Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
“… can’t believe you didn’t tell me you two were having S-E-X.” Franklin abbreviated the last word, whisper-shouting in excitement.
A chuckle lodged in my throat. I wasn’t one to eavesdrop, but staying back for a few moments to hear Dallas’s response wouldn’t enter the list of top ten-thousand worst things I’d done in my life.
“How’s the sex?” Franklin demanded.
“It’s okay, I guess.” Dallas coughed, still weak. “I’m not suffering.”
Understatement of the generation, sweetheart.
“Does that mean that you like him?” Frankie gasped, holding her breath. For an odd reason, I did the same.
There was no pause, no hesitation, in Dallas’s response. “My Lord, Frankie. Of course not. I told you, he is the human answer to a potassium-chloride injection. That didn’t change one bit.”
It hit like a punch straight into my stomach. So much so that I staggered back a step.
What did you expect? For her to fall in love with you after you forced her hand in marriage and spent months berating her?
“Then, why are you having S-E-X with him?”
Why, indeed?
“Because he’s never going to release me from his arrangement. I might as well get some fun out of it, right?” Shortbread sniffed. “Plus, I really want a baby. You know I’ve always wanted a big family, Frankie. Just because I don’t like my husband doesn’t mean I cannot raise a family I love. In fact, the sooner I get pregnant, the sooner I can return to Chapel Falls. He won’t want me around him when I’m pregnant, anyway. He hates children.”
I didn’t hate children. Okay, I did. Only recently—the last few days, to be precise—had I begun to think it wouldn’t be so terrible if Dallas and I had a child. Particularly if that child inherited her exploring hazel eyes and endearing laughter. Except now I’d come to discover the only reason my wife had been riding me like I was her favorite roller coaster was because she wanted to flee to Chapel Falls.
“That’s the plan.” Dallas’s voice drifted into the hallway. “Keep coming here to get knocked up and run back to Georgia until I have three or four children. I’m sure he won’t miss me, either.”
My fingers shook, tightening around her book. Tense, labored breaths billowed in my throat. I’d offered her a divorce—why didn’t she take it and leave? But the reason flashed before me in neon lights. She’d be a ruined woman, just as I’d pointed out. She would need to start from scratch, settle for the scraps Chapel Falls offered, and endure a terrible reputation for the rest of her life. If she got pregnant with my child, she could come and go as she pleased. She would still be the wife of one of the wealthiest people in America. No one would dare utter a negative word about her. Her family’s respect, dignity, and good reputation would remain intact.
“I hope you get knocked up soon.” Frankie giggled. “I miss you so much. I can’t wait for you to come home.”
“Me, too, Frankie. Trust me.”
It shouldn’t have felt half as bad as it did to find Morgan sprawled on my dining table, being eaten out by my father. Yet, it felt a thousand fucking times worse. It felt as if Dallas had taken a knife, carved out my guts, then fed it to the wolves. The level of betrayal was incomprehensible.
How ironic that I thought her disloyalty would come in the shape of Madison Licht, when all along, Dallas did not crave someone else.
She simply didn’t want me.
Turning, I zipped through the hallway and down the stairs, dumping the stupid book in a random trash can on my way out the door.
If she wanted nothing to do with me, she did not have to say it twice.
I’d give her all the space she needed.
And then some.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Romeo
Perhaps recognizing this as a genuine moment of crisis, Zach offered to let me crash at his place through the holiday. Christmas Eve, I dragged my miserable self to my parents’, mainly because I knew my father itched to retire. The CEO position had never seemed more within reach. Despite feeling like I’d been run over a million times by our failed Humvee, I decided to dutifully finish what I’d started and kill Costa Industries.
The anticlimactic event that was Christmas dinner consisted of Monica moaning over Dallas’s illness—apparently, she’d paid her a visit earlier in the day, reporting a tenacious fever—and Senior studying his food without an appetite.
Zach and his parents vacationed in Plitvice, which gave me the opportunity to stay at his place all by myself and dwell on the information my mother-in-law had texted when I returned from the mediocre meal.
Natasha Townsend: Hello, Romeo. I wanted to keep you posted, since your staff is away on vacation. Dallas’s fever is persistent. According to her doctor, she also developed pneumonia. He prescribed her antibiotics. Franklin and I will stay in your guest rooms. Have you plans to pay your wife a visit anytime soon?