I closed the door to the bedroom, leaning against it for a second. I needed to head to the main room with everyone else, but I didn’t have the energy to sit there, watching them watch me. Instead, I turned the other way, heading out the back door to sit near the fire pit.
I had meant to give her the earrings and walk her out to the car, but I’d taken one look at that folder, and the words I’d been holding in spilled out. Not wanting her feelings for me to be tied to a lie, I’d bumbled through.
Sitting in one of the chairs surrounding the pit, I leaned back, closing my eyes. I didn’t want to imagine what her response was going to be. I figured she’d hand me divorce papers, and that would be that.
Elizabeth Burkhardt. Real estate heiress. I’d known from the beginning, and I hadn’t given a fuck. When we’d first gotten married, I’d had Cyph help me with my military retirement. They still paid me once a month for my service, and it was the one thing I could give my wife. She didn’t need it, but it had made me feel better. However, when she’d told me about calling her family attorney, I’d sweated even though my body was cold, and I’d had a hard time breathing.
What a clusterfuck.
The back door opened. Boots approached, and when they sounded like they were directly behind me, I said, “You were right. The betrayal hit the worst.”
“Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Slate. My eyes shot open, and I had to blink a few times to focus in the dark. “What are you doing out here?” I asked him.
“Sabre grabbed Grizz. They were going to come out here after the caravan left, but I beat them to it.” Slate sat in the chair next to me, passing over a beer. “We all heard the yelling coming from Sabre’s office, and I didn’t think you needed another round of that bullshit. Op was right, but I wouldn’t have stuck my neck out like he did.”
“They mean well. They were just trying to hold everyone together.”
“Like fuck they do. We’ve been doing the dating thing longer than they’ve been alive.” He took a gulp of his beer, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “I’ve got skills those boys wish they had.”
“What? How to burp and fart at the same time?”
“Yeah, I’m not allowed to do that anymore at Bear’s house.”
He was waiting for me to tease him. I didn’t. “It must be serious. She cleaned you up.”
Slate was one of those men who barely showered. He never stunk, so he didn’t see the need. It had gotten better over the years, but he still only managed three days a week. His gray beard normally hung past his waist, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to grow his hair out, equally long. The man I was looking at clearly maintained his appearance.
“Fucking Bookie. If I could dig him up, I would.” He shook his head, drinking from his beer again. “The money was flowing so we never questioned him, but he wasn’t a great Old Man to Bear. She’s not willing to accept scraps, and if I want to play house, I have to follow her rules.”
“You know she sees the other women getting what none of us were capable of years ago. How many times did Bear go back to Bookie? I remember the one time she tried to leave and he raised the roof of her car, grabbed a handful of wires, and just ripped them out. He ended up dropping them at her feet without another word.” I tipped my beer back without taking a drink as I contemplated the past. “It’s not a big surprise. Bear paid her dues.”
“Yeah, so what the fuck did you say to Liz?”
“No lube?”
“I can go get the twins if you’d rather they lose their shit again.”
“I would have never pushed for more until she was ready, but Gerry had offered Alex an arranged marriage. My pride kicked in, and if she was going to marry anyone, it was going to be me. I should have told her the truth when I offered, but I didn’t, hoping that over time, it would become real.”
“So, you didn’t lie, but you didn’t tell her the truth.”
“Something like that. You know she comes from money, right?” I asked him, not sure how much I was going to have to reveal.
“You don’t have to be blind to know that.” He chuckled, taking a slug from his beer.
“She called her family attorney and updated her will.” I stared off into the distance. “I don’t give a fuck what she does with her money. She’s probably given it to the girls and their kids.” I ran a hand through my hair. “From the beginning, she’s always talked about sacrificing herself. Honestly, I thought we’d gotten past that, but when she said she’d updated her will, that’s all I could hear—even if it wasn’t true. I panicked, and everything came spilling out in a jumbled mess.”
I didn’t finish my thought, closing my eyes again. Slate gave me the space, but when I took too long, he pushed me to continue.
“What did she say to that?”
“I didn’t give her a chance. Told her not to sign the legal papers and walked out of the room.”
“You’re a fucking idiot.” Slate set his empty beer bottle on the ground. “Did you ever think she might have trauma from her first experience?”
No, I hadn’t. I’d assumed she didn’t want me as anything more than a friend.
