Chapter 0008
BAILEE
It had been a horrible day, and it just kept getting worse.
Alexander. Fucking. Kingston.
That wasn’t his middle name, but that was how I had said his name in my head for the past seven years.
No one on this Earth, including Caleb, had caused me as much pain as Alexander Fucking Kingston.
This man had taken my virginity, told me he loved me, and then tossed me aside like I had been nothing more than a piece of
trash on his way out of my life.
had been young and stupid. I had loved him with everything I had and had cried over him for months after he left me
shattered and hollow.
Getting over him was one of the hardest things I have ever done until today.
Now, at the lowest point in my life, he just had to show up again, and dared to provoke me in the worst possible way. It was a cruel joke.
Seeing him made me feel like I was cursed. It was as if higher forces had looked down at me and said, “Did you think this was
over? Buckle up, sweetheart. Things are about to get a whole lot worse.”
I had to have done something horrendous in my previous life for this to be happening to me.
Alex stood from his barstool, his eyes narrowed with amusement
If my hand wasn’t trapped in his right next to his stupidly handsome jawline, I would have thought I had only imagined trying to hit him.
“Im going to let this one slide after the morning you’ve had, but don’t ever do that again.” Alex growled, dropping my hand as he glared at me, the look so cold it burned into my soul.
Embarrassment washed over me as I realized that he knew about my divorce. Had my brother told him? They were best friends, after all, and had been since I was thirteen, but I didn’t realize Ben even knew about my divorce.
I had kept it a secret from my family because I was embarrassed.
It was humiliating to admit to my family that I had failed in my marriage and in keeping my family together.
“That had nothing to do with my bad day. That was about eight years overdue. “I met Alex’s eyes firmly and he averted his.
Heat crawled up my neck when I saw that Alexander had been watching the news report of my hearing today
The television screen behind him showed Caleb on the steps of the courthouse as he gave his pity me‘ speech. I hadn’t listened to it then, and refused to listen to it now.
He was a lying, worthless con artist.
My lawyer had told me that we needed to be prepared for anything, but him providing the judge with forged evidence that Brinley wasn’t his and that I had been hitting him had been the last thing I expected.
Instead, they gave him everything. The house, the cars, and all of our money. They even offered him a restraining order against me for his false claims of domestic violence, which I was still waiting to see if he would accept
He had no police reports or proof that I had hit him besides fake pictures of his bruises. So, they couldn’t press charges against me, but it was still enough to make the judge side with him.
“Damn,” A man said from behind Alexander, and I closed my eyes tightly. “I had my money on her being innocent, but maybe
1/2
#25 BONUS
she is violent.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I let out a deep breath, feeling panic rush through my veins as I looked at the crowded bar.
He was right.
People watched us, entertained by the show I had just put on. Caleb had accused me of being violent, and the first thing I did was go to a bar and punch one of the city’s most eligible bachelors.
No one would believe me now if I said Caleb was lying. They would all just think I was an abusive drunk.
“No. She’s not a violent person. She’s right. I deserved that.” Alexander said, as he stared down at me.
His blue eyes were just as mesmerizing as I remembered, and my heart squeezed as the memories of us resurfaced.
I was in shock as I saw how much he had changed. It wasn’t just his body being more muscular and wider. It was how he carried himself, too. He had become a man since I had last seen him, one that would make any woman lose the ability for rational thought
Even I was stunned stupid at the sight of him, and he had once been mine. Once. A long time ago.
Alex had once been everything to me. All it took was his arms around me to make everything else in the world melt away for a while. It was exactly what I needed now… needed, but couldn’t have.
Getting over him had been the hardest thing I had ever tried to do, and I wasn’t sure I had succeeded. He owned my heart and soul and had crushed them both when I found out that he had been using me. He had never really loved me. I wasn’t sure he knew the meaning of the word.
as I reminded myself
The butterflies in my stomach grow stronger the longer I held his stare, and I had to force my eyes away as that he was a poison from my past, and he needed to stay there.
No matter how strong my physical response to him was or how my heart ached at the sight of him still, I refused to have anything to do with him. I was already struggling from my failed marriage, I didn’t need to mess up my life even more than it aiready was.
He might look different, but I knew from the few words we had just exchanged that he hadn’t changed as a person. If anything, he was probably worse than he used to be.
I would never let him back into my heart, let alone into my life,
