Page 54 of Heartbroken Husband
My vision swam slightly and I closed the folder, pressing my fingers to the front of it in the hopes that it would steady me. Zach noticed immediately. “Are you okay?”
“I need a second,” I said, my voice coming out hushed even though I hadn’t meant for it to happen. “Is that okay?”
Simon looked up and pushed his chair back without hesitating. “Of course.”
Alex nodded. “We’ll step out. Let us know when you’re ready.”
When I noticed Zach move to follow them, I met his gaze and shook my head. “Would you stay?”
He paused, confusion in his eyes for a beat before he nodded and waited for Alex to shut the door behind him. “What’s going on, Adeline?”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding as I turned to face him fully. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I know.”
“No, you really don’t,” I insisted. “You don’t have to save me, Zach. Just like you didn’t have to buy that painting just so I’d get commission.”
He didn’t look away from me, leaning back in his chair and pushing it away from the table a little so he had space to hook his ankle around his knee. “We’re friends. At least, I hope we can be that again going forward.”
“I’d like that, but it still doesn’t mean you have to marry me and spend an astronomical amount of money on my girls.”
“I’m not only doing this for you,” he said. “It benefits me too.”
I huffed out a disbelieving breath. “How?”
He shrugged. “Clients and investors like the married, family-man look.”
I tilted my head and let my gaze drift to the window. The explanation he’d offered was logical, but it was also absolute bullshit and I could tell that he knew it. The words had fallen flat between us even as they’d come out.
There was something else just behind them, though. Something more meaningful waiting to be said, but he didn’t continue, swallowing back whatever words were right on the tip of his tongue. I understood that feeling so damn well, knowing there was more you needed to say but not coming out with it in the end, so I didn’t push him.
“Okay,” I said finally instead. “If that’s your story, then I suppose you should stick to it.”
He nodded, but I saw the way his jaw tightened, betraying the fact that he knew I knew there was more, but neither of us went there. Some things just weren’t ready to be said yet.
Maybe they never would be, but even if we did eventually open up completely, it wouldn’t be here, while Simon and Alex were waiting and this contract was literally sitting on the table between us.
“Let’s talk about it,” Zach said suddenly, inclining his chin toward the folder. “That’s what we’re here to do, so let’s do it. What tripped you up?”
I blinked hard, a little thrown by the sudden change in his demeanor. “You’re being exceptionally generous. I realize the Westwoods are well off, but you don’t have to give me everything, Zach.”
“I didn’t. What’s in there is only fair. You seriously don’t need to worry about it.”
“I don’t?” I arched an eyebrow at him. “Are you just saying that or is it actually true?”
He waited until my eyes were firmly locked on his and I didn’t see a single hint of a lie anywhere when he finally spoke again. “You know how people say you need to have money to make money? Well, I had money, Adeline.”
“Okay?”
“I’m still living at Westwood Manor,” he said. “I’m single. I don’t have any kids that I’m aware of and I work. A lot. I haven’t had much time nor the inclination to travel or spend money on random stuff.”
“That’s nice, but what do you mean?”
“I mean that when I say you don’t have to worry, it’s not just a platitude. It’s reality, and while we’re on the subject, you won’t have to work once we’re married. Unless you want to, of course, but it would be completely up to you. A decision you need to make for yourself. It wouldn’t be a financial necessity.”
I stared at him, completely dumbfounded, but as it turned out, he wasn’t even done yet, simply continuing like he was working his way through a mental checklist he’d memorized for this very moment.
“I’m also more than willing to keep Amber on if that’s what you want. I know the girls are comfortable with her and there’s been so much change in their lives already that I wouldn’t want to disrupt them any more than we already would be.”
