Page 5 of Mate Matched: Xavier & Brady
Xavier
Outwardly,Brady’sexpressionwassaccharine, but his eyes spoke of devastation. It gutted me on a cellular level seeing him break character for just half a second, letting me see how badly this had torn into him.
“Aww, what a lovely family!” Brady chirped as he took our photo. His friend, Jae, wasn’t as good at acting as Brady was, and looked horrified at our appearance.
We stopped in our tracks, my hand falling from Candice’s grasp. “Do you know him?” Candice asked in a timid voice. She had to have guessed who this was after our earlier conversation, yet she was feigning ignorance.
“Oh, no! Sorry, I just thought you looked sweet together. A perfect family.” Brady managed another of his fake smiles. Then he took Jae’s hand and practically dragged him from the clinic. I called after him, but if he heard me, he didn’t respond.
“That was him, wasn’t it?” Candice asked. She wobbled over to the seating area and sat heavily with a gusty sigh. Tears pooled in her brown eyes.
The receptionist hurried over with a paper cup of water. “Are you alright?” he asked with genuine sympathy. With what this place was charging for its services, I expected nothing less.
Candice mumbled a response before a new client called the receptionist back to the desk, leaving us alone.
All my words had dried up. What was there now that Brady not only knew, but had seen us? How was I supposed to make this right with him?
It was only then that I realized my marriage, my relationship of twelve years, was done. There was no saving what me and Gio had despite all our history, because my love for him had dried up, completely shriveled and withered under the weight of all his lies.
Maybe, just maybe, I could have accepted Candice if it wasn’t for Brady. If it weren’t for the lies. It all kept coming back to Brady, though. He was my omega. Gio had made the biggest mistake of his life when he let me choose the omega. His greatest error was when let me fall in love with Brady, because for that omega, I would burn down my entire life. In time, I would rise from the ashes and convince him to give me another chance.
I stood staring at my husband, who leaned against the wall, all his bravado stripped from him. He had a hand on Candice’s shoulder, absently playing with a lock of her hair while he stared into the middle distance, seeing nothing, a frown on his face.
He jolted when I closed the distance between us. I slipped the ring from my finger, the band I had worn for the last ten years. Taking his hand, I pressed the platinum band into it without a word, then turned and walked away.
With nowhere else to go, I went home. Back to that sterile apartment that Gio favored, where there were only corners that represented my tastes. How long had I let his needs and desires consume my own?
Falling apart could happen later. First, I needed action. I needed to get my shit in order. A place to stay, a lawyer, sort out the financial situation, tell people. A lump formed in my throat when I thought about telling my parents that I was getting a divorce. There would be no trial separation. My marriage was over. Gio had detonated our lives. I still didn’t understand why.
Those questions would have to be answered later, when I had more distance from the emotions trying to choke me. I had some calls to make.
Malik was up first. He already knew how rocky my situation with Gio was, so he had to be expecting the worst. He didn’t offer platitudes when I laid it out for him, only a brief “I’m sorry,” before getting down to what I needed.
“I wish I could represent you in the divorce, but that’s a conflict of interest. What I can do is give you Miranda Noble’s number. The woman is a shark. She’ll eat Gio up in court—”
“Even with our open marriage?”
“Absolutely. There are rules to your arrangement that Gio’s broken. If he’d only communicated with you, none of this would have happened.”
Then I wouldn’t have met Brady, or at least wouldn’t have tried to date him. I could have spared him so much pain.I tried sending him another message. They were stacking up unanswered. Without thinking it through, I sent another.
Xavier
I didn’t know about Candice until today. I’m sorry.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I absently answered Malik, tuning back into the conversation despite my need to call Brady. I couldn’t, though, or rather, I wouldn’t. He wasn’t answering texts, so there was no point in trying a call. Hassling him would only get me blocked.
“Okay, so here’s what you do. She often works on Saturdays because she’s that in demand. You call Miranda and tell her assistant that Malik is calling in a favor. She’ll get you in as soon as she has a free moment. Then you go through everything and find evidence. Hotel charges, dinners, check your insurance—”
“That fucker!” I exclaimed in horror when the pieces fell into place. I heard Malik call my name. “They only told me now because they used our insurance! Candice lost her job because of her morning sickness.”
“What a shitty employer! I hope she sues—nevermind, not important right now. Okay, so log that. The insurance forced them to fess up. You need a timeline of events, and you’ll have to request a paternity test.”
“I’m not the father, though.”
“No, but you’ll need to prove those babies belong to your husband and you weren’t aware of the conception.”
“Okay. Then what?”
