Page 126 of Sweet Wicked Vows

He scowled. “It’s not safe out here by yourself. I’ll wait with you until you get in one.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m perfectly safe hailing a cab on my own. Go home, Jaxon.”

He shook his head. “Not a chance. I’ll go home when I know you’re safe. You’d be safer on my bike, we both know that, but you’re too stubborn to accept my help.”

“I’m too stubborn?” I scoffed with a laugh. “Says the man who refuses to sign divorce papers. The same stubborn man who won’t listen to me when I tell him that we’re over.” My heart broke into a sprint. Anger bubbling over and spreading through my veins. “You think I’m the stubborn one here? Think you need to go and look in a mirror.”

I took off before he got the chance to respond, walking as fast as I could to put distance between us. Not that it mattered. Jaxon’s strides matched at least five of mine, meaning that he caught up in no time.

The anger and frustration fizzled out as the raindrops began to fall from the sky. As they dispersed, I was left with emptiness once again.

The same emptiness that kept growing.

The grief of losing my father.

The relief yet constant worrying about my brother.

The heart-shattering pain of walking away from my husband.

Each one of them fed the emptiness, helping it spread and consume more of me each day.

“Evelyn, I’m sorry.”

Wiping away what I hoped was a raindrop, I sighed. “You’ve been saying that a lot these days, Jaxon. Doesn’t it get tiring?”

“Not when it comes to you. I’ll tell you I’m sorry every day for the rest of my life, if it means that I get to see and talk to you.”

“You can’t spend your life that way.” I stopped walking. “It’s not fair on either of us. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive you, Jaxon. That’s the honest truth.” My hands ran through my damp hair. “You hovering around me, constantly apologizing, it’s not working.”

His throat bobbed. “Then tell me what you want from me. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything.”

I love him.

He lied.

I love him.

He lied…

Just when I thought it wasn’t possible to cry anymore, my damn eyes had other ideas. “That’s the thing,” I said quietly. “I’m not sure there is anything you can do. Maybe with time, it will hurt a little less to look at you. Maybe with time, my heart won’t break in two every time I think about what we had. With time, maybe just maybe I can learn to forgive you.”

“If it’s time you want, I can give you that. We have all the time in the world…”

“And space.”

His face fell flat.

My stomach twisted at the thought of not seeing him again. It was what I wanted, right? I wanted to move on with my life. I wanted to be able to focus on my new future, one where I could heal and hopefully find love again. Love with someone I trusted and who hadn’t betrayed me.

The truth was, I knew Jaxon would do everything in his power to win me back.

And the harsher truth was that in time I knew my heart wouldoverrule my brain.

A life with Jaxon wasn’t possible, because without trust, the relationship would be doomed from the start.

“You said you’ll do anything.” Blood drummed in my ears, my body fighting against my words. “I need timeandspace. I need to learn how to forgive you and how to separate what I feel for you from what you’ve done.”

Raindrops fell thick and fast, racing down his cheekbones.

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