Page 49 of Cruel King
“In fact, I won’t be at the house when you come back, Matthias. I’ve packed my things and I’m leaving.”
“Oh.”
Again, I have nothing.
“I know you’re not going to be bothered by this. We haven’t been happy, so it’s not like this should come as a surprise. We got married for our fathers, not because we loved each other. Now that your father is going to be gone, there’s nothing keeping us together.”
In her quaint British accent, her news sounds strangely charming. It’s certainly not a surprise. Nothing she’s saying is untrue. Her timing isn’t great, but then again, it’s not like I’m close to my father.
“Good luck, Matthias.”
“Yeah, you too.”
And with that, the call ends along with my marriage. It’s been a hell of a day, and it’s not even three o’clock in the afternoon.
I toss the phone onto the bed and return to staring up at the ceiling. I don’t know why. It’s not like any of the answers I need are up there.
So my marriage is over. Not exactly a shocker. I should feel something about that, but that would have required me to care about Jillian in the first place. It’s not good when you go into a relationship still hung up on someone else.
My wife’s been cheating on me for the past six months, so she’ll be fine. She has a warm place to land. If I'd been smart, I would have done the same thing, but I had no interest in finding another woman. I never wanted the one I married because she wasn’t the woman I’m still in love with, so why would I bother with finding something on the side?
I roll over and stare out the window at the grounds on the estate I’m about to inherit. Neither Jillian nor I are going to want the house in London, so that’s going to have to be sold. I can run King Industries from here, if I want to. My father has for years. Maybe it’s time I came home for good. I’d be lying if I said there was nothing here for me.
For a few minutes, I let myself daydream about Ava and me together here. Could that still happen? After my behavior this morning, I’ll have to work overtime to get her back.
In the distance, I see her and Theo standing on the grass laughing. Instantly, every good thought I let myself have about her evaporates, replaced by the reality of what she did five years ago.
The reality I’ve lived with every day since then.
Balling my hands into tight fists, I watch the two of them having a good time together as rage builds inside me. “Don’t bother, Theo. She’ll just disappear on you.”
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Ava
Cooligan’s looksthe same as it has since I was a little girl and my parents would bring my brother and me for dinner here on special occasions. I always liked the crisp white tablecloths, which looked so clean and fresh. My mother used to say with Andrew and me, she didn’t dare to put a white tablecloth on the dining room table since it would be dirty before the first meal was served.
I look around at the dark walls with the large metallic gold squares and beautiful wall sconces in the middle of each one as Theo and I are shown to our table in the corner of the restaurant. It’s been a few years since I came here, and I’m looking forward to enjoying one of their delicious steaks I remember being the best I’ve ever had.
We sit down across from one another on the black leather tufted chairs I’ve only ever seen at Cooligan’s, and I open my napkin to set it across my lap. A waiter dressed in a black and white uniform quickly joins us to fill our water glasses while all I can think about is what happened between Matthias and me this morning.
“There’s a restaurant in the south of France that always reminds me of this place,” Theo says with a smile as he unfurls his napkin and sets it on his lap. “Every time I go there, I think of Cooligan’s.”
“Is it because of the gold squares on the black wall?”
He nods as he chuckles. “It is! How did you know?”
I shrug and answer, “It’s the part of this restaurant that always stands out to me. Anytime anyone describes this place, it’s always by the dark walls and the thin gold square lines.”
Theo leans toward me and whispers, “No offense to anyone here, but that place in France makes this beef dish that’s better than sex.”
My cheeks instantly heat up at his mention of sex. I sensed he was flirting with me earlier today when we were walking around the estate, and now this and the way he seems to have a twinkle in his eye tells me he may be doing it again.
As close as he and I have been for nearly all our lives, I don’t know how I feel about Theo being anyone but my best friend. He always teased that I was the future Mrs. Theo King, but I never took that seriously, and I doubt he did either. That was simply a joke a boy made to a girl he cared for like a sister.
Or at least that’s all I ever considered it to be. If I had thought we were ever more than just friends, I would have never been with his brother.
Not that Matthias and I had anything close to a relationship. It was only a couple days, but I can’t lie. That time still means more to me than I can explain, although by his actions today I think I can safely say it didn’t mean anything to him at all.