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Chet’s eyebrows snapped together. “You did a background check?”
“Yes! I did.”
“When? What for?”
Darn, she had said too much, but she’d simply wanted Chet to shut up and drop the topic. “He’s—was—one… one of my clients.”
His eyes narrowed. “I thought there was a rule about dating your clients.”
She couldn’t take back the words now. “There is, but…”
“You’re not supposed to shit where you eat, but you’re doing it anyway.” He shook his head. “Breaking the rules, Marissa? That’s not like you.”
“Oh, give me a break.”
“You give me a break. You’re the one breaking the rules for some guy you met at work. So, what… I guess he’s wealthy or something since those are the kind of men you all focus on now?”
“Are you done?”
“Oh, he’s so rich you can’t tell me about it? Did he give you that?” He shot daggers at the necklace around her neck.
Marissa pulled up the collar of her shirt to hide the jewelry. Shit. She’d forgotten to take it off.
“You’re a rich man’s side piece now?” Chet sneered.
“You ass.” One hand fisted at her side.
“Hit too close to home? You’ve changed and not for the better. You’re not behaving like the woman I wanted to marry. How long have you been sleeping with him?”
“None of your business, and for the record, he’s no longer a client.”
“But he was, and there’s an ethics clause in your contract with Executive Match, isn’t there?”
Apprehension tightened her stomach. “Chet?—”
“While I watch our kid on the weekends, you use that time to let a client screw you. Do I have that correct?”
“You know I also work on weekends. I set up mixers for my clients. And by the way, you weren’t watching our son, you were spending time with him, like you always do—which you should do because you’re his father. What’s going on between me and Bruno is a completely separate issue.”
“I won’t be replaced in my kid’s life, Marissa.”
“I’m not trying to replace you. Why are you doing this? Please tell me that you’re not still jealous.”
He ran a hand down his face. “You and I were supposed to get married, and we can get married if you open your mind and be a little forgiving. I made a mistake. That was it. The sex meant nothing.”
“You slept with her—” Marissa broke off and lowered her voice. “You slept with her for months while I was pregnant. That’s not nothing.”
“And you think this rich guy is going to be better than me? He can have his pick of any woman. Why would he pick a single mom with a kid?”
The rhetorical question hit at her insecurities. She’d wondered that herself, especially since Bruno had been clear from the beginning that he was not interested in women who had kids.
She hadn’t seen anything to suggest he would harm Theo, but she couldn’t help but think her relationship with him probably wouldn’t progress much further.
“You can leave now.”
Chet looked contrite. “You know I’m right,” he said quietly. “I don’t want my son caught in the crossfire of your relationship, and from the looks of this”—he held the paper aloft—“he might already be attached to this guy. I know I messed up, Marissa, but I still wanted to marry you. I’d marry you now. I’d forgive all of this, and you and Theo and I can be a family. The way we should have been.”
“You’ll forgive me? For what? For moving on? For meeting someone who treats me well? I don’t need or want your forgiveness. Our relationship is over and has been over for more than eight years. There’s no point in bringing up what could have been.”
