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“Tell me how your father is,” he asked.
“He’s okay. He’s at the house with a team of fabulous healthcare providers. Barbie is off in Barbados, trying to take over the world, of course.”
“And you’re here.”
“I’m here,” I said, dabbing the napkin against my mouth.
“So, what’s the story with the barbaric ex? He clearly hates me, so you must have filled him in on the details.”
I glanced over, and my gaze locked with Cage’s sapphire blues. I gave him a reassuring smile to let him know I was fine. The look he gave me managed to say, I will fuck him up if you give me the go-ahead.We’d always had this strange gift for communicating without words, and clearly, that hadn’t changed. I gave the slightest shake of my head before turning back to the man in front of me.
“Really? I think the whole world knows what happened, thanks to Corona taking the story public. I’m guessing you didn’t want to tell me, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.”
“Correct. Can you blame me?”
“Um, yeah, I can totally blame you. She’s right. I mean, I wish it hadn’t come out the way it did, but you are having a child with her. You should have acknowledged it.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to be a father,” he said, cutting another large piece of meat and popping it into his mouth. I studied him for a moment. He had dark hair with a little gray coming in at the roots that actually complemented him. He was polished and well-spoken and generous with his money, but the man was too selfish for his own good.
“You should have thought about that before you had unprotected sex.”
He raised a brow. “Well, I wasn’t having any unprotected sex with my wife, or any sex at all with her, was I?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m glad I stuck to that rule back when we were still… intimate.”
It was a dig at the fact that I’d insisted on being on birth control as well as making sure he always wore a condom, even back when we were actually having occasional sex. I hadn’t wanted to get pregnant, and I think a part of me always suspected he would stray. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Corona wasn’t the first. It wasn’t something I even wanted to know at this point, but I was grateful that my instincts had set that precedent from the beginning. I’d used the pregnancy excuse, but truth be told, the only other man I’d been with in my life had not always worn protection.
Cage and I had a different kind of relationship. Neither ever worried about the other straying. It wasn’t who we were.
“Phillip called. I know you’re going to be named an official partner soon, and he’s concerned about the conflict of interest with me being a client. With the magazine article coming out and the mess that I’ve made, I don’t want to make this more difficult for you.”
“It’s already all out there, and I’ve told him there is no issue on my part.” I reached for my glass and couldn’t help but look over again when I felt Cage’s eyes on me before quickly looking away. “I’m hoping we can just move forward in a professional and friendly manner.”
“I’m proud of you, Presley. You’ve worked really hard. You deserve this.”
“Thank you. It’s been the one good thing to happen in my life at the moment.”
His gaze was empathetic, but then he glanced down at his phone a few seconds later. Wes could feel things deeply in one moment, but he was always on to the next so quickly, which made it surprising that we’d stayed married for the years that we had.
“So, how long will you stay here?” he asked.
“As long as my father needs me. They built the guesthouse on the property, so I have my own space. I’ve been able to work a few hours in the mornings, and tomorrow, I’m looking forward to taking Honey out for a ride while my dad is in physical therapy. He doesn’t like me to sit in because he doesn’t want me to see him struggle, so I’ll go for a ride instead.”
“She must be getting up there in age now, huh?” he asked.
“Yep. She’s around fifteen years old, and she’s looking thinner than I remember. I haven’t had the time to take her out for a ride yet, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“It’s good for you to be here. Slow things down a little, you know?” he said.
“Yeah. I think I actually needed it.”
Our waiter stopped by to ask if we wanted dessert, but we both declined. I ordered a hot tea, and Wes chose a cappuccino. We spent the next thirty minutes dividing up everything we’d shared over the last five years. He’d agreed I should keep the penthouse in the city, as I spent way more time there. He wanted the two vacation homes in Aspen and the Hamptons, and I didn’t have any issue with that since I hardly ever spent time at either of them.
It was all very… civil.
Our breakup was as ill-passioned as our marriage. There were no tears or arguments. He claimed he was heartbroken, but I didn’t believe Wes even knew what it meant to be heartbroken.
I knew what heartbreak felt like.
