Chapter 19
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
ASHER
I was so pissed when I left the office after arguing with Julie, I went to the shower to jerk off and get my shit together. Now that I’ve calmed down, I know I need to apologize. Otherwise Julie will blow it up even more and I am not here for that.
But when I go to look for her, I can’t find her. Not in my office. Not in the living room. Not outside on the deck. Not in the yard. Not down at the lake. Running back inside, I check the garage. Her car is gone. Fuck.
"Devon?" I call out.
She appears at the top of the stairs, leaning against the railing. "Yeah?”
"Where did Julie go?”
She shrugs. “No clue, but she looked like a ghost. She grabbed her purse and keys and rolled out.”
My ears start ringing. "Did she say where she was going?"
"No. She didn't say anything to me at all. Just left."
I pull out my phone and check for texts. Nothing. I try calling. It rings four times and goes to voicemail. "Fuck."
"That was a big fight. I heard you call her a cunt. Is everything okay?" Devon asks, but there's something in her voice that tells me she already knows the answer.
I don't respond. I'm already calculating.
Julie left. She's angry. She's probably going to her sister's place.
Jamie will tell her to leave me. And if Julie leaves me now, I might be fucked.
My father's Living Trust hasn't been read yet and won’t be until the one year anniversary of his death. There has to be a reason he did that.
What if he was cruel enough to put conditions on my inheritance? What if staying married to Julie is one of them? I sink onto the couch, my hands shaking.
"Asher?" Devon's voice sounds far away. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I say automatically, but I'm not fine. I'm spiraling.
What if my father set his trust up to punish me if I fucked up? The estate is worth billions. Billions. And I could lose it all if there’s a condition in that will that is based on my still being married.
I try calling her again. There’s no answer. Fuck it. I know where she is. I need to get her back here. I have to keep Julie in this marriage for at least another few months. Just until the Living Trust details are spelled out. Just until I know what I'm dealing with.
Then I can leave. Then I can be free. But not yet. Right now, I need her. So I need to get my head out of my ass and play the part.
Getting her back was harder than I thought. Her sister is now actively against me, which is going to be a problem if I don’t watch it. When I walk into the kitchen the next morning, Julie’s already dressed for work, making tea. She doesn't look at me when I walk in.
"Hey," I say softly.
"Hey."
"I'm glad you're home."
“Me too."
She doesn’t mean it though. Not really. I know my wife. I know her tells and her tones. She’s tense as fuck. I took her right to the edge this time. I shouldn’t have called her a cunt. That was a step too far.
"I meant what I said last night. I'm going to do better,” I assure her. “I'm going to work on this. On us. I love you."
She nods. "I love you too.”
For the first time, I hear some uncertainty beneath the words. When I married her, I would have cared. Now, I don't. Just like that.
At the end of this, we’re over. That’s just a fact. I just need to keep my shit together until then. I got her to come home. I bought myself more time. Now I just have to keep her here.
I hear footsteps on the stairs. Devon appears in the doorway, wearing pajama shorts and a tank top. Her hair is messy from sleep. "Is she gone?" she asks.
"Yeah. She went to work."
Devon walks over and sits at the kitchen island. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I pour myself coffee and lean against the counter. "But we need to talk."
"About what?"
"About last night. About what happened." I set the mug down. "I fucked up. I shouldn't have yelled at Julie like that. I shouldn't have slammed the door. It can't happen again."
Devon tilts her head, studying me. "Why not?"
"Because it wasn’t acceptable.”
She considers this for a moment and then nods. “Okay.”
"We both need to do a better job of keeping things calm around here. You need to be on your best behavior. Can you do that?"
"Of course." She smiles.
There's something in her expression that makes me pause. A gleam in her eye. A satisfaction that she's trying to hide but can't quite manage. She's calm. Composed. Not fragile like Julie.
I like it far more than I should.