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I checked, and a replacement marriage license isn’t filed. The embers are still burning in that fire pit from the original.
Why are you making this harder for me?
You think it’s been a damn cakewalk seeing you with him?
Admit it, Jaclyn, you’re mine.
I can’t give in to the fantasy. It’ll end with my heart shattered on the floor. Tears prick behind my eyes as I type, wishing with all of my being that I didn’t have to do this.
I’m married to Chris.
And I’m married to you.
I fall into my office chair, and my heart sinks with me. He’s never going to give up.
In no world would Alex and I work. If we did, I’d take the leap and be with the one man who made me feel more in a single glance than any other man has made me feel… ever.
But staying with Chris is the only option, or I’ll lose everything. Other than the cheating and the lies, there’s no reason I can’t be content staying married to him.
We’ll get him through eight years, and then it’ll be my turn to shine.
The office door opens, and I sit upright, throwing water on my emotions as if they were hot coals. Rose brings in a dozen red roses and sets them on my desk. “It appears Mr. Blake has upped the ante.”
No. He hasn’t. The Blake brothers are at war, and I’m stuck in the damn middle. “Is there a note with these, too?”
“Yes.” She pulls it from the arrangement. “I love you more than red roses.” It takes everything in me not to laugh. With a frown, she asks, “What’s with the red and blue roses? Are you finally planning on running for office?”
Rose has been with me for three years, and not once has a single flower been delivered to me. She’s also one of the only people in the world privy to my political dreams. I can’t blame her for wishing along with me.
“No, not me. Chris is planning to announce his presidentialcandidacy soon. I’m sure it’s just a sweet patriotic gesture to get me excited.”
“He is?” She purses her lips, deflated, then quickly corrects her tone. “Congratulations! Don’t forget us little folk when you’re First Lady.”
“How could I? You’ll be right there with me. I’d be lost without you.”
Her smile is wide as she fluffs the flowers. “You’re really living the dream,First Lady Jaclyn Blake.”
You mean a nightmare?
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I reply with a light chuckle. My phone vibrates, and I turn it face-down before she can see the text preview. “Would you mind arranging lunch with my husband for tomorrow? He’s been working so hard lately. I miss him.”
“Of course.”
She rushes out of my office, and as the oak door shuts, I quickly check my phone to find the one message I can never reply to.
I love you, Jaclyn.
Chapter 35
Alex
TWO WEEKS LATER
“Almost done. You should make it with plenty of time for the bachelor auction.”
I groan as Laura helps me into my tux jacket. It may not be legal, but I’m also no longer a bachelor—I’m Jaclyn’s husband. I’m not sure how I got roped into this misandry as fuck auction, but I want out.
The only positive about any of this is the gala downstairs will bring me closer to my wife, if only for the evening. Unfortunately, I’ll have to see her flirting with my brother. Watch him openly touch her. It doesn’t help that she hasn’t responded to my texts… or the blue roses I’ve sent daily since she returned to D.C..
