Page 44 of Almost Paradise

“As long as I don’t have a wife, I’m free to marry who I want. Don’t worry about Scarlett. I’ll handle her. My car’s waiting to take us to Providence. They have no waiting period, so we can do it today. I have a meeting at three, and I need to be back for it. Two minutes, Nia. I’m not playing around.” He lets me go so suddenly that I stumble, but I manage to catch my footing.

“I don’t want to marry you,” I tell him. “When I get married, I want it to be for love.”

“I want. I want. I want,” he says, mocking me. “Iwanted to be in my son’s life from the beginning. See? We don’t always get what we want, do we? I don’t have all day. Let’s go, or I’m going to make one phone call and blow up your father’s life.” I stare into his eyes, and I’ve never seen them so frosty before. I ask myself if that year with him was a figment of my imagination. Did I imagine his warmth? Right now he’s as cold as an Arctic blast.

“I will make every single day of your life miserable. You’re going to wish I had stuck that knife in your chest after I’m done with you. Hell, you might just stick it there yourself.” I stand straighter and point at his face. “I don’t want to marry you. I loathe you and everything you stand for. The only reason I don’t regret ever laying eyes on you is because of my son. You are selfish and cruel. I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”

Something flashes in his eyes. If he was capable of feelings, I’d think it was hurt, but I know better. People like him don’t hurt. All he cares about is getting what he wants and damning me to a loveless marriage means nothing to him.

“You’re starting to bore me. In case I wasn’t clear, let me say it again.” He inches closer to me and points to my face this time. I knock his hand away, but he points right back. “Listen close because I’m not going to repeat myself. I don’t give a damn what you think of me.” The anger in his voice almost forces me to take a step back, but I stand tall. “Either you leave with me now and do what I say, or I come after you and your father with my arsenal of lawyers. So, go in there,” he points in the direction of my room, “and get your driver’s license and birth certificate so we can go.” He lifts his coat and puts it on. “Right now,” he snaps. Then he looks at his watch and taps it. “You might also consider running a brush through your hair.”

I leave him standing there and return to my office, but he soon follows behind me. I sit in my chair and send a direct message to my manager letting her know I have a family emergency and will be out for the rest of the day. She replies right away and tells me to go take care of things.

I don’t say another word to him while I put on my shoes and coat. I don’t change out of my blue jeans and faded Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. I don’t even run a brush through my messy hair like he suggested. He’s not worth the effort. I almost scream when I go to my room and get my wallet. After making sure I have the required identification, we leave the house.

When we step outside, the driver is there holding the door of his car open. I slide in and stare out the window, refusing to look at or speak to him. He ignores me too and spends the entire fifty-minute drive on the phone. He talks business as if our entire world is not about to change.

Chapter 26

Drake

I didn’t think she’d do it. I didn’t think she’d give in, and if I didn’t have the video on her father, I doubt she would have. No, I know she wouldn’t have. She would have fought me over Carter, and if she had taken it public, my image would have taken a severe beating. I would have been seen as a rich bully, but I still would have won because I could afford to keep the fight going indefinitely. What she doesn’t know is that I never would have taken her to court for full custody. I never would have gone after her father either. The entire thing was a bluff. A bluff I rehearsed in my head since I left her on Friday. I don’t know what I would have done if she refused and told me to go to hell.

Her father was my key, and he played right into my hands. I just didn’t realize it on that day. After these weeks, there’s only one thing that I want, and that’s my family. I’ve missed out on enough time, and I refuse to miss out on any more. Being a part-time father who gets every other weekend is not enough for me. I’m used to having it all, and this will not be an exception.

The car rolls down her street. She’s been staring out the window the entire ride back, just like she did on our way to Providence. She hasn’t spoken to me at all. The only time she spoke was when she repeated the vows. A few times the words got stuck in her throat, and her tears were not tears of joy. That hurt me. I don’t want her to cry. Despite how things ended up today, I don’t want her to be upset, but there was no other way.

The driver pulls up to her house, and she opens the door and jumps out before he can get the door for her.

“I’ll be right out, Bertram,” I tell my driver. I follow Nia inside and manage to catch the door before it slams in my face. “Like I said, I have a meeting. I’ll be back to pick you two up tomorrow night. I’ll give you a night to tell your family.”

“How big of you,” she says.

I ignore her sarcasm and say, “Pack whatever you need. We can send for the rest.”

Her head whips around as if my words shock her. I don’t bother repeating myself. I lean down to kiss her cheek, but she practically leaps across the room. She barely let me kiss her after we said our vows. The best I got was a brush of my lips against the side of her mouth because she turned her face before my lips touched hers.

“I am not going to the home you shared with your fiancée, and I’m not going to your family compound or whatever the hell it is.” She crosses her arms. I guess she was right about trying to make my life hell.

“I wasn’t planning on taking you to either of those places.” I still have to end things with Scarlett, and my mother is still a ticking time bomb. I want Carter to be far away from my family home until Scarlett leaves.

“I hate you,” she says.

“So you’ve said, and I still don’t care.” I push down the hurt her words cause. There was a time when she didn’t hate me. There was a time when all she wanted was me, and I wonder how that all could have gone so wrong, so fast. “I’ll call Carter tonight, and I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

Scarlett has not returned any of my texts or taken my calls for the past five days. Not since she went to a work conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. After my business trip to Salt Lake City, I flew there Friday morning to try and talk to her, but they were doing a team-building exercise, and Scarlett was unavailable. It was pure bullshit. She was ignoring me to get me to do what she wants. It didn’t work. There’s only one woman who can get me to do what she wants, and her name is not Scarlett.

As much as I wanted to see Carter Friday night, I realized I wanted to see his mother just as much. But what did I get instead? Her all dressed up for another man while our son was spending the weekend with his grandparents. That was bad enough, but seeing the face of the man she was willingly spending time with was like a bullet in the gut. Her father’s words about her dating hit me, and I made up my mind then and there.

I didn’t want to do it this way. I wanted to end things with Scarlett first and ask Nia for another chance. The truth is, Scarlett and I were over the minute I spotted Nia in the arcade. Even if there was no Carter, there would be no more me and Scarlett. But I quickly realized on Friday that time was not on my side when it comes to Nia.

Despite that, I don’t want to hurt her.

Really? You run off and marry another woman and you say you don’t want to hurt the one woman who has been waiting years to marry you?

She’s in the house. Her phone is tracking there, and the lights are on. I even see her silhouette in the living room window. She has the phone to her ear and a hand on her hip. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for another unpleasant conversation. I bid good night to Bertram and walk to my front door. Before I go inside, I look at the platinum wedding band on my left ring finger. I have no intention of taking it off, but there is a part of me that feels like scum for what I’m about to do to Scarlett.

I decided on Friday night I was going to make Nia my wife. Not only that, but I had the jeweler bring me a selection of rings to choose from, and I have no regrets about that. I never should have let it get this far. I never should have been with Scarlett, never mind given her a ring. She used Carter as leverage to set a date, but I never should have let that happen either. I should have ended it then.

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