“How are you holding up, Flower?” Beckham asked.
“To be honest, I’m absolutely livid,” I whispered.
He hummed as I glanced over to the photo next to the folder that continued to mock my marriage.
“The financial advisors showed in detail how much of a fool I was to Brent and Gavin to handle my loans. I’ve barely made a dent in the principal in what I thought were years of successful payments. And thanks to the private investigator, I very quickly learned that my husband has been using my payments to pay his own debt and to silence his mistresses, all of which I was acutely unaware of. Here I was, thinking all of this was my fault, that I was taking on too much, like he said. That I wasn’t being a good wife. That I shouldn’t have taken on so many responsibilities or loans. And while I was busy trying to figure out if I’d done enough to please my husband, he was busy using my profits for his own personal use and finding other women to please him.”
Pouring a fresh glass of wine, I forced myself not to chug it down.
Every dollar I had worked for, every late night I had spent running numbers, every agonizing decision I had made to keep my business afloat… had all been for him.
Beckham silently trailed his hand up and down the side of my face.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to him, and he shook his head.
“Nothing to apologize for, my little flower… if anything, I owe you an apology.”
I bit my lip. “What for?”
“For listening to my father’s advice on waiting to tell you about Gavin and not telling you sooner. For making you go on runs as early as four in the morning to clear your racing mind. For putting you through my emotional instability and recklessness.”
I hummed as I placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I quite liked the four AM runs…”
I could only giggle as he leaned into my neck before he nipped at my collarbone. I held back a soft moan as his hands traveled down my chest and to my navel before going back up and repeating the motion.
“This the part where you tell me I’m forgiven…” he muttered against my skin.
I placed my glass on the coffee table before turning toward him on my knees, still on the couch. Leaning over the cushions, my arms wrapped around his neck as he explored my waist and hips shamelessly.
“You are partly forgiven, Mr. Garcia. It’s gonna take a while, though, to look past the fact that you didn’t ask for permission to spy on my soon-to-be ex-husband—though he didn’t exactly ask for my permission either when he embezzled nearly more than a million dollars from me as he slept around.”
Beckham held me closer as he nuzzled his face in my neck.
I sighed, feeling content as I ran my hands through his hair, thoroughly enjoying the moment as his scent engulfed me.
His hand ran up and down my spine softly. “Let me go with you,” he muttered, and I pulled back slightly. “To your family get-together.”
I sighed as I ran my hand through my hair, rising from the couch. Rubbing my lips together, I ran my hands down my robe nervously.
“I don’t know, Beckham,” I whispered.
He rose too, placing his hand on my lower back, then pulled me in closer as he gazed down at me.
“Flower… You and I both know Gavin is only doing this to make you feel vulnerable. He has his family and yours on his side. Who do you have on your side?”
I grinned. “Kira, my obsessed boyfriend, and his oddly controlling billionaire father.”
“So let me be there for you, not just in private but in front of them.”
I bit my lip as I thought about Beckham’s words. The fear that Gavin would expose me was still there, but with the new information I had, the photos, and the solid proof of his deception, it was less. And with Beckham by my side, as I faced them, the fear would almost vanish.
“They’ll take Gavin’s side and scrutinize everything about us,” I whispered.
He shrugged. “Let them. The only opinion that matters to me is yours.”
With a heavy sigh, I nodded, my shoulders feeling lighter as I felt supported by him.
He placed a small kiss on my lips before resting his forehead against mine.
