“What’s wrong with my clothes?” He glances to the white tiles.
“Dude, you’re wearing suspenders with a fucking bow tie. You look like Steve Urkel,” I tell him. “Draco dumps a lot of money into this shitty private school so I pretty much run things around here. So, you’re going to be hanging with us so you need to look the part.” I turn to beam at Shelby. “Baby, make sure he dresses cool.”
“You got it, babe.” She kisses me and her sticky lip gloss smears my lips.
Then we head to the courtyard.
Roselyn screams at the top of her lungs and I jump up and rush to the bedroom. One of Cashel’s soldiers lies on the floor and Roselyn has a gun aiming at him. His face is bloody, and I run my hand through her curly hair, searching for bumps.
“Are you okay?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t mean to kill him. He grabbed me and was trying to carry me out of the bedroom. He didn’t look like one of your soldiers, so I shot him.”
Slowly, I grab the gun from her, tossing it to the floor.
There is a knock at the door, Damien waltzes through. “All of the Irish soldiers are dead. Some of our soldiers didn’t make it. Max was one of them.”
I nod and Roselyn burst out in tears. “Get Charlotte to bring her whole crew so we can clean up the mess. Tell her to burn the Irish soldiers’ bodies including Cashel’s and inform the familiga of our soldiers who died. We’ll have a memorial ceremony in the next few days.”
He disappears from the bedroom. “I need to take a shower, I have to get Cashel’s blood off of me.”
“I’m sorry about earlier,” Roselyn says, standing on her tippy toes, kissing me. She examines my swollen eye. “You need to put something on it.”
“Join me in the shower?” I ask.
A few soldiers’ hurry into the bedroom and grab the dead body, taking it out of the room.
“Okay,” She follows me to the bathroom. Once we’re in the shower, I look down at Roselyn and realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I need to break up with her. I don’t need to keep a woman who doesn’t want to be married. If I hold on to her like I did with Shelby then she will eventually hate me so it’s best to break things off now before I hurt her even more.
Devious
CASHEL HAS BEEN DEAD FOR two weeks and The pain of his death will never go away, but I had to do what I had to do to set an example to my mafia on what happens if someone betrays me. I sit in my executive chair, glancing out the window watching a blue bird dances on a branch. I need to let go of Roselyn. She doesn’t want to be tied down to me, and I won’t keep her if she doesn’t want it. I did the same thing with Shelby. Tried to keep her and I ended up suffocating her and drove her into the arms of another man. And, I don’t want the same outcome for me and Roselyn. I want her to pick me because she wants to and not because I’m forcing her. She’s out shopping with Marla for fall clothes so I shoot her a text message.
Me: Come home. We need to talk.
Nymph: Is everything okay?
I get up from the chair and pace the floor. How am I going to break things off with her? I know I’m going to hurt her, but it’s the only thing that will make things better for the both of us. I already have the divorce papers burning a hole into my desk. My lawyer sent them early this morning and I’ve read them at least thirty times. After I found out she went behind my back and tried to book a flight. I had already thought about divorcing her and when she acted so happy she wasn’t pregnant with my child it was the icing on the cake for me to not be with her. We want different things in life, and I don’t want to hold her back. I love her too much. Thrusting my fingers through my hair, I sigh loudly. Twenty minutes later, she strolls through the study, wearing a black legging and light sweatshirt. New York hits the time of year, where the weather is cool. My eyes wander to her face, as I try to remember every freckle.
She stands on her tippy toes, kissing my cheek. “What’s up?” She sits her giant bags on the floor. “What is it you want to talk about?”
I stroke her cheek with my index finger, shaking my head. Letting go is the hardest thing I have to do but it needs to be done. “I’m setting you free from our marriage.”
“What?” Her voice is shaky as she cocks her arch eyebrow. “What do you mean, Devious?” Then she studies my face for answers.
Exhaling, I say, “I’m giving you your freedom. You paid Lex’s debt off and it’s time for you to be free.”
My pulse thumps loud in my neck and blood rushes to my ears.
“But, I want to be with you,” she says, her eyes brim with tears. I might as well have punched her in the face, that’s how much pain registers on her face.
“I made the same mistake with Shelby, forcing her to stay with me and it didn’t turn out well. And if I do the same thing to you, then you will eventually want to leave.”
“If you’re mad because I almost betrayed you, then I’m sorry. I had a moment of weakness.”
“When you didn’t want my child, it’s when I realized we’re not meant to be together. You want freedom and I
