“And Gavin?” Beckham muttered. “What did he say?”
Looking at him, another round of tears sprung to my eyes, but I forced them away with a shake of my head.
Nothing.
Gavin hadn’t said a damn thing while his mother painted me as some selfish, ungrateful, lazy wife.
“He just let them,” I whispered. “Like it was true. Like I was the one keeping him from something he wanted.”
Beckham tilted his head, watching me too closely. “And are you?”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, his tone careful and controlled. “Keeping him from what he wants?”
My stomach twisted again. I opened my mouth, but the words got stuck. What could I even say? Every one of my failed attempts at initiating, well… anything began to surface. I hadn’t been the one keeping anything from him. He was the one who hadn’t touched me in maybe two years.
My throat bobbed, my grip tightening on the mug. “It’scomplicated.”
Beckham took a sip of his tea as he nodded. “It always is.”
“He… He just keeps belittling me and my work and… I don’t know. I just felt like he went a little far with the lies, the blame, the guilt-tripping.”
Another tear fell. Before I was able to wipe it away, Beckham wiped it for me with the pad of his thumb. It sent something through me, but I did my best to ignore it.
“Our fights are getting so repetitive, and I don’t know where to go from here. This is the most heated we’ve ever been…” I admitted.
Beckham said nothing for a long moment as he watched me.
“While I may not know the entire context of your situation, I know a jealous man when I see him, Rosenna.”
Shaking my head, I smiled sadly as I glanced at him fully. “I don’t think Gavin is jealous of me.”
He tilted his head. “I do. I think he can’t fathom the possibility of his wife being potentially more successful than him. This is just a theory, but… men like Gavin? They put you down to make you feel small. To make you feel less than. Not because they don’t see your worth…but becausethey do.” My fingers tightened around the mug, my heart fluttering only slightly at his indirect compliment. “His parents? The way they manipulate, guilt-trip, make you question yourself… all to keep you in a place where they can control you? They’re no better.”
Only then did I notice how close we actually were, how his intoxicating scent still engulfed me despite my attempts to ignore it.
“I asked you if you felt cherished or loved by him… you told me that you think you do. And…every marriage works itself out in the end, but that’s only if the partners make an effort to keep it going. Gavin has shown time and time again that he doesn’t want to listen to or understand you… and your tireless efforts are in vain as a result.”
I felt my heart skip a beat as Beckham placed his hand over my knee. His words were so genuine, so thoughtful I would have thought they were rehearsed.
We both looked down at his hand. His thumb began caressing me, my skin feeling hot at his dangerous, coaxing, gentle touch. “You deserve… so much more than he can give you, Flower…So much more.”
I gulped softly. He wasn’t just telling me. He was asking me to admit it.
After a moment, I pulled away and shook my head with an apologetic smile, placing the mug on the table.
“I... thank you, Beckham,” I said, rising, “but… I-I should go. I shouldn’t have come and dropped my issues on you like this.”
I turned—but he stood, grabbed my hand.
“Rosenna.” His voice was just above a whisper, sending a tingle down my spine as he reeled me back in.
I turned around to look at him.
It was as if time had stopped.This is a mistake. Leave. Leave. Leave.
But I couldn’t move, and neither could he. The tension could be cut with a knife…
