Page 102 of Strictly Business

“You don’t love me. You haven’t for a long time. Sometimes, I wonder why we even got married, because we knew things weren’t going to work. When you got the job with Barnes, we said we would figure it out. We said we wouldn’t let it come between us. I didn’t realize you already had this plan for us…our life. Even though you knew I’d never be able to give it to you.”

“I just wanted us to be together.”

“That’s why you asked for a divorce?”

“It was the only option! You wouldn’t come here, and I couldn’t be in New York. My job is here, Michaela. I’m not the only one at fault here.”

“But I did, David. I finally gave you what you wanted. I left everything behind. I moved to Washington. I haven’t seen my family, my friends in months…” Tears prick the corners of my eyes. They threaten to fall when I take a shaky breath. “And it’s still not enough.”

“That’s not true.”

“I thought I could do this. I thought coming here and doing all the right things would make you happy. I thought it would fix things, but it hasn’t. We might be in the same place, but we’re still living separate lives!”

“Michaela—“

“The difference is, you got to keep your identity, I lost mine. I can’t keep pouring from an empty cup and pretending to be okay, David.” I wipe a tear that breaks the surface and falls down my cheek. “It’s time for me to finally choose me.”

“You mean Finn.”

“Stop bringing him into this!”

“But that’s what you mean; you’re just choosing him over me.”

“You didn’t want me! You were dating Karina up until the moment Cindy told you that you needed me instead of her.” Her name makes his stormy eyes grow ten times their size.

“Karina? I haven’t— I haven’t seen her—”

“Oh, save it.” I roll my eyes. “I know you’ve been seeing her.”

“Michaela,” he scrubs his hand down his face, “please, I can’t do this without you. After the election in November, we can do whatever we want. You want to be with Finn? Fine. You can be, just not publicly.”

“Do you hear yourself?” I scoff and slip the ring off my hand. I feel like I can finally breathe without it on my finger. I set it on the counter between us; as relieved as I am, a small part of me hurts to see that diamond sitting there. David looks between it and me. His eyes grow more desperate with each glance. I almost feel bad for the man across the kitchen, but I have to walk away, even if it means losing everything I have left. The past five months have proven we’ve only been putting off the inevitable, and someone else is meant to live this life. “Goodbye, David.”

Chapter Fifty-Five

FINN

TWO AND A HALF MONTHS LATER

“WHERE’S ELLIE?” I ASK, taking the beer from Josh when he returns to the backyard. He invited the me and the boys over for a pre-Memorial Day BBQ since everyone was going to be in town. I haven’t seen the Villa-Davis clan since Thanksgiving because I spent Christmas with Dean and his friends in North Carolina. Though, I probably should’ve opted for another VD holiday. The tension between Dean and Raeanne finally came to a head, and it was not pretty. That’s practically twenty years of sexual tension and hidden feelings that spilled over and ended with Raeanne leaving without saying goodbye.

And I thought I had problems.

Josh joined us for New Year’s at Jeremy and Lola’s home in Los Angeles, but only because Dean bugged him until he said yes. Elizabeth wasn’t with him, which I thought was odd. He said she was spending the holiday with Nina in New York, which I didn’t think was odd.

“She’s back in Charleston.” Josh runs a hand through his hair, longer than he usually keeps it, tugging on the ends. It’s starting to look like a sophisticated mullet. He sits back in the bright blue lawn chair and cracks open his beer, taking a long drag.

“Been gone a lot, hasn’t she?” I share a questioning glance with Nick across the fire pit. He knowingly raises his eyebrows, taking a drink of his beer instead of offering a verbal response. “Everything okay with you guys?”

“Sure, why wouldn’t it be?”

The sound of the doorbell echoes outside; and at first, no one moves. When it sounds again, Josh finally gets up to answer it with a long sigh.

“What in the hell is going on?” I ask Nick and Alex.

“You think I know?” Alex sighs, “No one tells me anything.”

Nick rolls his eyes, “Just a bit of a rough patch. They’re working on things. He doesn’t want it getting out, if you know what I mean.”

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