Chapter 49
Asharp knock pulls me from my slumber. Stumbling out of bed, I grab my silk robe and head toward the door, muttering, “What the hell?”
“Adam!” I blurt, startled. The smell of my favorite coffee is emanating from the cup in his hand. “What are you doing here?”
“Coffee,” he says. I take it from him and immediately set it on the end table where I keep my keys. I never should have told him it was okay to come directly to my unit after we had sex in January. What a fucking mistake!
“What are you doing here?” I ask again, placing my arm in the doorway to be as uninviting as possible. He cannot come in. Jesus fucking Christ, he cannot come in right now. Gideon is in my bed, and Adam is here, at the door.
“We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You canceled your card, wanted a copy of your NDA, and are not returning my calls.”
“Right. We broke?—”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Adam interrupts, glancing down. I follow his line of sight, my stomach plummeting as I see Gideon’s shoes beside mine. Fuck.
“Let’s see the guy who’s fucking you in the bed I bought, in the apartment I pay for.” He sneers as he tries to take a step into the apartment. I push his chest back, and he squeezes my arm, moving me to the side.
“Let go!” I scream. “Are we literally going to have this same fight, the one that broke us up all over again?”
“You’re an impetuous fucking child.” He seethes, letting go of my arm and taking a step back. “Already fucking some other guy.”
“This is exactly why I broke up with you!” I yell. “Great to see all the therapy in the world can’t fix the one thing that scares me most about you!” Rubbing my arm, my heart shatters that this is the kind of guy Adam really is—angry and violent.
“I barely touched your arm.”
“Don’t you dare try to gaslight me right now!”
We hold a heated gaze until his eyes land on my neck. On the hickey. “I can’t believe you either,” he says, the tears forming in his eyes. “Like you are going to go back to being poor,” he mocks.
“Fuck you! You need to leave. Don’t try to reduce me to some gold digger.”
“You got used to my lifestyle. Don’t lie to yourself.”
“This is not the way to try to convince me to be the mother of your children. You think I want to worry about my kids’ dad grabbing them like that?” I say, knowing it will cut him deep, but I’m fucking serious.
His face twists in pain. “I’m sorry.” I shake my head. “What do you need?” He looks back at Gideon’s shoes. “A month to fuck a bunch of guys and then come back to me?”
“I need you to never fucking touch me like that again. But that’s never going to happen!” I huff. “I’m not coming back to you.”
“Don’t fuck this up.”
“Fuck what up?”
“You are so close to having the life you’ve always wanted.”
“I’ve never wanted an angry man.”
I slam the door, flipping the lock, and stomp to my bedroom.
Gideon’s standing in my bedroom doorway, tense.
Opening my jewelry box, I grab the ring, the symbol that Adam and I are still connected.
I open the main door to see Adam standing just a few paces away, watching me with red-rimmed eyes.
I throw the ring, and it lands with a hollow clang on the floor between us.
“Our fantasy is over,” I cry. “I’m not having your babies. I’m not going to be your perfect housewife.” With every second the ring lays on the floor, its symbolism fades. “I’m done, Adam. I am really fucking done.”
He looks at the ring on the floor, then lifts his eyes to meet mine. Tears run down his cheeks as he gets into the elevator.