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“I walked in to find a messy-haired kid with a bull tattoo on his arm and twelve of my watches in his hands and his pockets.”
My hand jumps to cover my mouth.
“He had been through ten foster homes by that point.” He leans closer to me. “Ten. He kept doing things that would get him kicked out. He was fighting, stealing, causing trouble with anyone he could. Sela and I stepped up and helped him. We got him into the most exclusive private school in the state for boys. We saw him through to his college graduation.”
“I didn’t know.”
“He had no one until we came along.” He shakes his head. “Absolutely no one, and this is how he repays me. He pulls the wool over my eyes. He makes a nice young woman like you go along with his charade. He made a fool out of me.”
“Sir, please.” I take a step toward him.
“His mother left him on a subway train when he was six.” He shakes his head. “I felt sorry for him. Sela did too. No father and his mother abandoned him. His grandmother wanted nothing to do with him. We thought we could help him get on the right path.”
My heart aches in my chest for the boy Graham once was, a boy who had no one to turn to. He had no family. No one to love him the way my parents have always loved me.
The only person who cared enough to help him is livid at the moment, and it’s in my power to change that.
I can give this to Graham. I can help him salvage the family he does have.
“None of this was Graham’s idea.” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I’m the one who suggested we get married, sir.”
His brow furrows. “You?”
I take a breath to steady myself. “He let it slip that you haven’t been well and that you thought we’d make a great couple, so I told Graham we should get married.”
“Graham went along with this?” he asks skeptically. “You came up with the plan to tell me you two were dating and then engaged and married? Are you even legally wed to each other, or is that another lie?”
“We were married at the courthouse,” I confess. “Graham told me that he couldn’t lie to you about being married if we weren’t. He said you were the best man he’s ever known, sir.”
I see the tension in his shoulders slip away as he contemplates everything I’m saying. “Is there a prenup? Did Graham consider that? I hope to hell he thought of that.”
“I signed one,” I say quickly. “Graham loves you, sir. He would never intentionally hurt you.”
“What about you?” His finger flies in the air toward me. “What are you getting out of this? You must be benefiting in some way?”
This is it. This is where I sacrifice myself to save my husband. “I negotiated a one and a half million dollar payout in exchange for three months of marriage.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this.”
I watch as his gaze falls to my left hand. I tug my wedding rings off, suddenly feeling unworthy of both rings but especially guilty of wearing the ring he gave his late wife.
I shove both rings at him. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Abdon.”
He takes the rings in his palm. “Bull went along with this to make me happy? He did that for me? It’s not about the company?”
The tide has changed. I see it in the way he’s looking at me. Graham will be spared his pain. It’s a burden I can carry for the man I love.
“He did it for you,” I whisper. “All he wanted was to make you happy.”
“It might be best if Graham and I had some time alone when he comes home.” He glances behind me at the elevator. “I’m sure you understand, Miss Shaw.”
That cuts through me. I’m no longer Mrs. Locke in his eyes.
“I’ll go home,” I say because that’s what my apartment is.
I don’t belong here anymore.
“Goodbye, Trina.” He doesn’t make a move toward me.
“Goodbye, Mr. Abdon. I hope you know just how deeply Graham loves and admires you.”
His response is a curt nod, so I turn, press the call button, and step onto the elevator that will take me back to the life I had before I married the man of my dreams.
Chapter Fifty
Graham
Fear.
That’s all I feel when I finally glance at my phone after my meeting.
I silenced it because Kay was on a texting spree. She’s sure that the design she’s currently working on is just as great as the one Lloyd chose for the spring campaign.
She’s wrong.
Her latest creation is too big of a leap back in time.
I told her that when I replied to her first text message. She took it as a pun and kept pressing me to sign off on including this latest design in the spring launch too.
