by E. L. Todd
“But…” Why would he?
“I’m guessing he didn’t want to file them until he got the truth from Laura…at least someone had some hope of my innocence.” He gave me a look full of accusation.
“Cayson, I’m in my second trimester. I can’t fly.”
“But you could have sent someone.”
“Which is what happened.” I stomped my foot.
“No, your dad went on his own and you had no idea. That’s what you told me.”
This was such a nightmare. My faithful husband was so close to me but I couldn’t touch him. I couldn’t have my life back.
“And the fact it had to come to that is just…wrong.” He shook his head. “None of this should have happened. You should have confronted me when you found that letter, listened to my story, and then believed me. But instead, you dragged me through the mud and kicked me out of my own home for two months. “This is completely on you, Skye. Not me.”
“Cayson, I said I was sorry…” My tears leaked and fell down my cheeks. “I love you so much. Please come back to me. I’ll do anything…anything at all.”
His face reddened like he wanted to explode. “I can’t talk about this right now. I have a million things to do today and people are relying on me. I don’t own this company in the way you own yours. I can’t just do whatever the hell I want when I want.”
“Then…can we talk over dinner?”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Skye. I told you we’re finished and I made it clear why. You can apologize but it won’t change anything. What’s done is done.”
“We’re never done.”
He clenched his jaw in irritation. “I never bothered you at work when we were being dragged through the mud. Don’t come here again—unless there’s something important going on with our son. Then you can come in here whenever you want.”
“This does involve our son. We should be a family.”
He rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously using him to guilt me into staying with you?”
“No. I’m reminding you where you belong. Look past your anger and really see me.”
He rubbed his temple in frustration. “I don’t have time to deal with this today. Get out of my office.”
“Then come over after work.”
“No.”
“Please?”
He didn’t blink as he held my gaze. “No.”
I stared at the floor and felt myself fall in despair.
“You had me at your fingertips since the day I hit puberty. All you had to do was appreciate me and I would have been yours. It doesn’t matter how much I’m in love with you. I refuse to be with someone who doesn’t treat me right. You don’t deserve me.”
My bottom lip trembled and I tried not to cry.
“Please go, Skye. I won’t call security on you but I’ll drag you out myself. And believe me, that’ll feel much worse.”
I didn’t hold back the tears because it was impossible. My face was red and blotchy so I turned around and left. I’d hit rock bottom but that didn’t matter to Cayson.
I really lost him.
Chapter Eight
Sean
“Scarlet, I have to do something.”
“Just leave Cayson alone.” Scarlet stood in front of the door so I couldn’t leave.
“You don’t understand.” I growled because I physically couldn’t move her. “I have to fix this. I can’t let this happen.”
“Give him space.”
“No, he’s out of his mind and he needs to be talked down.”
Scarlet pressed a hand to my chest. “We both know how much Cayson loves Skye. They’ll make it work.”
I didn’t believe that anymore. “If I just explain what happened, he might feel differently.”
“He knows what happened.”
I was growing impatient. “Please move.”
“You’re just going to make it worse.”
“Now.”
“Sean—”
“Baby, I have to do something. I can’t sit here and twirl my thumbs. My daughter’s happiness is on the line. I need to talk to him.”
“Sean, you punched him.”
“That was weeks ago.”
“It doesn’t matter. The relationship is different now. Cayson doesn’t see you the same way anymore. You’re the last person who should talk to him.”
“Then are you going to go?”
“No. Like I said, he needs space. Give him a few days to cool off and he’ll think rationally again.”
“Love isn’t rational. That won’t help us.”
“With him, it is. Now back off.”
I couldn’t back off. I had to intervene. I had to do something to fix this. I picked up Scarlet by her legs then spun around and returned her to the floor.
“Sean!”
“I’m sorry. I have to do this.” I opened the door and walked out.
“Sean Preston!”
I kept walking. I never walked away from my wife but I was on a mission. Maybe I should give Cayson some time to cool off but I couldn’t do that. Every second Cayson wasn’t with Skye was another second my daughter had to suffer through.
I had to fix it.
***
I ignored his secretary’s protests and stormed inside.
“I said you couldn’t go in there!”
I entered his large office and saw him typing on his computer.
He looked up and realized it was me. “I’m not going to get anything done today, am I?” He leaned back in the chair and released a deep sigh.
I stopped at his desk and tried to find the right words. There was so much at risk. “Let me start by apologizing.” I hardly apologized for anything or admitted I was wrong. “I should have believed you when you said you didn’t do it. I should have stood by your side because I know how honorable you are. I shouldn’t have punched you. I apologize for all of that.”
Cayson stared at me with an unreadable expression.
“I’m very sorry.”
“Well, I appreciate that.” He held my gaze and kept his emotions hidden underneath the surface.
It didn’t seem like my words meant anything to him. “Cayson, I said I was sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I feel like shit.”
“Now you know how I feel.”
I ignored the jab. “You’re like a son to me. I love you.”
“No, I’m not,” he said coldly. “Those are empty words.”
“No, they aren’t—”
“You’ve proven just how much those words mean—nothing. You never would have treated Roland like that.”
“My daughter was the one involved. You know how I am with her.”
“Psychotic? Crazy? Irrational?”
I clenched my jaw. No one disrespected me this way but I let Cayson do it because he was upset. “Cayson, I apologized. And I meant it.”
“And that meant nothing to me.”
I didn’t like this side of Cayson. He was ice-cold. “I know you love my daughter—”
“Why did you lie and tell Skye I didn’t sign the divorce papers when I did?”
He was purposely interrupting me. It seemed like he was baiting me into punching him again, trying to make another point. I managed not to rise. “Because I realized it was a mistake. I realized that you didn’t do it.”
“You realized it?” he asked. “Or you decided to dig deeper and ask Laura? Those are two different things, Sean.”
I tried not to glare at him.
“I understand you’re here on behalf of Skye. It’s natural for you to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. But she and I are done. File those divorce papers or I will take matters into my own hands.”
This was going to shit. “Cayson, this is Skye we’re talking about. You love her.”
“I do love her.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I gave her everything I had and it wasn’t good enough.”
“She was just upset and not thinking straight.”<
br />
“Don’t make excuses for her. I begged her to listen to me countless times but she threw me out of the house and changed the locks. Her mind was perfectly clear.”
“Cayson, I know you’re upset but just bury this and be with Skye. This is the love of your life we’re talking about here.”
“I know. And I never thought I would be divorcing her.”
“Just put this behind you and move on. You can get through it. There’s marriage counseling and other options you can explore.”
“You can’t just come back from this. If she was upset for a few weeks before she finally realized I would never hurt her, that would have been different. Or if she came to the realization on her own the other day, that would have been different too. But that isn’t what happened. If you hadn’t intervened, she never would have given me a chance. And that’s the sad truth.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Well, I do.” He turned back to his computer. “Now leave. I will be a great father and I will always take care of Skye no matter how many years have passed. I will always respect her and treat her well. So, don’t worry about that.”
“That’s not what I want.”
“Well, I don’t give a damn what you want, Sean.” He didn’t look at me again.
I stayed at his desk and felt the panic in my heart.
“Get out of my office,” he commanded. “I didn’t inherit a rich company so I don’t have the same luxuries you do. I actually have to do my job—and do it well.”
He was baiting me into a brawl but I wasn’t rising. “Cayson, I want to make this right.”
He slammed his fist against the desk. “Skye and I—”
“Between us. No matter what happens with Skye, I want things to be back to what they were with us. Cayson, I love you like a son—and I really mean that. I don’t want to lose you from my life.”
“You aren’t losing me. Our universes are too closely knit together. We’re stuck with each other.”
“I don’t want to be stuck together. I want to have a relationship with you.”
“What’s the point?” he asked. “I’m not your son-in-law anymore.”
This conversation was painful—even for me. “But you’ll always be my son.”
Cayson held my gaze like I hit a trigger. Then he slowly looked away and faced his computer. “I’m not doing this to hurt you or for revenge. I honestly just don’t feel the same way anymore.”
“Then I’ll change that.”
“I know, Sean. You manipulate people to get what you want.”
“All I want is for us to have a relationship again.”
“You think if you fix us that will fix my relationship with Skye?”
“No,” I answered. “But I want you in my life either way.”
Cayson rubbed his temple.
“Want to play golf tomorrow?” It was a long shot.
“No.”
“Get lunch?”
“No.”
“How about—”
“I want you to get out of my office, Sean. That’s what I want.”
***
I sat beside Mike at the bar. We both had a glass of scotch with thick ice cubes.
“Everything has gone to shit.” I told Mike everything that happened. “I don’t know what to do. I tried fixing it but I don’t think this can be fixed. But I can’t let their marriage fall apart. Skye should have believed him but this one mistake doesn’t make her a bad person.”
Mike downed his scotch then ordered another. “I’m sorry, man.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
“Roland told me Conrad is partying every night of the week. His penthouse is practically a brothel. He fucks anything that moves.” He took a big drink and set the glass on the granite. “I don’t know what to do. He’s obviously going through a break down but I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Would getting Lexie back help?”
“No.” His eyes darkened. “I don’t know why she said no, but I don’t want her near him. She’ll just make things worse.”
He was probably right. “Then what do we do?”
“I don’t know…I’ve tried talking to him but he continues to act like everything is just fine.”
“Maybe it is fine.”
“No, it’s not,” he said quickly. “I would much rather him be depressed and mope around the house. At least he would be facing it and overcoming it rather than pretending it doesn’t exist. It’s going to catch up to him and be a million times worse.”
“Sounds like we’re both in a dark place. Just a few weeks ago, my daughter was happily married and Conrad was about to get engaged.”
He clanked his glass against mine. “Then all of that went to hell.”
Chapter Nine
Slade
I had to do this carefully.
I couldn’t afford any mistakes.
I couldn’t risk not getting this right.
I entered the apartment over the shop and saw all his things in bags and boxes. “Happy to leave this place?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” He chuckled then set a box on the table. “No offense.”
“None taken,” I said. “I miss my nap room.”
“You just nap in here?”
“Sometimes Trinity and I screw in here after lunch.”
He cringed. “I hope you washed the sheets before I came by.”
I didn’t. “Sure…”
“Thanks for helping me move.”
“No problem.” He already signed the lease to his new place. There was nothing I could do to intervene.
“So, how’d the results go?”
“For the clinic?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Haven’t gotten them yet.”
“I’m sure everything is fine.” He marked the box then took a drink of his water.
“I hope you’re right.”
"Even if it isn’t, it’s not the end of the world. You guys will have children somehow.”
“I guess…”
“Well, let’s get this down to the truck.” He grabbed two boxes and stacked them on top of each other.
I wanted to intervene and talk to him about Skye but now wasn’t the time to do it. I doubted I could change his mind in five minutes anyway. From what Skye had told me, this wasn’t going to be fixed overnight. And Cayson acted like nothing was wrong so I knew he was in a very distant place. “Okay.”
***
We got everything to his new apartment and stacked the boxes in the corner.
“You know, I’ve helped three people move in two weeks.” I sat down and leaned against the wall.
Cayson laughed. “You’re going to bulk up.”
“Actually, I need to lose from friends.”
“Well, Conrad is your brother-in-law so he doesn’t count. And Trinity is your wife so she doesn’t count. I’m actually the only friend you have.”
“Are you suggesting I drop you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe for the days I was moving.”
I chuckled. “Damn, I wish I had thought of that.”
Cayson grabbed two bottles of water and handed me one. “I think we deserve a break.”
“I deserve more than a break.” I downed half the bottle of water then burped loudly.
Cayson didn’t react at all. “I need a favor. Can you do something for me?”
“Anything.” He didn’t need to ask.
“I need you to go by Skye’s place and pick up the rest of my things. I’d go myself but I think it’s best if we don’t see each other right now.” He took a drink of his water like what he just said wasn’t a big deal.
“Uh…” What do I do?
“Are you cool with that?” he asked.
No, not at all. “Cayson, we need to talk…”
He sighed like he knew what was coming. “Not you
too. You’re the one person on my side.”
“I am on your side—always.”
“Then you support my decision.” He didn’t ask a question but he looked at me like he just did.
“Well…not exactly.”
“Seriously?” He went from calm to pissed in a matter of seconds.
I raised both hands. “Let me talk. I’ve stood beside you this entire time. I have every right to speak freely. Remember that.”
He shut his mouth.
“Skye should have believed you from the beginning. I really think that. The fact she didn’t drove me crazy. Both she and Trinity were so convinced you were guilty even though it didn’t make any sense. Cayson, you should be mad. Skye put you through a lot. She didn’t even give you a chance.”
“Thank you.”
“And keep being mad,” I continued. “But…you need to let it go eventually.”
Cayson noticeably tensed. “Let it go?” His wrath was coming to the surface. “Do you—”
“I’m on your side!” I held up both hands again. “Calm down.”
He shut his mouth again.
“You’re upset right now and that’s fine. You’re entitled to it. But eventually that anger is going to go away and the only person you’re going to want is Skye. Cayson, you’ll never love someone the way you love her.”
“I know.” He openly admitted it without hesitation.
“She messed up and she knows it. But make it work with her.”
“Why should I?”
“Because…you still love her as much as before. And she still loves you. When all the dust settles and the anger dissipates she’s the one. She’ll always be the one, Cayson.”
He looked out the window.
“Take some time for yourself and get through it. But don’t divorce her and regret it later. I know you’ll never be happy without her.”
“But I’ll never be happy with her either.” He turned back my way. “Everything is different now, Slade. How can I be with someone who has such a low opinion of me? It would be different if I’d messed up in our relationship before but I never have. I’ve always been perfect for her. Her reaction was totally unjustified. And she never realized I was innocent. She didn’t even give me the benefit of the doubt. What happens when there’s another bump in the road? She didn’t have any faith in me and now I don’t have any in her.”
Fuck, this was bad. “You’ll work it out because you always do.”