Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“It’s a long story—”
“You have my undivided attention.” His eyes continued to bore into mine, aggressive but not irrational.
“I asked for a loan for my restaurant…and he said he had to think about it.” My eyes shifted away. “Suggested that I think about returning to the family business, even though I made it very clear I’ll never change my mind about that. It seemed like he didn’t care about my wants and dreams—only his.”
He listened to every word, not even blinking.
“So I got my own loan at the bank—”
“Attagirl.”
I stilled at the affection in his voice, realizing just how much I’d missed it. “He came over, barely ate my cooking, and I just…got upset. Asked him to leave. We didn’t talk for a while. I was angry with him, but I didn’t really understand why. Now I do. It’s because I had doubts… You were right.”
His body stayed rigid, muscular arms over his hard chest.
“I’ve been miserable without you.”
His stare remained hard, but there was a flicker of weakness, a blink of his eyes. But it was the first break in his rough exterior.
“You have no idea just how miserable.”
“I have a pretty good idea.”
I looked away, ashamed of my stupidity. “I wish I could take it back.”
“Don’t we all?”
My heart dropped into my stomach because I’d hoped I would be welcomed with open arms, that telling him this would change our circumstances, but he still seemed so angry. “I was just at my father’s house to show him the papers you sent me, but he had someone over for dinner. I left and sat in the car for a while, so miserable that I just stared at the darkness. But then I realized I’d forgotten my purse, so I went back inside and heard my father say something…say something horrible.”
His eyes narrowed. “And what did he say?”
“He asked someone to kill you and Theo.”
Lashing out in anger would be an appropriate reaction, but he smirked instead, a slight smirk mixed with a frown. “He never learns, does he?”
“Maybe I misunderstood him—”
“Trust me, you didn’t,” he said. “Who was he speaking to?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him.”
“Is there any identifying information you can provide me?”
At the time, all I’d cared about was what my father said, not who he’d said it to. “I think he was French.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He said he preferred French wine, and he had a French accent.”
Axel’s eyebrows furrowed. “You didn’t get a name? You didn’t recognize his voice?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”
His left hand moved to his chin to rub the scruff on his jawline. He was so focused on the information I’d just shared that he didn’t notice my stare.
He still wore his wedding ring.
He still wore it.
He paced for a moment, rubbing his bottom lip with his fingertips, his eyes glazed over in a haze. “Thank you for sharing this with me.” He came back to me, both arms crossed over his chest again.
I’d expected more. I’d expected an embrace…a kiss…something.
But he continued to stand far away from me, treating me like a stranger.
“I miss you.” I felt the tears form behind my eyes. He used to be all over me all the time, and now I realized how special that was. He’d made me feel loved long before he’d said it. He made every other guy in my life feel like a damn joke.
His eyes hardened at my admission, locking me out and throwing away the key.
“I love you—”
“You don’t get to do that.”
My body gave an involuntary flinch at his savagery. He had been barbaric to me during our last conversation, but I’d let it go because I knew he was more than his coldness in that moment. But it looked like that coldness was here to stay.
“You only believe me because you caught him red-handed.”
“I didn’t catch him red-handed. I heard him say something unrelated—”
“That he’s conspiring to kill the man you love. Smoking gun.”
My eyes flicked back and forth between his, hating the abrupt change in our relationship, the rift that couldn’t be healed. “I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you, but you must understand how complicated of a situation that was for me—”
“It’s not complicated.”
“He’s all I’ve ever had. Do you have any idea how this will destroy me?” The tears broke free. “That the man I thought I could trust, no matter what, destroyed my marriage and hurt the man I love most? I haven’t even had time to process this because I rushed straight here after I found out, because I care more about you right now.”
His gaze was still hard as steel, showing he felt absolutely nothing.
“Please…give me another chance.”
He looked away, staring at the wall for a few seconds before shifting his stare to the floor. “Your father gave me a choice. You or my parents. I chose my parents, but I somehow lost both of you. That man has single-handedly ruined my life, and I had to tolerate that destruction alone. I jumped through endless hoops to earn you, but when I finally trusted you enough to tell you the truth, you left me.”