Page 124 of Adoration: Isn't What It Seems (Love Isn't What It Seems 2)

His father stared into the darkness outside the window. “It was the last name we used when we were together.”

It was where her all consuming love started and ended. How could I have loved her so much and missed so many clues about my mom?

My eyes went to Alexander, my fiercely protective, ruthless husband who carried the weight for so long. He had been the rock of this family. It was hard to watch him, knowing everything I knew now. My family brought on so much heartache to his family. Earlier I thought I couldn’t forgive him, but it was I who needed his forgiveness. How could he stand even being in the same room with me? Why did he marry me if he hated his father and my mom so much? Was it revenge?

“Thank you,” I swallowed hard, glancing back at his father. I had to leave. I couldn’t stay here. All the past ghosts were swirling around us, threatening to swallow me whole. I was on the verge of falling into despair but needed to stay strong. For Brandon.

I stood up again, my steps heavy as I headed towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Alexander’s voice stopped me.

My heart felt so heavy, exhaustion crept through every pore of me. “I’m taking Brandon and leaving.”

“No.”

I wanted to bang my head against the door, all the while my heart bled on the inside. Giving Alexander up would be one of the hardest things I’ve done but there was no other way.

I needed to remain strong. “I can’t do this with you now, Alexander. It’s over.”

“Fuck it is,” he bellowed. “Don’t you forget we have joint custody of Brandon. You are staying here. This is your home; this is his home.”

“No.This isyourhome, Alexander.” It was my turn to deny him. I was dying on the inside but I couldn’t bear to stay. If I stayed I would love him and need him more with each day. He’d resent me and at the end he’d leave me. He despised his father and my mother for what they had done. Our pasts had destroyed enough. I had to save what was left of me. “This isn’t my home. We had an arrangement. You got what you wanted. I only got fifty percent of what I wanted. If you want to insist on joint custody, fine. But tonight, I am taking him and leaving. And don’t you dare stop me.”

I walked out of his study heading for Brandon’s room, leaving my heart and soul behind.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Alexander

As each dirty secret came out in the open, my wife hurt more. Tears glistened in her beautiful eyes till they spilled across her face, and they were a punch in the gut. I wanted to protect her, shelter her from all the heartache. She should have been protected from the terrible history of our families. I should have protected her better. She deserved to be happy; I should have made her happy.

Rage, fear, and desperation consumed me as I watched her walk out of my study and my life.

How could she leave me without a backward glance? In a short amount of time, she and Brandon had become my whole world. They mattered to me more than my life. Just the thought of being without her was unbearable. It was as if someone stabbed me in the chest with a knife. This must be how it felt, because I swore my heart was bleeding. My soul shook with need for her and she’d barely left the room.

There was no way in hell I would let this happen. I strode towards the door, my only goal to get to Liberty and stop her from going anywhere.

I couldn’t live without her. She was my substance, my heartbeat. Life without her would be a bleak existence. I’d become a shell of a man, just as my father had become without his Lily.

“Where are you going, Alexander?” My father’s voice reached me.

“I’m going to stop her from leaving.”

My father’s hand was on my shoulder and I shook it off. “Son, let her go and get yourself together.”

“No,” I practically bellowed at my father. With each second that went by, she was getting further away from me.

“Alexander,” my grandfather’s voice warned. “You will lose her if you push too hard.”

“Fuck that, she is my wife. She belongs with me.” She knew that but refused to admit it. “She knows that.” She was my oxygen, my everything.

My father’s hand tightened on my shoulder, holding me back and all the rage and fear of losing Liberty burned inside me as I balled my fist and punched the wall. If he didn’t let go, he was going to be next. What did he know? He hadn’t been around in decades. As I went to push my father away from me, Maxim was on me from behind and held me back.

“Stop it, Alexander. You’ll scare the living shit out of your wife and Brandon with your temper if you don’t get your shit together.” Maxim was right but I needed to see her, have her in my sight and in my arms. I shoved hard against him, he was no match for me. I needed to know she’d stay. I had to beg her to give us a chance; we were good together. We could be even better.

“Alexander,” my father had spoken my name more in the last hour than his entire life. “You said it yourself, you have joint custody. She can’t leave. Let her get some space and you make a plan. Not throwing her over your shoulders and locking her up in a tower type of plan, but a plan to make her see that you love her.”

Fuck, yeah I loved her. Couldn’t she see that? I was crazy about her, I loved her wit, her smiles, her spark, her defiance, her soul, I loved all of her. I wanted to give her new memories, happiness, all my love… anything and everything she needed. I’d do anything and everything for her.

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