Page 75 of Bound Bride
I thought I had learned.
I pour myself a fourth drink with a trembling hand. Vodka floods the glass and spills over the edge onto the silver tray underneath, but I don't care.
I pour until the bottle runs empty, then I pick up the glass and trudge toward my desk.
The anger keeps the pain and the heartbreak at bay, but the anger won't last forever.
Soon I'll have to face the truth.
Sinking down into my leather desk chair, I bring the glass to my lips and drink slowly.
Ice bumps against my upper lip as my throat burns and I let my eyes close.
Calvin.
What does she see in him?
Was it an age thing?
He is younger than me.
Maybe it was because she wasn't forced to marry him, but she always seemed excited to be with me.
All the games in the pool and around the house never made me think something was wrong.
It had to be a cover.
I open my eyes, gaze blearily out the window to the gardens illuminated by the setting sun, and sigh deeply.
This is my own fault.
I never should have let myself get swept up in the romance of it all. Of her.
Rose.
Fuck.
I'm so focused on draining my glass that I don't register the knock at the door or the footsteps striding toward my desk.
I don't even notice the shadow that falls over me until a hand suddenly slaps the glass right out of my grip.
It topples to the floor, thankfully not shattering, but the alcohol and ice clatter across the wood and stain immediately.
"The fuck?!" I rise out of my chair, chest heaving in anger, but none of it makes it past my lips because I come face to face with the culprit. "Ethan?!"
“Hey, boss." He gives me a slightly strained smile as he stands there with one arm in a sling and his skin still paler than I'm used to.
But he's here, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans with his black beanie once again failing to contain the wild strands of his hair.
"What… what are you doing here? There is no way you should be out of the hospital."
"I heard this place was going to shit without me so I discharged myself."
"Ethan—"
"Don't." He holds up one hand. "It's done. I'll deal with the consequences. But first, you have to tell me what the fuck is going on?" He glances past me to the spilled drink and grimaces. "This isn't like you."
"Is it not?" I sink back into my seat with a heavy sigh. "There is nothing to tell."
