Page 103 of The Wrong Side Of Us

Her face reddened. “Evelyn, I’m really sorry—”

I raised my hand, stopping her. “Save the bullshit. You are fucking lucky I am pregnant or else you’d be dead right this moment.” Jessica gasped, my words stunning her. “I could still do it.” I raised an eyebrow. “Blame it on the hormones, on the craziness going on in my life. It could be temporary insanity. Everyone would believe it, don’t you think?”

Her face paled. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Why should I be? You weren’t kidding when you decided to disrespect my relationship, so why the fuck should I care? You think Nathan and I aren’t going through enough shit as is?”

“I wasn’t thinking. I was drunk and—”

“Were you drunk when you took that robe to the gallery in the morning? Because I highly doubt it.”

Ashamed, she looked away. Far too lost in my rage, I carried on, getting everything I wanted to say off my chest. “He does not want you, Jessica. Getting naked in front of him was not going to work, so I have no clue what the hell you were thinking.”

“I wasn’t,” she sniffled, shaking her head. “I’ve been going through so much shit, and Nathan has been the person I can rely on. I just…I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

The one thing I had learned was that apologies were pointless when they came from people like Jessica. They were never sincere.

“I don’t give a damn if you’re sorry,” I finally said, breaking the brief silence that had surrounded us. “All I’m here to do is to tell you that you need to stay out of our lives from now on. I don’t want you near me or near Nathan any longer.”

Jessica had the nerve to look offended. “I can’t. I work with him. I own part of the gallery—”

“Not anymore,” I interrupted, taking out the check I’d written for more than her part of the gallery was worth. “You will accept this amount for the gallery. I will buy it and hand it over to Nathan.”

“You can’t do that,” she hissed. “This isn’t fair—”

“You lost your chance, Jessica. I bet you weren’t even interested in art until you met Nathan.” She blushed, her ears turning red at how easy it was to read her. “You will accept this because Nathan deserves better than to have to give up his dream for your selfishness. If you’ve ever cared about him at all, you won’t hesitate to take this and hand over whatever paperwork you have for the gallery.”

Her eyes narrowed on me. “Or what?”

“My family did their fair share of illegal things,” I muttered. “I may have learned a thing or two from them.”

After a few seconds of Jessica thinking she could stare me down, she sighed. I left feeling the pain in my chest lessened, happy that at least Nathan would be able to keep the gallery.

I hoped it was the last battle we’d have to face…

But one can only hope for so much, right?

Chapter 40

Nathan

I ran a hand over my face as I listened to my mother’s advice. Talking to Evie would help, but Evie didn’t want to talk anymore. She was tired and frustrated and no longer seemed to give a damn about what anyone else thought.

She was strong, though.

Beneath the hurt, beneath the pain, I saw her growing braver and stronger by the second. It was like the woman I knew was coming back, but this time there was a wall she was building around her heart, one that would be very difficult to climb if she didn’t let me.

“Are you listening to me, Nathan?”

I sighed, nodding.

“You are not.” She pressed her lips together before letting out a breath and squeezing my hand with hers. “She just needs time, son.”

Shaking my head, I stood up. Time was all we’d had, and time had fucked us over too much. We spent time apart hoping to figure our lives out, and ever since we had gotten back together, things just kept falling apart.

“Do you know how difficult it is to not be able to do anything to help her?” I asked, feeling a lump form in my throat.

It felt as if I was losing her. Of course, it was only normal for her to change with everything happening, but she was disappearing before my eyes, and I could do nothing, not if she pushed me away.

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