Page 134 of Seal the Deal

***

Jake - Present Day

I pull up outside Charlie’s office, the SUV humming asI wait. The building looms, reflecting the fading light, and I feel the weight of everything settling on me.

The custody threats, the away games coming up, playoffs looming, and Charlie’s big client meeting next week which she’s been working on non-stop.

When I see her walking out of the building, her usual confidence seems a little dimmed. Her sharp blazer and sleek hair could fool anyone else into thinking she’s in control, but I see the heaviness in her eyes.

She slides into the passenger seat, offering me a tired smile. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I lean over to kiss her. “How’d work go?”

She sighs, sinking back into the seat. “Busy. Lots of prep for this onboarding meeting next week. If it goes well, it’ll really prove I’m capable here.”

I glance at her as I pull back into traffic, watching her fingers fidget with the hem of her sleeve. She’s stressed, and I don’t blame her. “You’re gonna kill it, Charlie. No one can handle this stuff like you do.”

She tries to smile, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Thanks. It just feels like there’s so much at stake, and I can’t shake the feeling that something’s gotta give.

I take her hand, my thumb brushing her skin. “Nothing’s gonna give. You’re amazing at your job, and we’ll deal with Alex together.”

Her gaze shifts to the window, tension creeping back into her shoulders at the mention of him. “It’s not that simple, Jake,” she says quietly. “You don’t know him like I do.”

Something in her tone catches me off guard, and I glance at her. “Tell me.”

For a long moment she’s quiet, like she’s weighing whether or not to open up. Then she lets out a soft sigh. “I was always a bit of a trophy wife in his eyes, my career never really mattered to him.”

I keep my eyes on the road. “He tried to make you quit?”

“All the time, but especially once I was pregnant with Meadow. He thought I should just stay home, focus on the kids. He never got how much my work meant to me.”

There’s a tightness in my throat as I hear the frustration in her voice. How could anyone—especially someone who claimed to love her—try to diminish what she loves? The thought pisses me off.

She swallows, avoiding my eyes as she continues. “He was so manipulative, so obsessed with his own job. And he’d use his size to intimidate me when things didn’t go his way. He never hit me, but he always made me feel like he could.”

A hot and sharp protectiveness surges in me. Just thinking about that asshole looming over her makes my fists clench on instinct.

“He’s a fucking coward.”

She nods, but her eyes are distant, haunted by memories I can’t erase. “I kept telling myself it would get better, that I could make it work. But I was miserable. He was never there for the kids, he let them down every time. And that’s what broke me the most. I didn’t care if he hurt me, but the kids…”

Her words echo my own memories of growing up in a house where my mom was always miserable, stuck in a marriage she didn’t have the strength to leave.

I take a deep breath, trying to keep my anger in check, but I can’t stand hearing her talk like that.

“You did the right thing, Charlie.”

She nods, but there’s still a shadow of something dark in her expression. “I know, but I stayed for the kids. I thought I could hold it together for them. But then, a week into our trial separation, he slept with someone else.”

“Hewhat?"

She shrugs, expression pained. “And then I found out there had been others. Affairs on his business trips. He said they didn’t mean anything, that he just needed to scratch an itch when he wasn’t with me.”

Nausea twists in my gut. “He said that to you?”

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “Like it was nothing.”

I can’t even put into words the rage I feel at this moment. The idea of him treating her like some accessory—when she’s the whole damn world—makes me want to drive straight to his hotel and rip him apart.

---