Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
I put it to my ear.
“Good God, it’s harder than fuck to get in touch with you,” Roland snarled by way of greeting.
“Well, warmest regards to you as well, my not-so-dearest, but thankfully only ex,” I drawled.
His tone changed to cajoling. “Nora—”
Oh no, we weren’t doing this.
“Stop contacting me,” I bit. “I cannot begin to imagine how you haven’t received the signal I’ve been sending loud and clear but allow me to make it even clearer. I. Do. Not. Want. Any. Contact. With. You.”
“I’m in love with you, desperately, I have been since the moment I saw you, and the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life wasn’t losing you, it was hurting you.”
I sat perfectly still in the back of a luxurious town car, seeing, without really seeing, the massive yacht Chloe had hired for our adventure (but of course it was massive, and openly opulent, so very Chloe—Lord, I loved that girl) looming larger and larger as we approached.
I did this while hearing my ex-husband’s words rattling around in my brain.
The only reason I snapped out of it was noting Chloe, Cadence, and God save me, Jamie’s daughter Dru hanging over the railing on the deck at the side of the yacht, waving excitedly at my approaching car (well, Chloe wasn’t waving excitedly, that wasn’t Chloe’s way, but I could see she was watching my arrival).
“I can’t do this now,” I said in a small voice.
Roland, not one to miss an opportunity, or miss noting an opportunity was there to be exploited, and I’d regrettably given him both in my moment-of-silence response to his words and following it with a small voice, did not miss the opportunity.
He said quickly, “Listen to me, darling.”
“I really can’t do this now,” I repeated.
“Dinner, tomorrow. Anywhere you like, but I’d prefer you came to mine so we can talk in private. I’ll cook.”
He was a fabulous cook. His Italian grandmother taught him. He didn’t do it often, but I’d always loved every tidbit he’d presented to me.
“I’m leaving on a cruise in about thirty minutes.”
That wasn’t true. I was late, per my protocol (how else could I execute the perfect entrance?). The yacht was set to launch in about ten.
“Then let’s make plans now for when you return.”
“Roland—”
“Please, Nora, allow me the chance to explain.”
My driver swung around to the red carpet that had been laid out to the gangway, and he got out of the car. But he didn’t come to my door as I was on the phone. He went to the trunk to deal with my bags, handing them over to the white-uniformed crew that waited at the edge of the carpet for that purpose.
As this happened, fury roiled in that deep pit I’d buried the lost love and hope of a happily ever after with Roland (or ever having one at all), and for the first time in eons, I allowed it to froth over.
“As you’re of that particular gender, and you’re making this request, then you’re in the position to explain to me, when a man breaks a woman’s heart, how he feels it’s within his right to request her time and attention in explaining why he did such a monstruous thing.”
“Your heart wasn’t the only one that was broken.”
“Yes, but you did the breaking of yours.”
“No, my darling, you did.”
He wasn’t serious.
“Pardon me?” I rapped out.
“As taught to you by your mother, you gave no fucks about me our entire marriage, or at least that’s what you showed to the world, including me.”
In total shock, I stared at the seat back in front of me.
Roland was not in shock, nor was he finished delivering it to me.
“And then, in the midst of us building a family, you fell in love with him. For fuck’s sake, the tail of his acceptable mourning period had barely slipped by before you two were so all over each other, you practically crawled into each other’s skin.”
Unable to make it any louder, my voice was a whisper when I asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Those flowers, Nora, all those years ago. They weren’t about you helping Belinda Oakley through some bout of food poisoning. They were Jamie Oakley staking his claim.”
I continued to whisper when I stated, “You’ve gone mad.”
“I have?” he asked snidely. “Then why, when you filed for divorce, and Oakley was then married to Rosalind, did he still come to my office with a smirk on his face and that odious drawl in his voice, congratulating me for my utter stupidity at letting the best thing that could ever happen to me slip through my fingers?”
My throat closed.
Jamie did that?
I had no idea Jamie did that.
Roland’s tone again changed entirely when he went on, “Nora, please listen to me. I’m being very genuine when I tell you I’ve thought about it. I’ve had years to think about it, and I took that time. Doing so, I understand now, my darling. I understand why you had to turn to him. I understand the part I played in that. And now that it’s over between you two, we can both attempt to understand our behavior and find our way back to each other.”