Chapter Thirty
At this point, I was certain the world was purposely trying to screw me over.
Laurence stood on the porch, dressed in his usual attire. Cream jumper, brown trousers, and a charming smile that no longer made me swoon on my feet.
Months ago, even thinking about him, let alone seeing him, tore my lungs into shreds and brought hot, painful tears to my eyes.
Now, I felt nothing.
Not a single damn thing.
“Evelyn,” he drew my name out. It sounded wrong coming from his mouth after months of being with Jaxon. “You’re looking as lovely as ever.”
That was a plain-faced lie.
Standing in old pajama bottoms, make-up long gone, hair bundled atop my head, and Jaxon’s plain black top hanging near my knees, I knew I looked anything but lovely.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “How did you get this address?”
“Aren’t you going to invite me in? Show me around your new home?”
My day was exhausting enough without dealing with Laurence and his mind games. Irritation and impatience told me to close the door in his face. “Answer the questions.”
“Was this meant to be our home?” He snuck a peek over my shoulder. “The color scheme definitely would have been the first to go. Not to mention the fact that it’s way too small. We always wanted something grander, didn’t we? Somewhere with a big front garden for our kids.”
Whatever game Laurence was playing, I was not in the mood.
“I don’t have time for whatever this is,” I clicked my tongue. “Goodnight, Laurence.”
A lazy, knowing smile curled on his lips before I could close the door. “Flynn passed along your details. The two of us had a rather interesting chat the other night at the boat club.”
It unsettled me that Flynn told him where I was living. I knew we were not on the best of terms, but I didn’t think he’d stoop as low as handing my ex-fiancé my home address without consulting me first.
“He’s quite upset with you,” Laurence said. “You know what your brother is like. After a bottle of vodka, he’s very loose-lipped. He lets all sorts of secrets slip, especially when he is upset.”
Time itself stilled.
“He told me all about your father, how it’s only a matter of days before he finally dies,” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me how sick he was?”
“Dad asked for us to keep it secret.”
Laurence rolled his eyes. “Of course, your father merely has to say jump and you will happily ask how high.”
“Did you honestly come all the way to stand here and insult me? Because if you have, then damn, your life truly is pathetic.”
“You do realize it’s the reason I ended it with you? Your utmost loyalty to your father. It’s not as endearing as you believe. The second he got sick, you fled back to him, abandoning me and our life without as much as a second thought.”
“He’s my dad!”
“Between him and that brother of yours. You always found a way to put them before me. I want a wife who is devoted to me, and only me. Your family always got in the way of that, and you let them.”
A strangled laugh burst from me at his utter absurdity.
Months of my life were wasted crying over him. Picking apart the four years we were together, trying to find the reason he walked away. I tortured myself, believing there was something wrong with me.
My love for my family killed my engagement.
“Flynn enlightened me about your situation,” he said. “He told me that your marriage stunt is nothing more than business.”
“He told you that?”
“Here I thought you went and married that fucker to try and make me jealous.”
I was stuck between slamming the door in his arrogant face and unable to move from shock. There were many times Flynn had been upset with me. His tantrums normally lasted a couple days, sometimes only hours.
The fact that he went behind my back to the man who left me completely brokenhearted and told him private things about my life, was a slap in the face.
Flynn was my brother. He was supposed to look out for me. I always tried to do my best by him, always putting him first and keeping his head above water, always putting him and my dad first.
And this was how he repaid me?
“I’ve had a talk with a member of my legal team. They said they can help you file for divorce, maybe even swing for an annulment, if we play our cards right,” he said. “Couple weeks and then you will be rid of this mistake.”
I blinked several times. “Excuse me?”
A car’s engine echoed through the empty street.
“Don’t get me wrong, it will be expensive. Knowing what I know about the Dades and your lack of prenup, they will go after everything you have” He inspected his fingernails. “But we can spin that you married him during a moment of insanity. You weren’t in the right frame of mind. Whatever it takes to make your silly error in judgment go away.”
Was he being serious?
Laurence grabbed my hand, holding it between both of his. “I can fix this for you. We can find a way to make it work between us again.”
We both jumped as a car door slammed shut. Laurence’s head spun faster than a cartwheel to see Jaxon strolling up the garden path. Jaxon’s gaze lazily drifted between us, a lethally calm smile on his lips when he spotted our hands together.
“Speak of the devil,” Laurence said.
Jaxon’s face remained impassive. “If you were smart, you’d let go of my wife.”
Laurence didn’t budge. “I think we all need to have a little chat. I’m not sure if you know who I am…”
“I know who you are,” Jaxon cut him off, fury hardening his features. “You’re the sorry son of a bitch who is two seconds away from going to the hospital and asking them to remove your own hands from your intestines if you don’t stop touching her.”
“Jaxon, you need to calm down,” I said, attempting to slip my hand away. Laurence’s grip tightened. “Laurence was just leaving.”
Laurence ignored me. “And I know exactly who you are. You are nothing more than a poor business decision, one that is about to be rectified.”
Jaxon’s lips curved into a blood-curdling smile. “Is that so?”
“Yes, say goodbye to Evie. She is leaving with me, and you will never see her again.”
Crack.
Blood gushed from Laurence’s nose.
“I did warn you.” Jaxon rolled his neck. “Now it’s time for you to say goodbye before I do enough damage that no plastic surgeon will be able to save your face.”
Everything moved in slow motion. One second, Laurence was clutching his bloody nose and the next, he was lunging at Jaxon. In a blink, Jaxon dodged the impending fist set for his jaw and reacted by ramming his elbow into Laurence’s ribcage.
“Stop!” I jumped into action before Laurence attempted to retaliate again. He was swaying on his feet, wheezing for breath, while Jaxon stood unfazed. “Laurence, you need to leave!”
“What the fuck is happening?” Lola ran into the hallway. “Oh my god, is that blood?”
Jaxon wiped the crimson droplets off his bleeding fist. “Take this as your only warning to stay away from my wife.”
“You’ve broken a rib, you cunt!” Laurence seethed.
“Consider yourself lucky that’s all I broke,” Jaxon said.
Before any more blood was shed, I put myself firmly between my ex-fiancé and my husband.
Turning to Lola, her eyes widening at the blood pouring like a broken tap from Laurence’s nose, I pointed at the car sitting outside the house. “Lola, take Laurence to the closest hospital.”
“What!?” Lola blinked. “You want me to take that piece of shit to a hospital?”
I shouldn’t care. God help me, I shouldn’t have given a shit, but all that mattered was getting him far away from Jaxon. The two of them were likely to kill each other, and I didn’t wish to dig too deeply and consider who I wanted to win.
“Benny is in the car. He will drive you there and then take you home,” I pleaded. “Just please, make sure he gets to a hospital.”
No one said anything as Lola helped Laurence down the path and bundled him into the back of the car with Benny’s aid. I stood at the doorway, watching the car vanish from the street before following Jaxon back into the house and slamming the door behind me.
“Are you fucking crazy?” I followed him into the kitchen. “What makes you think it’s okay to attack someone like that? Out in public, too! You’re lucky no one rang the police!”
He shrugged off his coat. “I warned him. If he were a smarter man, he wouldn’t have dared touch you in the first place.”
“He was holding my hand, Jaxon! Christ. You can’t just attack someone for holding my hand.”
“Watch me.”
I ran my hands through my scalp. “What are you even doing here? You’re meant to be in Dubai.”
A beat of silence.
“I canceled the trip,” he said slowly. “Before I left for the airport, how we left things… I didn’t like it.”
He came back… for me.
My stomach dipped but I ignored it. “So what, you just come back and start punching people at our front door?”
“Not just people, ma douceur. He is your ex-fiancé. He gave up his right to lay a single finger on you the day he walked away, or did you suddenly forget?”
God damn bastard.
He was baiting me.
“He left. He walked away and didn’t look back until now. Funny how he reappeared the second you slipped that wedding band onto your finger,” he pressed on. “And now what? He wants to swoop in and be your knight in shining armor? Rescue you from the villain ruining your life, huh?”
“And so what if he is?”
His jaw twitched. “Do you want him to?”
No.
There was a time when I was so riddled with heartbreak that I would have done anything to get back to Laurence. Paid any price. But in the last six months with Jaxon, he patched my heart in a way I didn’t think possible.
I didn’t want Laurence.
I wanted Jaxon, but I didn’t want to want a man who would walk away in six months.
He stepped toward me, tension rolling across his shoulders and down his neck. “If that’s what you want, tell me.”
“Do you even care? You are leaving me come August, so why does it matter?”
He said nothing, stopping inches from me. A vein throbbed on his temple. His hands curled into white-knuckled fists. He was holding back, putting his usual restraint on. “I have my reasons.”
I stood my ground. “You want to know what I think? I think you care because you actually care about me. You care and it scares the shit out of you. Because this—” I poked his chest. “—was meant to be nothing more than business to you, and now it’s more. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and rather than actually tell me, you build walls every time you find yourself getting too close.”
The tension was thick enough to cut with a rusty spoon.
“I’m tired of the hot and cold treatment, Jaxon. I am exhausted not knowing where I stand with you,” I pushed. It was now or never. “Because if I am right, and you do care about me, then I need you to say it. Say it and we can stop pretending. You need to tell me because I don’t think I can stand any more heartbreak.”
“You want the truth?”
Yes. No.
“Yes.”
He exhaled unsteadily. “‘Caring’ about you doesn’t even scratch the surface on how I feel. You’re right, it scares me how much you make me feel. The thought of you walking away terrifies me. It was meant to be simple, easy, clean cut. One year and done. I warned you not to fall in love with me, I guess somewhere along the way I forgot to heed my own warning.”
The air was knocked from my lungs.
I warned you not to fall in love with me, I guess somewhere along the way I forgot to heed my own warning.
Everything fell away with those words.
My trembling hands cupped his face. “I didn’t listen to your warning either.”