“Yet she was worth ruining your marriage.”
He bowed his head. “I’m sorry. And I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life. I made such a stupid fucking mistake, and I would do anything to take it back. You know I mean that.” He stepped toward me.
“Come near me, and I’ll smash that bottle of wine into your nuts.”
He stilled. “Anna…”
“I’m done talking about this. I divorced you because we’re never getting back together. Let me go.”
He dropped his gaze then scanned the apartment, as if he was looking for a way out of the mess he created. “I love you… I will always love me.”
“That’s not good enough, Liam. You were disloyal, disrespectful, and dishonest.”
He shook his head slightly. “You never would have known if I hadn’t told you.”
“Doesn’t fucking matter.” I raised my hand and pointed to the door. “Get out. Now.”
He stayed rooted to the spot.
“Liam.”
“Give me another chance—”
“Never.”
He took a deep breath before he kept talking. “I can provide for you. You like living in a shithole like this?”
“Wow…fuck you.”
He didn’t apologize. “I can take care of you. I can provide for you. I can protect you. There’s no other man out there who can give you what I can.”
Damien popped into my head even though there was no reason for him to. “That’s not what I’m looking for in a man.”
“Anna, I love you,” he whispered. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life earning your forgiveness. I would never do that shit again. I know how shitty it feels to lose you, and I never want to go through that again. Please.”
Sometimes I believed he was truly sorry. It’d been months since I’d left, but he was still trying to get me back. He was a sexy, rich man. He could have anyone he wanted, so if he was still trying, I must be the only thing he wanted. Being single was rough because it was impossible to find a man who made me feel something…and wasn’t a jerk or bad in bed. Sometimes I wanted to cave just so my life could be easy again.
But I didn’t want to settle. “Please leave.” This time, I turned my back on him and stared out the back window. Sometimes when I looked at his face, I pictured him with that mysterious woman, pumping into her the way he used to pump into me. It still made me sick to my stomach.
Instead of arguing, he did as I asked. The last thing I heard was the gentle click of the door when he walked out. Then he was gone.
7
Damien
After I finished at the bank, I went home and walked into my bedroom. My jacket was stripped off my shoulders and tossed onto the bed before I grabbed my phone and called Annabella.
Went to voice mail.
I tried not to assume she was blowing me off. I was a jackass to her last time we spoke, and she seemed like the kind of woman that wouldn’t put up with nonsense. So maybe she did ditch me.
Or maybe she was just at work or something.
I hoped she was at work.
By the end of the night, she still hadn’t called me back. So I caved and texted her. Still haven’t washed my jeans.
Nothing.
I was just about to leave the office when a guy in a suit stepped inside. With a tight face coupled with rage, he seemed pissed. He was a big guy, my size and height, so a fight could easily turn into a brawl.
I opened my top drawer and quickly grabbed my loaded gun.
“This is the guy?” The stranger stopped in front of my desk, flashing a fancy watch and a ten-thousand-euro suit.
Hades emerged behind him. “Yes, this is my business partner, Damien—”
“Leave us.” He barked orders like he owned the place.
Hades glanced between the two of us before he walked out, shutting the door behind him.
I kept the gun concealed under the desk. “Something I can help you with?”
He continued to stand. “You took my wife off my account?”
Both of my eyebrows rose because I had no idea what he was talking about. “How about you sit the fuck down and start over? Because I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
His fingers quickly snapped open the button of his coat, and he lowered himself into the chair, calmer but filled with restrained rage.
“Good.” I held up the gun. “Now, I don’t have to shoot you.” I returned it to the top drawer.
He glanced at the gun but didn’t react.
I leaned back in the chair and opened my arms. “You were saying…”
He had brown eyes the color of hot espresso, and his muscular frame indicated he had a private weight room in the convenience of his home. If he was a client, then he must be worth billions, but I had no idea who he was. “You took my wife off my account, and I’m not happy about it.”