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“I know my wife pretty damn well, too, Cage.”
“Soon-to-be ex-wife,” I hissed.
“I brought the papers, and I’ll sign them tonight if it’s what she wants. I know Presley would never be unfaithful, but you can leave a marriage for other reasons. And she’s been one foot out the door since the day we said our vows.”
“Yet, she’s stayed faithful. She doesn’t have some asshole telling the whole world about an affair and humiliating you, does she?”
He shook his head. “I’m not a perfect man. But I can tell you that I have loved my wife fiercely since the day that I met her. But it wasn’t reciprocated, and a man can only take so much.” He held up his hands. “It’s not an excuse. It’s just the truth. There have been three people in my marriage this entire time, and there just wasn’t room for me any longer. And that’s the truth.”
I listened and looked away because I understood it. I’d never moved on from her either. The connection we had was rare, but we’d made our choices, and life had taken us in different directions.
“You can’t blame her for her past and then use that as a reason to be unfaithful. That shit doesn’t fly. She’s too smart for it. Hell, I don’t think anyone is going to have sympathy for you on that one. I’m sure you have a past. An ex that you dated before her.”
“I think we both know this was different. I’m not asking you to understand what I did, but I am not a stupid man, and neither are you, from what I’ve heard. What you two had was different, and I couldn’t live up to that.”
“That sounds likeyourproblem, buddy. You should have manned up and proven you were worthy. If you love someone the way you claim to love her, and you’re lucky enough to call her yours, you keep your dick in your pants.”
He nodded and reached for his glass. “Do you know what Presley did two days before our wedding?”
“Got drunk and tried to flee the country?” I smirked because I just wanted to hate this asshole, even though I could tell he was devastated about losing her.
And it was his own damn fault.
“She got a tattoo on her wrist. This little raven. She said it was just something special she wanted. But years later, during one of our heated fights, she admitted Raven was a nickname that you’d given her. That it was a reminder of a time when she was actually happy.” He sipped his wine. “How do I compete with that?”
My fucking chest squeezed at his words.
She’d run off and married him while I was alone and trying to learn how to take care of a newborn and open my veterinary practice at the same time.
We’d completely cut off all contact from that moment on.
And knowing that on her wedding day, she had a piece of me inked on her body…
It fucking destroyed me to think about it.
“You should have showed up every fucking day and earned that trust. Instead, you just flashed your money and tried to buy her off. I’m sure her fucking mother loves you.” I took a long pull from my beer.
“Barbie appears to like me a hell of a lot more than her daughter does.” He chuckled, and I had to give it to the guy. He was laying his cards on the table and owning it.
“There’s a shocker. But Presley isn’t like her mother. That shit won’t matter to her. She can make her own money. Make her own way.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, Cage. I have no doubt of her capabilities. And somewhere along the way, she gave up on one dream and replaced it with another. She’s married to her job now, and that’s her whole life. Her purpose. It’s all she cares about. I just didn’t want to give up, but it was over long before I strayed. She knows it, and I know it. But I’d still choose her over anyone.”
“Good luck with that. She’s not going to give you another chance to do this to her again.”
“I know. But I’ve got to shoot my shot, right?” he said, as his gaze moved from me toward the door.
I turned to see Presley walking toward us, confusion in her honey-brown gaze.
Dark jeans, cowboy boots, and a white turtleneck sweater. Her camel dress coat was tied at the waist, and her hair was tied back in some sort of knot.
“Well, this is unexpected.” Her eyes landed on Wes’s suit coat, which had a large red wine stain.
Too fucking bad.
He could buy a new coat. He should consider himself lucky I didn’t knock his teeth out.
“I thought it was time that I finally met the infamous Cage Reynolds.”
