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He smirked.
“All of my relationships seem pointless now.” It was easy to settle for less than what you deserved when you didn’t know any better. I’d never met someone like Axel, someone who could be so serious and sexy and then make me melt with his handsome smile. He was a gentleman when he should be, and then not a gentleman when I didn’t want him to be. “Can I ask you something?”
“I already know what you’re going to ask me.”
“You do?”
He nodded. “You’re going to ask me about my ex.”
“How did you know?”
“Just a hunch.” A painful smile moved on to his lips.
“You could have any woman you wanted. I’m just surprised you ended up in that situation.”
He was quiet a long time, trying to figure out what to say. “Once she learned information about me from mutual acquaintances, she targeted me. She realized I wasn’t like other guys, don’t take myself too seriously, go with the flow, don’t overthink things…so she went for it. She wanted my money, and she got it. My friends tell me I needed to learn that lesson, not to give people the benefit of the doubt, always to be suspicious of people…but that’s just not who I am.”
I felt my lips soften in a smile. “I’m glad you didn’t let that change you because I love who you are.”
His eyes remained on mine, hard and serious.
“What happened to her?”
He gave a shrug. “No idea. I don’t keep tabs.”
“And was she your only serious relationship?”
“Pretty much.”
“Your parents liked her?”
“Not at first, actually,” he said. “She was a bartender, so they weren’t impressed with that. But she charmed them just the way she charmed me. That was probably why they believed her story over mine, because she built that reputation with them.”
“They still shouldn’t believe her over their own son.”
He gave another shrug. “It is what it is.”
“She single-handedly destroyed your relationship with your parents. How can she live with that?”
He gave another shrug. “I think she lives with that just fine.”
I gave a subtle shake of my head. “She’s lucky you haven’t killed her.”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” he said with a smirk. “It would be easy for me to make it look like an accident…to ask a friend to do it for me…lots of options. But I won’t perpetrate a crime against her I’ve already been convicted for. That’s not my style.”
“I don’t think my father would hesitate.”
“I know for a fact he wouldn’t.” His smirk died away.
“I’m so sorry this has happened to you,” I said quietly. “Losing your parents…”
He turned his gaze and looked out the window.
“I wouldn’t know what to do without my father.”
His look remained on the street, watching people pass by as they headed to dinner or home. There was no playfulness in his eyes or across his lips. His eyes didn’t have their usual light, their usual mirth. In that instant, he looked broken. “You get used to it.”
When we returned to my apartment, it was quiet.
