Chapter Two
Zeke
“Fuck…” I sigh.
“Run her off already, Zeke?” Geno asks.
“She’s my ex,” I say. “Kevin, what the fuck? Why didn’t you tell us she was starting today?”
“He did. You were just too busy fighting with Meghan again,” Parker remarks, setting his coffee on his desk.
“She’s likely going down to see Levi. They are close friends,” Kevin says. “Although, I wasn’t supposed to know that. Levi warned me she has pretty bad anxiety.”
“Why did you hire her then?” I ask coldly. That was shitty. He hired her because she is fucking brilliant.
When I left for college, I really did think she would show up and want to work things out.
We got into an argument about colleges because my parents wanted me to go to Harvard, but she got in somewhere else.
I could have gone with her, and I wanted to, but I doubted whether she even wanted to stay together.
When she never showed up to talk through things, I left.
Does she know I’m married to her best friend?
Well, ex-best friend. Mariska cut everyone off, but her parents, and they flat-out refuse to talk to me about her.
What broke my girl so badly that she would run from me like that? She looked fucking terrified of me.
“I’m going to go talk to her,” I say with a heavy sigh.
“Is that a good idea?” Kevin asks.
“Well, if she is my partner, she probably needs to know I married her best friend,” I say.
“What the fuck?” Parker asks. He’s giving me a look like I am the worst person, and I absolutely am.
I let Meghan get me fucking plastered so she could fuck me the day after Mariska never showed up.
I don’t remember most of it, and I didn’t exactly want it, but I still came, and she still got pregnant.
Granted, she miscarried, but still. It happened.
I turn and go to the elevator, but Kevin walks with me. It might keep her from shooting me if there are witnesses.
When the elevator dings and we step out into the basement, I can hear her crying. That sound… It fucking hurts. “Fuck…” I sigh again.
“Her friend? Really?” Kevin asks. “If she stays, I’m not switching anything. I don’t give a fuck if your wife gets mad.”
“No, I want her with me,” I admit. I feel weirdly possessive over her, even though Geno and Parker are married men. I mean, I’ve known her since we were eleven, and we dated from fourteen to eighteen.
She looks just as good as I remember. She is stunning and my soul mate.
I’d be a fucking liar if I said I wouldn’t divorce Meghan in a fucking heartbeat to get my girl back.
Considering I know that Meghan is cheating on me, I really don’t care.
The best thing my fucking family did was convince me to get a prenup with her, so she can’t do shit to me.
We don’t have kids, and I can find somewhere else to live.
When we can’t hear her crying anymore, I slowly walk into the morgue where Levi is undoubtedly planning my death.
I’ve heard him talking about his best friend and how he’d fucking kill for her.
Something tells me he knew all along, considering I have absolutely told him about her; I just never said her name.
“Aht,” Levi says as soon as I walk into the room. “You come in here and upset my girl again, I’ll gut you.”
“I’m not going to upset anyone,” I say.
“Liar,” Kevin says.
When Mariska turns to look at me, her face is red and puffy from crying.
She is fucking stunning… I hate that things ended the way they did.
I would have given up everything and willingly walked away from my family for her, but I didn't want her to feel trapped if she went with me.
She would have been in online classes and stuck in my apartment all day while I went to classes.
I just wanted her to have a chance to be the best version of herself, and honestly, my family is so fucking toxic. She deserves so much better.
“Hey, Riss,” I say softly.