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The Husband I Left

Page 17

by Katie Ivey

“Evan,” I turned towards him. “Would you like to help me humiliate a billionaire?”

A slow, delighted grin spread across Evan’s face. “Hell yes.”

And that, my friends, is how I ended up at the Grand Harbor Hotel, facing down my unfaithful husband, ready to set his world on fire.

Let the games begin.

Chapter 4

Genny

I don’t come home until sunrise, and when I do, it’s on a wave of the kind of adrenaline that you only get from watching your enemies suffer public humiliation. My feet are killing me. My eyes are heavy and gritty, my stomach is not happy with the amount of pizza I consumed, and I have a slight buzz from drinking way too much cheap wine with Evan. I have never felt better in my entire life.

The penthouse is dark and silent, and for a minute I wonder if Oliver even bothered coming home after the gala, and then I decide that I don’t particularly care. I do a little twirl. I haven’t been able to stop smiling since Evan and I left the gala last night, and at this point I doubt I’ll ever stop. Especially since my favorite moments keep playing on repeat in my mind.

Oliver’s look of slack jawed shock when he saw me. The way Nancy had reached out blindly for Thomas’s arm, looking as if she was actually going to collapse right then and there. The bark of laughter that Thomas immediately turned into a cough. Victoria’s sour expression.

After I’d made my little announcement, Oliver grabbed me by the arm and hissed in my ear that he needed to talk to me.

“Be right back, wumby dumby,” I’d called back to Evan over my shoulder, using a pet name we’d jokingly given each other in high school. It earned me a little growl from Oliver as his fingers tightened just slightly around my arm. Evan had blown me a kiss with a grin.

“Stop that,” Oliver had hissed under his breath, his lips barely moving, his smile fixed in place for the benefit of anyone still watching.

“Stop what?”

Oliver hadn’t answered. Just kept walking until he found an empty looking side room, which he quickly hustled me into. The second the door closed, he turned to me, practically shaking with rage. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, his voice barely a whisper.

“Same thing as you,” I’d said, snatching my arm out of his grip. “Parading my sidepiece around like a shiny new toy. Isn’t that what one does when the old one gets boring?”

“We’ve already had this discussion, Genevieve,” Oliver forced out from between gritted teeth. “Victoria is a valuable employee of this company. That is why she’s here tonight. That is the only reason she’s here tonight.”

“And you’re sleeping with her,” I said cheerfully.

He took a breath. Let it out slowly through his nose. “I am not,” he said, “sleeping with Victoria.”

“Sure,” I replied.

His nostrils actually flared.

I smoothed a hand down the front of my dress. “You know, I’ll be honest with you, Oliver. I wasn’t sure about this whole open marriage thing at first. It felt a little modern for me. I’m a simple girl at heart.” I sighed before I continued. “But I have to say, just a few nights with Evan was enough to change my mind. I hadn’t realized how stale things had gotten between us. In the bedroom, if you catch my meaning. No wonder you went looking for something new.”

His face went completely still. For a second, I thought he might not have heard me. Then the color drained from his cheeks, and his eyes darkened to something I’d never seen before.

“You are not sleeping with Evan.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t I?”

“You are my wife,” he barked out, a shocked look on his face.

“And you are my husband. Didn’t stop you.”

He’d taken a step back, staring at me as if he’d never seen me before. “I can’t believe you’re acting like this.”

“Believe it,” I said. “Because clearly you didn’t know me at all when you married me. You don’t own me, Oliver. I won’t be a good little wife who looks the other way. And I won’t be fucked over, by you or anyone.”

He’d opened his mouth, then closed it again. There was a knock at the door. A voice outside said: “Mr. Sinclair? Your mother needs to speak with you. Immediately.”

“Don’t move,” he’d told me, shooting me a look before storming out of the room.