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“Is this something you’re really willing to do?” King asks, choosing to ignore my sardonic comment.
“Well, one of your friends blackmailed me into coming here. You’re essentially blackmailing me into helping my ex-husband, sowillingisn’t the term I would be using. More like coerced into agreeing. Does Thorin even know about this plan of yours?”
“He does.”
“And what does he think about it?”
A wry grin spreads across King’s face at my question. “Thorin told me you wouldn’t in a million years agree to this even if you got to set my body on fire. But he knows how I operate so he told me you were going to agree and probably bring him to the worst charity events you could find as retribution.”
It’s not a bad idea actually. Most of the charities I’m involved in don’t have any dirty work that we’re allowed to participate in though, so there goes that idea. “I just want my life to stay as reasonably normal as possible.”
King nods, his gaze drifting to the closed door Emilia fled through. “That’s why I’m asking him to tag along with the press, to not disturb your routine anymore than necessary.” He pauses then, a contemplative look crossing his face. “What’s it like being married?”
Somehow the air I’m breathing chokes me and I have to pound my fist into my chest and cough to get my lungs to work properly. “I’m sorry?” Surely he didn’t just ask me the most asinine question I’ve ever heard, did he?
King lifts his head to hold my gaze. “What was it like being married to someone you love?”
Magical. Happy. Like having sunshine at all times. “It was…serendipitous when we found each other.” I tap my chest with my finger over my heart. “My soul settled.”
The confusion on King’s face almost makes me laugh. “I don’t understand.”
He wouldn’t. “Growing up, we’re shown love in many forms in movies, books, and the media. Everything is crazy and happy and amazing. But no one talks about finding their peace. They don’t talk about the love that comes softly and all at once. The way your soul stops wandering, the way you view the world shifts. Love can be many things, King. It can be powerful, dizzying, spiteful, destructive. But it can be calm. It can settle you.” I shrug my shoulders and blow out a breath of air. “But the problem with marrying someone you love calmly is that the heartbreak is that much worse. Because there’s no grittiness to cling onto to make it easier to run away.”
King rubs his thumb along his bottom lip. “Aillard and I provided the grit.”
“You did. But so did Thorin when he didn’t stop it as he watched the damage you two did, so he’s the one who created the grit. He took something calm and made it spiteful.” A well of emotions clogs my throat; the sharp sting of pain behind my eyes warning me that I’m on the edge of a breakdown. “The divorce was inevitable, the fallout was not.”
“For what it’s worth, I am sorry for what we did. I didn’t know the whole story of how Thorin and you ended up married prior to my involvement. I saw something I viewed from a narrow lens and made assumptions about you.”
Even though the look on King’s face conveys his sorrow, I can’t help the wry laugh that comes out. “You’re not sorry.”
King raises his eyebrows in surprise. “I’m not?”
“You’re sorry because you need something from me right now. You’re not sorry you did it. You’re not sorry about the aftermath. You were there to witness it for the entire year before you graduated. If you were truly sorry it would have come up far before now.” Neither of us left New York, we just chose different places to settle.
He doesn’t say anything to that. Whether I’m right or not about his reasoning for apologizing is irrelevant. King’s apology is almost a decade too late. Besides, I’ve lived my life this long without the cruelty of these men in my life, I would survive long after this contract is over.
Speaking of the contract, Emilia opens the door gracefully and presents the newly printed documents to me with a wide smile. “You can take it with you to show to your lawyer if you want,” she advises.
“No thanks. Doing this is humiliating enough, I don’t want to drag another person into my business.” Scanning over the document, I read each clause carefully and thoroughly. It takes about fifteen minutes to get through the entire thing before I sign my name at the bottom. “There.” I slide the paper across the table towards King. “Anything else?”
“No.” King pulls his arm up to glance at his watch before he smiles at Emilia.Actuallysmiles like a goddamn human being and not some soulless robot. “We wrapped up early, do you want to take your lunch break now?”
She smiles in return, nodding. “I want to go back to that place we had for dinner last week.”
Several seconds tick by as I digest their words. Pointing from one to the other, I ask in bewilderment, “You two are together?”
Emilia flushes. “I’m sorry, we should have waited until you left to discuss lunch. It’s rather unprofessional.”
My eyes look at her face trying to decide if she’s mentally unstable or in lust. Then, I look at King and my heart sinks. The love he has for this woman is all consuming; there’s no way to hide it as he looks at her like he would light the entire world on fire to protect her and make her happy. Under the brutal businessman is someone clearly at peace with this woman.
That’s why he’s asking about marriage.
Looking at King it’s plain to see this isn’t a calm love for him. It’s practically a war. Yet it’s obvious in the way his face softens, the way his eyes light up, that she’s his own personal peace.
And I hate him just a little more for it.
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