Page 33 of When the Last One Falls
“Or before you divorce me,” I added. “While the contract will ruin your parents and make life a little bit harder on your sister, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from filing for divorce, Keris.” I gave her a knowing look. “We both know that you only care about your sister anyway.”
Her green eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What about all that talk earlier about never letting me go?”
“I’m a liar, remember?” I replied coldly. “Why would you believe any of it? The truth is that I married you for control of the mines. The truth is that the contract never said anything about living happily ever after. The truth is that I don’t need the money, never did. The truth is that you need to give me children to keep the mines. That’s the truth, Keris. Everything else is rather irrelevant.”
Her eyes started darting around as she was clearly digesting my words, and I wanted to take it all back. I wanted to redo everything. I wanted to have met this woman at the park, an art showing, a fucking deli…anywhere that could have led to an actual relationship that wasn’t riddled with so much hate and regret. I had insisted that my father wasn’t going to control the narrative of my marriage, but he was doing exactly that. He’d always been doing it, my parents and her parents both.
“I’ll give you a week to find somewhere else to live,” I announced, and her head snapped up at that. “Moving forward, the only communication that should be necessary is that of the professional variety, so that can be done through email or our lawyers.”
“What happened to keeping up appearances?” she challenged.
“You’re forgetting who you’re talking to, baby,” I told her. “It’s my parents who like to keep up appearances, not me. I couldn’t give a fuck about them if they come with this much bullshit.”
Her chin came up. “What about honoring your vows?” she asked, throwing my words back in my face.
I shrugged. “It was a nice idea while it lasted,” I replied flippantly. “Besides, it’s not like our vows are going to be the first ones ever broken. Magnus and Onyx are married in name only, too.” Just to be an asshole, I tossed her a wink. “Besides, being an adulterer sounds a lot more appealing than being a rapist, don’t you think?”
Tightening the towel around her body some more, Keris stood up, eyeing me. “What about the rest of it?”
“The rest of what?”
“If we’re married in name only, I can’t afford Lindsey’s healthcare on my own,” she answered carefully. “Living here without a mortgage or utilities was helping to make sure that Lindsey didn’t have to rely on my parents too much.”
It was a cold reminder of why she had married me in the first place, but at least the woman was being honest. While my father had saved her father’s company, if Edmund Bishop hadn’t learned his lesson, then I could easily see him losing it all again, no daughter to offer up this time.
“Call her insurance company and instruct them to send all of her bills my way,” I said. “I’ll pay any extra out-of-pocket costs.”
“You’re a liar, remember?” she said, throwing my words back in my face again. “How can I trust you?”
“Your sister’s bills are a small price to pay for never having to see you again, Keris,” I replied icily. “While your pussy is made of some premium stuff, it’s not worth the price that you’ve seemed to place on it.” I lifted my chin. “In fact, you’ve done nothing here tonight but remind me why women like Rochelle are in such high demand. Peace is fucking priceless.”
The corner of her lip curled in disgust. “So, that’s the plan? Going to run back to Rochelle?”
“Not that it’s any of your business anymore, but she wasn’t the only woman that I’d had on speed dial before my father made that fucked-up deal to bail your family out of debt,” I shot back. “By the end of the night, I’ll be forgetting all about you, and what’s better? The girl will keep her fucking mouth shut and leave in the morning like an obedient whore. The kind that you were supposed to be.”
“Fuck you,” she hissed, wetness making her eyes glitter like crystals. “I’m not a whore.”
“Oh, that’s right,” I smirked. “You’re cattle, branded and everything.”
“Get out,” she seethed, a tear escaping, making me want to lick it away while I held her down and forced her to take back everything that she’d just said.
“One week, Keris,” I replied. “You have one week to get the fuck out of my house and my life.”
“Not a problem,” she bit out. “And you know what, Brantley?”
“What?”
“This marriage is not going to stop me from finding happiness,” she threatened. “You arenotgoing to be the last man to hold me in his arms.”
Her words sliced down the center of my chest, but I just said, “Like I give a fuck, baby.”
Chapter 23
Keris~
Huntley, Dylan, and Faron were all staring at me like I’d lost my mind, and maybe I had. Lord knows that I was confused enough to think it might be possible.
After Brantley had stormed out of my bedroom Saturday, I had remained locked away in my room, wondering how things had gotten so turned around. From the start, our relationship had been nothing but extremes, trust nonexistent in my marriage, which would have been fine if I’d hadn’t started having feelings for Brantley. Marriage on paper would have been fine with me if he just hadn’t treated me so badly from the beginning. I hadn’t deserved his scorn for a situation that he had clearly pointed out hadn’t benefitted him. It’d been my family in desperate need of a bail out, not his.
