Chapter 9

9

Tyrion

L ast night didn’t go at all how I wanted it to. After Iona walked in, it was just a fucking disaster. When I told her we needed to talk, I didn’t think she was as close to the house as she was. The look of heartbreak in Evenie’s eyes when I introduced her as my fiancée broke my own damn heart. I never wanted to tell her like that.

The trip home would have been the perfect time to break the news, but how the fuck did you tell your wife some shit like that? Sure, she was gone a long time, but we were still technically married, and I still very much loved her. I’d gone as far as saying the words and kissing the woman. Hearing that I was marrying another woman had to feel like a slap in the face.

Then there was dinner last night.

I could feel the sting of jealousy radiating from Iona every time she caught me glancing in Evenie’s direction. The whole spiel before she left was unnecessary. I knew she loved Summer. Summer knew she loved her. She didn’t have to make a spectacle of it or bring me into the shit by kissing me in front of my wife.

Evenie hadn’t spoken a word to me since.

When I went to take her clothes to sleep in last night, she’d snatched them from me and closed the bathroom door in my face. I deserved it. All I could do was tuck my tail between my legs and walk back to my room. With the door cracked, I could hear her and Summer Rose laughing and talking until the wee hours of the morning.

When they finally grew quiet, I tipped down to her room to check on them. Summer was cuddled in her arms, and they were both sleeping soundly. It made me smile. They both deserved to have their own moment, so I bowed out gracefully to leave them be.

All night long, I’d tossed and turned. Evenie didn’t sleep much either. In between my tossing and turning, I could hear her pacing the hallway every so often. One time, I got up to make sure she was okay, but she was just checking the locks. When I did sleep, all I could dream of was Evenie and the life we should have had together. I hadn’t had a dream like that in a long time. They were almost a nightly occurrence after the first year of her being missing. Now it seemed like the moment I heard her voice, she consumed me.

I mean, I forgot I had a fiancée for a few hours. Maybe it was a red flag… a sign… something. I wasn’t sure, but I had to figure this shit out.

It was Saturday.

I stood at the stove cooking morning breakfast. Sleep had failed me around five this morning, so I got up and went for a run. I cleaned the house, did a load of laundry that included the underclothes Evenie came home in, so she’d have something to wear today, and brought a few of her boxes down before going to take a shower. I’d just poured the grits in the pot of boiling water when Evenie appeared from around the corner dressed in one of my shirts and a pair of my shorts.

She looked as beautiful as she always had first thing in the morning. Her curls were piled in a bun on top of her head, and her face looked freshly washed. She looked around at the boxes for a second before coming into the kitchen. I was met with silence as she looked through the cabinets until she found the coffee mugs. Grabbing one, she walked over to the coffee maker.

I cleared my throat. “Good morning,” I said, hopefully.

She ignored me as she poured her coffee.

“Did you sleep okay?”

Again, silence. She bypassed me and went to the fridge to grab the creamer.

“Are you hungry?”

She sighed as she poured the cream and sugar in. Grabbing a spoon, she turned to me as she stirred the contents of her cup.

“What I am is hurt,” she finally answered.

“Ev—”

“No, Tyrion. I get it. I was gone for ten years. You didn’t know if I was alive or dead. You had every right to move on with your life. My problem is you told me you loved me—”

“I do love you—”

“You let me kiss you, knowing your heart and hand was promised to another woman. A woman I had to watch love on my child. A woman I had to watch kiss you in the fucking mouth on some petty shit.”

“She wasn’t being petty.”

“Yes, she was,” she said sharply. “That kiss, Tyrion? That wasn’t necessary. I get it. You’re her man now. She didn’t have to rub it in my face.”

“I’m sorry, Evenie. Everything just happened so fast yesterday. Honestly, when I heard your voice, nothing else mattered in that moment but getting to you… seeing your face. You had to wait ten years to come home, but I had to live ten years without you, too, love. I had to make sure our daughter knew who you were if she ever got the chance to meet you.

“That shit killed me, Ev. It killed me. I look in her face, and all I see is you . Her laugh is you . So much about her is you, baby. For years, I went to sleep wishing you were next to me. I sat by the phone waiting for the call that you’d been found, whether it be dead or alive. It was torture not knowing your fate. So I’m sorry I left out such an important detail. I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret. I was waiting for the right time to tell you. I just… I had to get to you. Please understand that.”

She glared at me as she gripped her coffee mug. I had a feeling that if she could throw it at me, she would. But Evenie had never been a violent person.

“Answer me one question, Tyrion,” she said, taking a sip. “How are you going to get married to her when you’re still married to me?”

“I—” I pursed my lips. The answer was obvious, but I didn’t want to be the one to say it.

“You want a divorce?” she asked, setting her cup down.

I couldn’t look at her. I had so many damn feelings that I didn’t know what the hell I wanted. Too much shit was going on right now. It had barely been twenty-four hours since she’d been found, and life was already beginning to spiral. I felt Evenie’s hand on my chin. She forced my eyes to meet hers.

“If that’s what you want, you ask me for it the same way you asked for my hand in marriage. I love you, Tyrion. While it would kill me to walk away, I’d do it because life moved on in my absence. I won’t beg you, and I will never keep you where you don’t want to be. Just let me be a mother to my child. I stayed alive for both of you, but I will forever live for her.”

She released my chin, picked up her coffee mug, and walked into the living room to her boxes. I stood there looking after her. What the fuck was I going to do? I loved my wife, but I loved Iona too.

My heart and mind weren’t on the same page, and I wasn’t sure they would ever be again.

Breakfast was awkward as hell.

Thankfully, Summer Rose dominated the conversation. She asked her mother fifty thousand questions, practically ignoring me. I didn’t take offense to it. She was excited, as she should be. This would be a great experience for her, and she deserved that.

Nina and Jersey arrived earlier than expected. Evenie and Summer still had to get ready. Jersey busied herself by going out back to play while Nina watched me clean the kitchen.

“Sooo…” she said, leaning across the island.

“Go on and ask.”

“How was last night?”

“How do you think it went based on what you saw while you were here?”

“If I had to guess, you’re in the doghouse with your wife.”

“Bingo.”

“You know you could end this, right?”

“How?”

She looked at me like the answer was obvious. “Call off your engagement.”

“Didn’t you tell me you wanted me to be happy?”

She waved me off. “I do want you to be happy. But I know you aren’t going to be as happy as you could be if you marry Iona. Be honest with me, T. Do you really love that woman?”

“Now she’s that woman ?”

“First of all, she’s always been that woman. Let’s just put that out there. Answer my question.”

“Yes, I love her.”

“Wrong,” she answered immediately.

“How are you gonna tell me what I feel?”

“Let’s see.” She started naming points on her fingers. “You never changed a thing in this house in ten years. You rarely spend the night at Iona’s because this is your comfort space… the home you built with your wife . You were perfectly fine with her keeping her place. Every time she comes over here, she has to bring a bag because you never made space for her in your closet. You’re marrying her next year, but you never started the divorce process, even before my bestie came home.

“And… let me stress this. If you do love her, you will never love her the way you love Evenie. That shit she pulled last night, kissing you in the mouth in front of my girl, almost got her snatched the fuck up. She was trying to be funny, but baby, I can be hilarious. I don’t have a problem letting a bitch know she can’t compete where she doesn’t compare.”

I palmed my face. This was the Nina I was used to. Evenie’s disappearance drastically toned her down over the years. Now that she was back, I could see her being back on her bullshit.

I was glad to see Evenie turn the corner so I didn’t have to entertain her assumptions. At least, so I thought. When my eyes landed on Evenie in that T-shirt dress that clung to her newfound curves and a pair of sandals, I bit my lip. It was such a simple outfit, but she looked so damn good in it. She’d taken her hair down and I assumed used some of Summer Rose’s hair products to tame her curls, which fell down her back. She’d gone through her jewelry box, which I’d packed in one of the boxes I brought down and was wearing a few pieces I’d gifted her.

“Close your mouth,” Nina said, patting my face a little too hard.

I slapped her hand away. “Get out of my house,” I mumbled.

She laughed as she went over to Evenie. “Can we get a little commotion for the dress,” she said, spinning her around and smacking her ass. When it jiggled, I had to look away.

“Nina!” she exclaimed.

“Girl, don’t act like that’s the first time I smacked your booty. You got thick on me, baby.”

“I feel underdressed.”

“You look like a snack. Right, Tyrion?”

“Huh?” I asked, turning back.

“Doesn’t my friend look good?”

Evenie glared at me, waiting for an answer.

I swallowed hard. “You look beautiful, love.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, turning back to Nina. “Summer Rose is in the bathroom. She should be out in a second.”

“Let me go grab my child.”

Nina sashayed past me with a wink as she headed out the back door. Evenie dug through one of the boxes. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for until she pulled out her purse from that night. For a moment, she just stared at it. I hadn’t taken anything out of it, and I hadn’t had the heart to throw it away. She rummaged through the bag, pulling out her wallet.

She pulled out her driver’s license, examining it before putting it aside and tossing the wallet and purse back into the box. After a little more digging, she pulled out a small wristlet. Plucking her father’s credit card from her bra, she placed it and her license inside. My first instinct was to go into my wallet. I had about three hundred dollars in cash, so I pulled it out and walked over to her.

“What is this?” she asked, looking down at it.

“In case you need cash. I’d offer you my card, but I’d rather not be cursed out this morning.”

“I don’t want your money, Tyrion.”

“Take it. Monday morning, we need to go to the bank. I moved all of the money that was in your separate checking account to a savings account. I put money in there every so often, but I never touched it. I was saving it for Summer, but it’s yours.”

Her face softened a bit. “Thank you,” she said faintly. She took the money from me and placed it in the wristlet.

“I got you. I’ll take a few days off, and we can handle whatever we need to handle.”

“You don’t have to do that. My parents—”

“Evenie. Please… let me do this for you. It’s the least I can do.”

She sighed. She didn’t say anything, but she nodded. Just then, Summer came around the corner.

“I’m ready!” she said.

I smiled at her matching her mother in her choice of outfit. She even had her favorite crossbody thrown on. All she ever kept in that thing was her phone and lip gloss.

“And so it begins.”

“Jealous?” Evenie shot at me.

“No. I’m happy for her… for you both. Come give me some love, princess,” I said, motioning for Summer to come over.

She didn’t hesitate to run into my arms and give me a big hug. When she pulled away, she held out her hand to me. I playfully rolled my eyes as I fished out my wallet and gave her the Greenlight debit card I’d gotten for her. Instead of giving her cash, I loaded her allowance on here along with any birthday, Christmas, or special award money. One thing about my baby, she could hold on to a dollar.

“You have a fifty-dollar limit. Remember that.”

“Yes, sir.” She plucked the card from my hand and dropped it in her bag. Jersey and Nina came back inside and into the living room.

“Everybody set?” Nina asked.

“We’re good to go,” Evenie answered.

“Then let’s get to it. Bye, big head.” Nina playfully mushed me before walking over to the front door. Evenie went to follow, but I gently took her arm.

“Hey,” I said softly. She looked back at me. “Have fun.”

I leaned in and kissed her cheek, then immediately went back into the kitchen. I didn’t want to watch her leave. My eyes would betray me, and I had to get myself under control.

Pull it the fuck together, Tyrion, my inner voice said.

Somehow, that was easier said than done.