42. Margot
Chapter 42
Margot
H ow do you survive missing someone who felt like they were a part of your existence?
I’ve cried countless tears and the heavy ache that presses down on my chest is making it hard to breathe. I feel like a ghost . And being in my old room hasn’t provided me any comfort.
Things are awkward with Josephine and Alvin. He’s hardly here and Josephine has taken to hovering by my door, trying to coddle me. I guess that’s her way of trying to apologize, but all I can think about is him . Massimo .
There’s no scent of him clinging to the sheets. No low murmur of his voice from down the hall. No weight of his presence filling the space like something tangible, something inescapable.
I need to get out of here .
Smoothing my palms down the front of my jeans, I force my body into motion, desperate to escape the suffocating air. I rush through the back door, following the path around the house to the front, my vision blurry as I gasp for air.
God , I wish that I wasn’t so drowned in him. It feels like he’s in my bloodstream, tangled in every part of me and there is nothing I can do to rid myself of him. Even if I wanted to .
A whimpered sob slips from my lips as the tears tumble unchecked down my cheeks. I swipe angrily at my eyes, frustrated that I feel so weak.
When I round the corner, I come up short, my brows pulling low. Leaning against his Bugatti parked at the curb, with his hands in his pockets and his dark eyes locked on me is my husband , Massimo.
My stomach tightens. Why is he here? To pick up the divorce papers? I haven’t signed them. I couldn’t bring myself to. Besides, they’re stained with my tears and I couldn’t bear for him to see that.
I sniff back my emotions, praying that he wasn’t watching when I came around the corner. The last time he waited for me like this, I hated him. I’d felt trapped and forced into a fate that I couldn’t escape from. But now? I’d give anything to have him take me home and return the love I feel for him. I made a mistake by leaving . Having him close, even if he didn’t return my love, would have been preferential to this .
His face is a mask but as I get closer I see a flicker of vulnerability. That can’t be right . “What are you doing here, Massimo?”
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “You know what.”
My stomach twists. “I haven’t signed the papers yet. Could you not give me more than a day to process the end of our marriage?” My voice cracks, betraying me. I force myself to look away, but I already know it’s too late. The silence between us stretches heavy and thick.
“Fuck,” he breathes, closing the space between us, stopping just short of touching me. “I didn’t come here to get the fucking papers, Margot. I came to get my wife .”
What? Does he want me now that I’m out of reach? “Why? Do you want me now that you can’t have me? Am I just another shiny object to collect?” My voice wavers with anger and heartbreak.
“No. It was never like that.”
I lift my eyes to his, searching the almost inky black depths. There’s a raw longing, like he'd do anything to keep me, and my heart flutters with hope.
“I—You…” I stutter, unsure of what to say.
Massimo looks away, inhaling sharply before returning his focus to me. “Let me start again.” He licks his lips, before clearing his throat. “From the moment I was shown your picture, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. But when I met you and I saw the fight you had inside of you, I was obsessed. I’d planned for us to have a long engagement and find out if we were a good fit but the second you walked around that corner.” He points in the direction I’d just come. “I knew I couldn’t wait. There was just one thing I wanted to change about you.”
My breath hitches, and I lean in a fraction, my heart pounding. “One thing?”
Smoothing back a strand of my hair, he draws his finger down my face, my neck, over my pounding heart and down my arm until he captures my hand. He lifts it between us, turning it over and watching the diamond that I couldn’t bring myself to remove, glisten under the sun.
“Your last name. Fuck, that sounds corny.” He laughs before falling serious again. “That need festered deep inside of me until claiming you was the only thing I could think about. I didn’t care whether you wanted it or not. I guess I was living up to my nickname, taking what I wanted.”
Oh .
All of the air leaves my lungs in a sharp exhale and I blink up at him. I swallow down my giddiness as everything starts to make sense. The fights. The passion. The way we’ve never stopped pulling toward each other, even when we were at war. He was drowning in us as much as I was.
Massimo places my hand over his heart and through the fabric of his shirt and I can feel its erratic beat. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply before opening them again, his sincerity and adoration for me shining brightly in his gaze. His lips part, but no sound comes out before he closes it and I watch his throat work.
When he finally speaks, his voice is a hushed confession, only meant for my ears. “I love you, Margot.”
Holy shit . He loves me. I spent so long convincing myself that he never would, that our relationship was purely transactional. A way for him to possess me.
I suck in a breath, tears of joy filling my eyes as my face splits into a grin. This isn’t him trying to manipulate me or win a game. This is him giving me everything he has and asking for all of me in return.
Throwing myself at him, I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my nose in the crook, inhaling his woodsy scent. I love him so much it terrifies me .
When I pull away, I smooth my fingers down his face and say, “I love you too, Massimo.” Relief floods his expression. “Now, take me home.”
His exhale is shaky before he threads his fingers into my hair and kisses me with so much passion and love that my knees buckle. Breaking away, he leads me to the car.
To our future .