the white bread issue.
I’d ignored everything. And I’d forced it, just like he said.
He ran his sneering gaze over the shirt knotted at my waist, showing a bit of skin, and my huge earrings. “And I thought you were going to drop some weight. You didn’t.”
My lips parted but no words came out. I went down an entire dress size for that wedding. I suffered and starved for that wedding. And he knew that.
He was also the same man who had given his family advance warning about calling the wedding off yet gifted me the humiliation of making that announcement while I was surrounded by photographers and makeup artists and friends.
I didn’t know where I found the strength but I collected the mail and pushed to my feet. “We’re finished, Xavier. Never, ever call me again.”
He reached out, grabbed hold of my wrist and jerked me back down to the bench. My bracelet tightened and twisted in his grip and I could feel the charms biting into my skin. “I’m not leaving without that ring.”
“Xavier,” I snapped. “Stop it.”
“Stop being such a bitch and give me the ring.”
A shadow fell over the table and a hand yanked Xavier up by the shirt. “Let her go before I rip your fucking arm off.”
“What the fuck—” Xavier dropped my hand as he scrambled to his feet, Noah still looming over him. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are but—”
“Go back to the table, Shay,” Noah said through clenched teeth.
I stumbled away from them, bumping into market-goers and picnic benches as I went.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t bring myself to look back at Noah and Xavier until I’d fished the engagement ring out of the coin pocket in my wallet.
I pressed it into my palm, unrelenting metal and stone, and allowed that pain to carry me back to the man who’d never wanted me, never cared for me, never respected me.
The man I had to face one last time before I could drown myself in the shameful truth of his words.
When I reached the table, I found Noah glaring fire and daggers at Xavier. For his part, Xavier stood with his arms crossed over his freshly rumpled polo shirt and his body angled toward the exit.
Noah held out his arm, barring me from getting any closer.
“You’re staying out of reach,” he growled.
“I’ll handle it from here.” I dropped the ring into his palm.
To Xavier, he said, “You will never touch her again. If you see this woman coming, you’ll turn around and walk in the opposite direction.
You’ll stay the fuck away from her. You will never speak to her again.
Am I making myself clear? Not a call, not a text, not an email. Not a goddamn word from you.”
Still staring at the exit, Xavier said, “Yeah. Fine. Whatever. It’s not like I give a shit. I just want my property back.”
“You’re running your mouth to the wrong person,” Noah replied.
“As far as property law goes, an engagement ring stops belonging to you when you intend to give it as a gift and then carry out that intention, and finally when it is accepted as a gift by the recipient. Unless you have documentation proving otherwise—and I have it on good authority that you didn’t draw up a prenuptial agreement—this ring belongs to Shay. ”
A shaky smile pushed at my lips.
“You might have had a leg to stand on if she had been the one to break off the engagement, but in this case”—Noah gave a low whistle—“you did that all by yourself, didn’t you?
” He held the ring between his fingers and frowned at the severe edges of the princess-cut diamond.
“But if you’d rather sort this out in court, you should know I’ll be representing Miss Zucconi and I have all the time in the world to fuck you over.
I will find all the skeletons in all of your closets.
I’ll dig them up if I have to. I’ll bury you in legal proceedings and court fees.
I’ll make it impossible for you to move more than an inch without triggering an avalanche of lawsuits.
I’ll end you. Do you understand me yet?”
One last thing to know about Xavier was that he didn’t care whether his business dealings were aboveboard.
He didn’t mind taking cash under the table or claiming residency in a tax haven or fudging some of the documentation.
I didn’t know many of the details on these gray dealings—though I really, really should’ve listened to Jaime when I had the chance—but I knew enough to recognize when Noah hit him where he was most vulnerable.
Xavier took a step back and held up his hands. “Crystal clear.”
Noah set the ring on the table, the ring I’d forced myself to love.
It wasn’t round—as I’d mentioned was my preference—and the band was yellow gold—which looked terrible next to my skin—but it was big and I’d led myself to believe that meant something.
It meant nothing at all and I should’ve known better but I was the fool who ignored all the signs. Every last one of them.
Noah tapped a finger on the table. “Get the fuck out of here and never come back.”