Chapter 22
Emerson~
I sat in my car, my fingers white around the steering wheel. I knew that I was partly to blame for this shit because I hadn’t forced the conversation with Ramsey, but I never imagined that he’d actually show up at the CPS offices to confront Adrian.
When Ramsey had called me to tell me that he’d gotten into it with my boss, I’d just been leaving my last house visit for the day, and all I’d seen was red. He was out of control, making this situation a lot more complicated than it needed to be. In fact, it shouldn’t be complicated at all. Like every other man on the planet, Adrian Cossacks was irrelevant when it came to my personal life. He didn’t matter, but because Ramsey refused to see that, it was very possible that I was going to walk into my office with management waiting in there to fire me, and it was going to be hard to blame them if they were.
I also didn’t know who to direct my anger at. While I knew that Ramsey was responsible for his own actions, Adrian wasn’t exactly professing his innocence, either. He hadn’t said anything to assure me that Ramsey was just overreacting, and so that’s when I should have done something besides just let my husband manipulate me with sex. I should have insisted that Ramsey and I talk this through, and then I should have had another conversation with Adrian, reiterating what I’d said earlier.
Getting out of my car, I let out a deep breath before making my way into the building, then to the third floor to put my stuff away. Like before, I didn’t need my phone going off while speaking with my supervisor about something so important. I had no idea how our conversation was going to go, and I also had no idea what I was going to do if Ramsey had cost me my job.
Never having been a coward, I put my stuff away, then headed to the fourth floor. My heart was pounding in my chest, but not because I was scared. It was beating like a drum at the thought of disappointing all my kids. The very idea of just disappearing from their lives physically hurt my heart. While there were thousands of other children’s programs that I could go work for, the children that were currently under my supervision mattered to me, and I wasn’t ready to stop helping them.
When I finally reached Adrian’s office, the door was closed, but that didn’t stop me from knocking. If he was in a private meeting with someone or on a conference call, then his silence would be answer enough, and if that were the case, then I could just go back down to my office, then book an appointment with him.
Knocking on the door, his voice was muffled permission behind the wood. “Come in.”
Reaching for the knob, I turned it, then pushed the door open, letting myself in. Now, while I still didn’t shut the door behind me, I did shut it enough to leave only a small crack of space. However, as soon as Adrian looked up at me from his desk, any thought of privacy vanished.
“Oh, my God…” I whispered behind my hand.
“Courtesy of your husband,” he stated coldly, and if I’d had any hope of saving my job before, Adrian’s bruised cheek and split lip erased all that.
“Adrian…I…I don’t know what to say,” I told him as I walked further into his office, and that was because I really didn’t. Ramsey hadn’t mentioned hitting him. “This entire situation has…has gone out of control.”
Adrian dropped his pen on the desk, then stood up to come meet me halfway. “What are you doing with a man like that, Emerson?” he asked, surprising me a bit. “You’re too good for…for a violent thug disguised in a suit.”
While it was on the tip of my tongue to automatically defend Ramsey, Adrian wasn’t necessarily wrong about him. After all, thug was just another word for bully, and Ramsey had no problem using his wealth, power, intelligence, status, and strength to get what he wanted. Ramsey was extremely influential, and he was intimidating enough to get his way most of the time, so it was kind of hard to accuse Adrian of talking crap when it was so close to the truth. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to allow anyone to talk shit about my husband.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Adrian,” I told him. “All you know about Ramsey is what you’ve read in the news and what you assumed from your brief encounters with him, but that’s it. You don’t know the person that he really is.”
“My face says otherwise, Emerson,” he bit out.
“Ramsey’s not an adolescent kid anymore,” I pointed out. “He no longer goes off unless he’s been provoked, and you sending me flowers falls under that category, Adrian. What on earth made you think that sending me flowers was an appropriate thing to do?”
“They were an apology,” he replied, though we both knew that he was lying.
“Be that as it may, you still sent flowers to a woman whose husband has already made it clear that he’s suspicious of your motives,” I recapped. “What did you think was going to happen?”
Adrian came to stand in front of me. “So, you’re excusing his behavior?”
I shook my head. “No, not at all,” I replied honestly. “I’m simply distributing the fault evenly.”
Ignoring his complicity, he said, “Emerson, you deserve better.”
“How do you know?”
His head jerked back a bit, a scowl appearing. “What?”
“How do you know?” I repeated. “You don’t know me outside of work, Adrian. You have no idea what kind of person I am when I’m not at my professional best. For all you know, I could have cheated on Ramsey before, and so that’s why he acts this way.”
His eyes blinked wide. “Have you?”
“No,” I bit out, him deliberately missing the point. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Well, you said-”
“I know what I said,” I snapped, cutting him off. “However, I only said that to make a point. You don’t know me, Adrian. You have no idea what I do or don’t deserve. Add to that, you don’t know my husband, either. You’re clearly underestimating the both of us, only I have no idea why.”
“Cards on the table?”
“That’s the only way I prefer things,” I assured him.
“You’re the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen, and when I look at you, I don’t see someone that works for me,” he finally admitted. “When I see you, I see someone that would see the truth if she just gave me a chance.”
“And what truth is that?”
“That I’m a better man for you than your husband,” he stated confidently, and it was hard not to laugh at him. He really was on a different planet.
“How do you figure?” I challenged.
“I just am.”
“Let me ask you this,” I said evenly. “What’s attractive about a man that has no respect for the sanctity of marriage?” I didn’t let him answer because we both already knew the answer. “See, while most women would feel flattered by the attention, I actually feel insulted.”
“Insulted?” he echoed incredulously.
“Yes, insulted,” I repeated. “By hitting on me, you’re painting me as the type of woman that would cheat on her husband, and I’m not a cheater. I’m also not the type of woman that would leave my husband for another man. I’m not that weak.”
He arched a brow. “Weak?”
“Yes, weak,” I reiterated. “See, I’m not afraid of my husband. I’m not afraid to talk to him, express my displeasure, or fight with him. If my husband and I aren’t communicating, it’s because we suck at it, not because we’re afraid to. So, by not being afraid to talk to my husband, he’s always given the chance to make things right between us. No other man will ever have the opportunity to mend my poor, sad, neglected, unappreciated heart because I’m not the type of woman to ever let things get that far. If I’m unhappy, Ramsey is the first to know about it.”
“I still think that you deserve better than someone who solves his problems with his fists,” he repeated, dismissing everything that I’d just said.
“While what I deserve is debatable, I’ll tell you what I want,” I replied, keeping my voice sounding as serious as possible. “I want a man that respects what the rings on my finger represent. I want a man that doesn’t believe that cheating is acceptable under certain conditions. I want a man that understands the commitment of marriage, because if he can excuse a woman cheating on her husband, then he can certainly excuse his own infidelity if he thinks his excuse is reason enough to break his vows.” I straightened to my full height, though it wasn’t very intimidating. “Ramsey is that man, Adrian. My husband will never cheat on me, never leave me, or ever let me leave him, and that’s the kind of love and commitment that I want.”
His jaw ticked in anger before he said, “I can always sue him for assaulting me. Unless, of course, you’re willing to make things right.”
I laughed, and I kept laughing as I turned from him, then walked out of his office. He just sealed his fate, and he didn’t even know it yet.