Rule
She was looking at me differently.
Like she didn’t know me.
I wouldn’t deny that I wished we could go back in time to the point before she found that DNA test. Before she realized I truly did have an ulterior motive. I would shred that test and just let it be. I would take Laikyn on a job and give her the life she deserved. At least as much as I was capable of giving.
Unfortunately, it hadn’t played out that way, and now it was too late to change anything. I had to play all my cards and hope like hell in the end, my shitty hand would be enough to win her back.
I dropped the key card onto the table near the door and turned to look at Laikyn.
“Your father … Jeremiah Montgomery … he left you a trust fund.”
She looked surprised, but no more than she did when I told her that her family legacy was one of the world’s most profitable supermarket chain stores.
“A trust fund?”
I nodded and tucked my hands in my pockets. “It’s the reason I married you.”
When she stepped back as though I’d slapped her, I realized how horrible that sounded.
Laikyn clutched her throat. “You married me formoney? Oh, my God.”
“No.” I reached for her, but she backed away. “That’s not…”
“Not what?” Her eyes were bright with tears, but she was glaring daggers at me. “You thought you’d make the most of it? Marry the pathetic little traumatized girl and finagle it so you could get a payday? You really are an asshole, you know that?”
She spun toward Jinx.
“Did you know this?”
He stood like a deer caught in headlights.
“Did you know he married me to get my trust fund?”
“That’s not what I meant!” I snapped. Fuck.
Laikyn spun back around, slowly this time. Or maybe time had slowed down because I could hear the roar of my heart in my ears, and it wasn’t a sound I was fond of.
“Let me explain.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to hear anymore.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but she shut me up by putting a hand up.
“Get out.”
“Laikyn.”
“No!” She huffed. “And to think I loved you, Rule. God.” She thrust her hand through her hair. “I’m the world’s biggest idiot because I fell in love with you.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, unable to speak.
Her eyes were wild when she met my gaze. “I’m an idiot. You make it impossible. You don’t want anyone to give a shit, so you beat them to the punch by being a fucking asshole. You used me.”
“No.” I could see why she would think that, but it wasn’t true. I just needed a chance to explain. “That’s not … it came out wrong.”
“Did it? Or maybe it just didn’t come out soon enough. I mean, you did suffer these past couple of months, forced to fuck me. Oh my God. I’m such an idiot.” She stood taller, and her shoulders straightened. “I hate you, Rule. I hate you with every ounce of my being right now.”
