“With my new wife? Yes.”
Gabby flinched in my hold, tried to push off.
I held her tighter.
“No. It’s okay—I should um—just… you know… go get cleaned up.” She glanced at me, chin tilted high. With her gorgeous eyes narrowed, her skin was pale. There was pleading in those eyes, in that expression. “Or something. Please.”
“She’s not staying.” I slid my hand from her back and grazed her hand with mine.
“I would just like a few minutes,” Lenora said, and for the first time since I’d kicked her out of our home, the infrequent lawyer visits where we’d sat across from the table from each other, she looked contrite. Uncertain and if I wasn’t mistaken, sad.
“Please let me go,” Gabby whispered, and her voice was so pained. My body burned to kiss her, to kick Lenora out and finish what we’d started. I couldn’t. Not with her looking so upset and shaken.
“Five minutes,” I said, loud enough for both to hear. “This won’t take long,” I said only for Gabby and brushed my lips over her cheek. “Go on up. I’ll come find you.”
Her gaze slid toward Lenora and she rolled her lips together before scooting between us and hurrying up the stairs. I waited until I heard the echo of her door closing upstairs and crossed my arms, turning back to Lenora.
“Five minutes. Talk.”
“I’ve been trying to reach out to you. I texted you… before your games.”
“I saw.” I would give her nothing. In her texts, she’d just told me good luck or that I played great. I’d deleted them all as soon as I saw them during the playoffs. So inconsequential I hadn’t remembered receiving them until she brought it up.
“You, um… you never texted back.”
“I know.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
Her lips pushed to one side. I’d never been cold to her. I’d sought her out, pursued her. I gave my relationship with Lenora everything I had from the first moment I saw her at that coffee shop and I never quit until she had made it clear it was over. No doubt she was surprised to not see me being more open, but whatever she came for, she wouldn’t get.
Not only because of Gabby, but because of her own actions.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and her chin wobbled.
So help me, if she cried… my jaw tightened.
“I’m sorry for everything, but you never gave me a chance to explain. You were so angry that day, and then the divorce went so quickly. I wanted to talk, but you kicked me out.”
She had to be kidding me. Based on the earnestness in her blue eyes, she wasn’t.
“That’s semantics considering I walked in on another woman fucking you.”
Her head tilted, curious, micro-bladed brows tugging inward. “Is that the problem? That it was Rhianna and not a man?”
I laughed, but it was cold and brittle. I would have handled it differently. A man would have had my fist in his face. I’d given Rhianna the decency to gather her clothes and scurry around our room without looking at her naked body.
“No.” At one time, it had been part of it. Along with my bruised ego. But then I realized that had never mattered. She’d betrayed me and our wedding vows and the life I’d thought we were building. It didn’t matter if it was man, woman, or a fruitcake for fuck’s sake.
She’d ruined all the trust I had in her in a moment, a glimpse of her body connected with another.
“I’m sorry. She’s not you and I was so lonely. It was a mistake, though. Rhianna and I aren’t together, and she’s quit the show. Please, Joey.”
She came to me quickly, the palm of her hand at my chest, and with her height, I barely had to dip my chin to see her.
Which meant I caught the flash of irritation as I took her wrist and flung her hand off my body and took two steps back.
“I can do better,” she pleaded. “I’m so sorry. It was stupid, and I’ve regretted it for so long, but I didn’t know how to reach out to you, but once I saw those pictures of you the other night, I knew I had to come talk to you.”
My brows rose. “You saw that I was remarried and then decided to make your move?” Did she realize how absolutely insane that was?
“Well, you were drunk, obviously, so it’s not like it was real…”
My hand flew up between us, palm out, stopping her. I was over this. Over seeing her plead for something she’d destroyed and had no chance of having again. “I’m going to tell you this once, and then I’m never going to see you again. There was no hope of us ever reconciling as soon as I caught you. That I’m married again now, plays no bearing on this. It isn’t even the largest factor. Your behavior, on the other hand, showing up here and walking into a home that is no longer yours, thinking you’re owed whatever time you demand is, Lenora. Life is not about you and if you’re unhappy, if you’re searching for something, that is a result of your own actions. But they will no longer, ever, have any bearing on mine.”
“But… I miss you. And now that it’s off-season, we can spend time together.”
Off-season? Was she high? “So what happens in September when I’m back on the road? What then? Will you get bored again?”
Her lips pinched, selling her out before she could hide it.
“Jesus, Lenora. Who are you?” And how had I missed out on this part of her for so long?
She straightened her spine, jutting out breasts I didn’t bother glancing at. There was a time I couldn’t keep my hands off them, now I saw her using her body as a weapon. Bile rose in my throat. “Why did you even marry me?”
It couldn’t have been love. Was it the money? She’d never acted like she cared about any of the fame such as it was from being with a pro athlete. Hell, I was rarely recognized. Did she like being able to use the name? Impress people?
“Because I loved you.” Her chin shook, but there was no change in her expression. Fake. Just like the rest of her. “I can fix this. I can fix us.”
She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. And I knew the kill shot to prove it. “Will you give me children?”
Her lip curled.
God. This was like finding her cheating on me all over again except now, I just… I didn’t care.
Exhaustion settled onto my shoulders and I shook my head. “Get out, Lenora, and go home. We’re done here.”
“Rhianna kicked me out and I have nowhere else to go.”
I laughed. Holy shot shit, how was this my life? “I don’t even care,” I said, still laughing. “You make money, go take care of yourself for once.”
“You don’t mean that. You can’t. You’re too nice.”
The urge to slam my head against the wall hit me hard and fast. “You’re a piece of work. I don’t know if you just don’t care about how big of a fool you’re making of yourself right now, but this is my house and you’re no longer welcome in it.”
I moved around her and opened the door, stepping back so I was out of her reach. This was… hysterical. And truly, the perfect closure I didn’t even need anymore. In a minute, she showed me more of her true self than she ever had and it was all… ugly, despite the pretty outer wrapping.