I stared at her and felt some of the anger drain away. "His ring?"
"Yes, his ring. The engagement ring he gave me. The one I've been carrying around for weeks. He came to apologize and I told him we were done. For good. And then he left."
"Then why were you hugging him?" My chest burned with unshed anger, and my heart drilled against my rib cage. I felt like a fool.
"Because we spent six years together and sometimes when things end, people hug goodbye." She glared at me. "Not that it's any of your business."
"Not my business?" I snipped, stepping closer. "You're still my wife. That makes it my business."
She laughed and it wasn't a nice sound. "Your wife? Really? Is that what I am?"
"Yes."
"Then why can't you stand up to your parents and defend me?" Her voice cracked and I saw tears forming in her eyes. "If I'm your wife, why'd you let your father call me a gold digger and not say a single word to defend me? Why'd you go off about how badly they treat you instead of thinking about how badly those words might've hurt me?"
I took a step back and shook my head, straining to remember what actually happened. "I did defend you."
"No, you didn't." She shook her head. "You complained about them. You made it about you and how they've always controlled you with money. But you never once told them they were wrong about me."
"That's not fair." I tried to reach for her but she stepped back. "I was trying to make you understand that their opinion doesn't matter."
"It matters to me!" Her voice rose and I could hear the pain in it. "You don't get it, do you, Kade? You have to side with them. They gave you life."
"I'm trying to protect you from them..."
"I never wanted any of this." She wiped at her eyes angrily. "I was stupid enough to believe you might actually care, but you're selfish, and you don’t think of anyone but yourself."
"That's not true."
"Yes, it is." She moved toward the door and opened it. "And I'm done pretending it's not."
A person walking by stopped and looked in through the open door. "Is everything okay in here?" His eyes were wide and I saw the pulse at his temple throbbing like he was gearing up for a fight. Complete strangers knew that this screaming match between us wasn’t okay.
"She's fine," I snapped, glaring at her. "I was just leaving."
"I was asking her, not you." The stranger looked at Lainey with concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Lainey's voice was tired, not the angry tone she'd been using to shout at me. "He's leaving now."
I looked at her and saw nothing but exhaustion on her face and pain in her eyes. The anger drained out of me completely and I was left feeling hollow. I'd come here to tell her I didn't wantthe annulment and instead I'd accused her of lying and started a shouting match that'd drawn the attention of strangers.
I walked past her without another word and got in my car. My hands shook as I started the engine. Through the bakery window, I could see Lainey talking to the stranger, her arms wrapped around herself.
It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I came here to tell her I loved her. That was what I wanted to do, not shout at her. And I'd only made things worse for myself now.
I punched the steering wheel, making the horn honk, then threw the car in gear and floored it. Horns honked and traffic swerved around me, but I drove as hard and fast as I could to get as far away from her as possible.
I hated how I felt. All of this back and forth was killing me. I belonged with her. No one would ever convince me I didn't. From the moment I met her she’d made me a better person. Lainey was my world. I was helplessly in love, and I was pushing her away because I didn't know the first thing about having a healthy relationship.
She was right to call me selfish and accuse me of thinking only of myself. At my age I should've known better. The way to her heart would never be angry demands and accusations. I had to stop and think of her and what she really needed. It was the only way to make this right.
But first I needed to burn off all this adrenaline and rage or I would do something I'd really regret.
I turned onto the highway toward Vegas and opened the throttle full bore. The only thing standing between me and what Iwanted was my own ego and pride, and I'd be damned if I let myself screw this up.
She was too important to me.
22
