And that was a hell of a lot of family drama to vomit out at him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Havoc dropped me off at the ferry and drove away.
“Tainted?” he asked, arching a brow.
“Divorced. That’s how my family views it.”
He gaped at me. “You mean to tell me nobody in your family is divorced?”
“I’m the first. A real trailblazer. My parents are super proud.”
“How the fuck is that even possible? No one in my family is still with their first spouse. Not even my two married sisters.”
Folding my hands in my lap, I tried to think of the best way to describe our twisted take on wedding vows. “Marriage in our family is a business transaction. If you’re not getting enough sex or love or whatever you need at home, you can find it on the side. Just be discrete, and nobody will judge you for it. Especially since they’re all sleeping around. But marriage is a contract, and we don’t break contracts.”
“So, it’s okay to cheat, but not to divorce?”
I shrugged. “I don’t make the rules; I just break them.”
“Is that what happened between you and the ex?” Havoc asked. “Did he cheat?”
I snorted. “It’s complicated.”
“You said I was smart. I might understand.”
He was smart, and the way he followed along seeming genuinely interested was impressive. “Wesley’s father is my dad’s business partner. Our marriage made sense on a lot of levels. My mother has been training me for a long time to do what she does, and—”
“The social dictator gig?” he asked.
“Yes. And my marriage to Wesley strengthened both of our families as well as the business. We joined the game and began to create alliances and cut down enemies. We were virtually untouchable.”
“What happened?”
“Several of my old friends got jealous and decided to team up and take us down. But not with well-placed rumors, back-handed compliments, or stolen investment leads like civilized people. They went for the weak link in our relationship. Wesley. And his ego is so enormous that he believed they all wanted to fuck him. After they were done, they convinced him that Laura wanted his body as well.”
“Your sister?”
“The one and only.”
“You’re shittin’ me?”
“Nope. It’s the absolute truth. He propositioned her, and she turned him down and called me to break the news. He must have found someone else to dip into that night, because he was late coming home. When he finally arrived, I was waiting with the hunting rifle Dad had bought him for a wedding present.”
Havoc pulled into the parking lot for the ferry, parked, and then turned his full attention onto me.
“I tried to kill him, but the chickenshit hit the ground. I’d never shot a rifle before and wasn’t expecting the kick, but I still clipped him in the ass. Holy crap, my shoulder was sore for days. Pretty much annihilated our front door, which was convenient, since the last of my bags were packed and at my feet. I picked them up, walked over his bleeding ass, got in my car, and left.”
Havoc stared at me in open-mouthed awe, and I got the feeling I should have left out this story time detail until he was captive on the ferry and couldn’t bail on me. “You shot him?”
“Look, I’m trying really hard to be honest with you, so I need you not to give me the judgy eyes. It was a flesh wound. He lived, unfortunately. Trust me, he needed it to toughen him up a bit. Also, you must understand that I was faithful from the beginning. I knew from the time we were kids that I was going to marry him, and my mom convinced me that nobody else would be good enough for me. My family groomed me for Wesley. I never dated anyone else, never kissed anyone else, never…” My throat tightened. I swallowed and gave myself a moment before continuing, “He promised me that our marriage would be different. That it would mean something more than a solid business deal. I made a vow to him, and I stayed true. Not only did that asshole break his vow, but he still doesn’t even realize that those bitches played him. And I was played by my own parents! They made him out to be this perfect catch, but he was the fish I should have gutted and then thrown back into the pond. If my shoulder hadn’t been so damn sore from the kickback of the first shot, I would have tried again.”
Havoc was still staring at me, making my stomach clench in fear that I’d scared him off. I opened my mouth to continue my defense, but he held up a hand.
“I get it. You had a partner you planned to take over the world with. Then your partner follows a trail of bread crumbs and ends up in a trap while you find out that the world is nothing but a ball of shit wrapped in shiny paper.”
The absurdity of it all made me giggle. “Yes. Exactly.”
“You don’t want that world anymore, do you?”
I shook my head. “No. I want my bookstore and my little apartment. I don’t want to fight over a shiny ball of shit anymore.”
