29. Haven

29

HAVEN

From the moment King walked in the door, I knew something was up. This is not the same man that gave me two orgasms this morning before he'd even let me out of bed. He's angry, and I've never seen him this way before.

As I reach for the envelope, he puts his hands on the counter top and leans on them. "What was your plan here, Haven? Get me to marry you and what, wait it out, get a divorce, and run off with the money?"

"Divorce?" I stutter.

He laughs again, but it's not a happy laugh. "I mean, you've put in a lot of effort into this. Even fucking me. My question is, how did you know? How did you know I'd fall for it? I mean, don't get me wrong, your pussy is good… But I've had better."

My mouth drops, and I stare at my husband in shock. To go from the excitement I felt only moments ago to this is like being on a roller coaster that has gone off the rails. I'm completely lost on why—or even how—he could talk to me this way. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look at the pictures and then tell me you don't know what I'm talking about. You've lied to me this whole time, Haven, and I fell for it."

My hands are shaking as I pull open the tab on the envelope. Slowly, I pull out the pictures. One by one, I lay them on the counter and stare at them. I keep wiping at the tears that are rolling down my face, but I don't say anything.

It's the man from today. The one that helped me after I fell.

I could explain this easily—heck, I have the cuts on my hands and knees to prove it, but as I raise my head and look into King's eyes, I know I'd be wasting my time. "You really believe I'd do something like that to you? You think…" I shudder. "You think I'd cheat on you?"

He waves his hand over the pictures. "Are you going to explain? "

I repeat the question. "You truly believe that I would lie to you… that I would cheat on you?"

He smacks his hand on the countertop. "No, Haven, I wouldn't have thought that, but luckily someone thought they should send me these pictures and show me exactly what kind of woman I married. I'm a fool… a damn fool."

My heart feels like it's ripping in my chest. "You are a fool, King."

I get up from the stool I'm sitting on and try not to wince when I put my weight on my ankle. With a slight limp I walk from the room, but King follows me.

"Where do you think you're going? This isn't over. I'm still talking to you."

As calm as I can, I tell him, "Well, I'm done talking to you."

He follows me up the steps. "What's wrong with you? Why are you limping?"

I turn on him, and for the first time, I raise my voice to him. "Don't. Just don't. You don't care, so don't act like you do."

I try to move faster, ignoring the pain shooting in my ankle. I grab my suitcase from the closet and start throwing things in the bag. He's leaning against the door jamb, arms crossed over his chest and staring at me with hatred.

I disappear into the bathroom, and whatever I can grab in my two hands, I pick up. The rest I can just buy later. I dump it into my bag, and it's all so haphazard, I struggle getting it zipped up.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I wipe the stupid tears from my face. "I'm leaving."

I yank the bag off the bed onto the floor and start to roll it. As I walk next to him to get out the door, he puts his hand up on the door frame to block me. "If you're pregnant, that's my kid too. I have a right to know."

I can't even look at him. "I wouldn't keep your child from you, King. Can you please just let me go?"

"Of course, I'd want a paternity test because how do we know whose kid it really is?"

I lean over because it feels like I've been kicked in the gut. "Please… I need to leave."

He lifts his arm and lets me go. I get to the top of the stairs and struggle with the bag on the staircase. I get a few steps down when King calls my name. "Haven."

I stop, a part of me hoping he's going to say he realized he's made a mistake. That he was wrong and that he loves me, but what actually comes out of his mouth is nothing like that. "You played your part well. I actually thought I'd fallen in love with you. That's what I was coming to tell you. That's what I had planned for tonight. I'm a fuckin' fool."

I clench my eyes shut and grip onto the banister of the stairs to stop from falling. Unable to take another second, I toss the suitcase the remainder of the way down the steps. I hobble down after it and then grab my keys and purse by the front door. I walk out without looking back once.

I haphazardly throw everything into my car and pull out of the driveway. It's not until I'm on the road that I let the tears flow, and as soon as they start to flow, I can't stop it. My body wracks with the force of my sobs. I keep driving, but I can't see anything. I wipe at my eyes, but it's only a momentary fix. I can't continue like this.

I pull into the driveway of Chrissy's house and throw my car into park. As I sit here, I let it all out. My throat is raw, my eyes are already swollen, and my heart is completely shattered. I don't realize anyone is here until my car door flies open. "Haven, what is it? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Oh God. I cry even harder as Chrissy rubs my back. "Haven, talk to me, you're freaking me out. What's wrong? Is it King? Is he okay?"

I suck in a deep breath and nod. "He's fine. I'm sorry. I couldn't see the road, and I just pulled in here. I shouldn't be here. I need to go."

She reaches in and grabs the steering wheel. "You one hundred percent should be here. Come on, get out. You're coming inside."

I can't look at her. "Chrissy, I'm fine. I promise."

She's incredulous. "You're not fine. Now get out of the car."

I get out of the car, and almost instantly Chrissy notices my limp. "What happened to you, sis?"

I start to cry again when she calls me sis and I don't stop until I'm inside, sitting on the couch.

Chrissy sits next to me. "Talk to me."

I inhale slowly and wipe at my eyes. I know I'm a mess. "King and I are over."

Chrissy sits back, stunned. "What?"

My breath shudders. "Yeah, uh, he thinks I cheated on him. He thinks that I planned all this to… get his money… I don't know."

"Well, that's stupid. Anyone that has seen you two together can see you love him."

I start to cry again. Yeah, I love him. Even now with every hateful thing he said, I still love him. "Well, it doesn't matter how I feel about him… It's over."

She's shaking her head, "Explain to me what happened. I don't understand."

Slowly, I start to explain. "I really don't know. He showed up with pictures of me and some man, but it's not what it looks like. I fell today outside the community center, and the guy was helping me up. I twisted my ankle, cut up my knees and hands."

I hold them out for her to inspect, and she winces. "Oh my God, Haven. That looks horrible."

"It's okay. Trust me, it's the least of my worries."

She gets up and walks out of the room, but she keeps talking as she goes. "Well, it shouldn't be. You don't want that to get infected."

She's back shortly and sits down on the coffee table in front of me. "Let me clean it out for you."

I feel numb as she works on my knees and my hands. Neither one of us says a word, but my mind is racing the whole entire time.

When she has me bandaged up, she lifts my foot up and removes my shoes. She tilts my foot different directions. "Does this hurt? What about this?"

I wince but shake my head. "It's fine. "

She gently places my foot on the floor. "It's sprained. I think I have a brace around here for when you get up and walk, but let's get it propped up and ice it for now."

"No! I mean, thank you, Chrissy. Really, this means a lot to me, but I need to go. Thanks for cleaning me up… but I should go."

She's not listening, though. "You're not leaving. You're staying right here. I'm going to get the spare room set up, and you're going to stay here with me."

"I can't. I'm not going to come between you and your brother. I need to go."

She throws her hands up in the air. "My brother needs to get his head out of his ass. I should have known he'd find a way to fuck this up. Look, I'm not making excuses for him. King is our big brother, and for years he's the one that took care of all of us. I wouldn't have been able to go to school if it wasn't for him. Holden wouldn't be playing in the big leagues, Dom, Ledger, and Gabe… well you get my drift. But he's been through hell, Haven. His mom didn't have anything to do with him until he made some kind of big list after he made his first million from building skyscrapers. I mean, the women have come out of the woodwork to try to trick him into re lationships… but that's no excuse. He should know you and know you're not like that."

I'm shaking my head, ready to get up and leave, but Chrissy stops me. "Please stay. Do this for me. I'll worry about you if you leave."

"But…"

"Please, Haven."

I nod. "Okay. One night and then I'll get out of your hair. I gave up my apartment, but I bet it hasn't been rented. I'll leave in the morning."

"You're not in my hair, and you'll hurt my feelings if you leave. I'll get you some clothes to put on and then I'll help you get settled."

"My bag is in the car. I can get it."

"I'll get it. I'll be right back."

She's out the front door before I can talk her out of it. As soon as she's gone, I fall back on the couch and throw my arm over my face. My head is killing me, my ankle is throbbing, and I feel sick to my stomach. I close my eyes and try to clear my head because if I start thinking about my husband and my disaster of a marriage, I'm going to start crying again.