I wasn’t sure when it happened, but somewhere along the line, I’d grown tired of the charade. The casual hookups, the predictable flirtations, the way she always seemed to want more—I had had enough.
“Sadie,” I said, my voice flat, not bothering to hide my disinterest, “It’s time for you to go.”
Her eyebrows shot up, and the sultry smile she always wore faltered, replaced by something sharper, more demanding. “What the hell, Nathan? I’m not going anywhere.” Her tone was a mix of disbelief and growing anger.
I didn’t flinch. I leaned back further into the couch, hands in my pockets, and looked at her like she was a nuisance. “I’m not going to tell you again.”
Her jaw clenched. “You’re really kicking me out? After everything we’ve—”
“Ryan,” I interrupted, my voice cold, signaling to my bodyguard, who stood idly by in the VIP section.
Sadie’s face turned red, her eyes flashing with a mix of rage and humiliation.
“This is how you’re going to do it, huh?” she spat, her voice low, venomous. She stood up from the couch, glaring at me with a look that could have burned a hole through me. “You really just going to end things?” Sadie’s lips parted in disbelief when I didn’t respond and my bodyguard finally stepped in, his presence enough to discourage any physical or verbal attack shemight have been planning. Sadie shot me one last look with pure venom in her eyes before storming off, cursing under her breath.
I didn’t watch her leave.
A part of me knew that I should’ve ended things with Sadie sooner. She was too clingy. She wanted to put a label on things. Both things I didn’t like.
When this was all worked out with Elise, I’d have to rotate another woman to the top of my roster. Marriage wasn’t a contract I intended to honor forever, just a necessary maneuver to secure the company, to keep the legacy intact.
I didn’t fool myself into thinking this would be anything more than a business deal dressed up in a ring and vows. Love was a liability, a weakness I couldn’t afford, especially not now. But Elise was sharp, stubborn, and not the type to marry for money or convenience. If she were, I would have made her a deal: Marry me in exchange for whatever she wanted. But I knew Elise long enough to know she couldn’t be bought. She’d reject the deal the second I finished explaining it to her and I couldn’t afford to take that risk. That only meant the harder I’d have to work to play the part, to soften the edges until she saw a version of me she wanted.
But what about her? What would it feel like to wear my ring, to call me her husband, only to realize the truth, that this marriage was never about us, never about love? To see that everything she thought she had in me was carefully measured, controlled, and meant only to serve my plan? That the man she married was never really hers at all?
That’s how it had to be. Because letting my guard down was a luxury I couldn’t afford, not after what I’d seen happen to my father.
I downed the remainder of my drink and swiped my phone off the table in front of me. The intention was to find anothername in my roster and invite them over for a drink, but instead, I found myself opening an unread text message from Elise.
Elise:
We’ll be at the Bark & Barrel until 11 if you want to join us.
I frowned. Dive bars with sticky floors and watered-down liquor weren’t exactly my scene. I wasn’t sure how much sincerity was behind her invitation, or if it was just Elise being polite, something she’d assumed I’d never take her up on anyway. And honestly, she would’ve been right. That kind of place wasn’t where I belonged anymore.
But tonight, with the usual distractions falling flat and her voice still echoing in the back of my mind, I couldn’t shake the feeling that part of me wanted to go, wanted to be near her, even if it made no sense.
I glanced at my watch.
It was half an hour past 10. Would she still be there? There was only one way to find out.
***
TEN MINUTES LATER, I stepped into the bar and was immediately hit with the familiar scent of cheap beer, fried food, and years of bad decisions soaked into the wood. The place hadn’t changed much since the last time I’d been here. It was still too loud, too crowded, and lit mostly by neon beer signs that buzzed faintly behind the bar.
Faded sports memorabilia lined the walls, and a decades-old jukebox sat unused in the corner, overtaken by the real draw of the night which was the karaoke stage. If you could call it that. Really, it was just a raised platform with a mic stand and a cracked screen displaying lyrics no one seemed to follow. The sound system was questionable at best, but that didn’t stop the crowd, half of whom looked like they worked for me from belting out songs like their rent depended on it.
Colored lights strobed across the room, casting flickers of red and blue over the sweaty faces packed inside.
It was chaos. Loud, unpolished, and painfully human.
I didn’t respond. Instead, I let my eyes roam over the room until I found the person I was looking for. It didn’t take long to find her. Elise effortlessly stood out in any room she was in.
She was here, sitting amongst a small group of men and women gathered at a corner table with a drink in her hand and laughter spilling out like she had no worries in the world. Someone was on stage absolutely butchering a pop song, their voice so off-key I couldn’t help but wince.
But it wasn’t the singing or the noise that held my attention.
It was Elise.
