Two Kings

Chapter 35

My heart thumps about in its bony prison cage, while anger and sadness swell within me. The urge to scream and cry is very real as I picture Gia on top of Rico. Her naked body, her bare breast slapping her chest as she moans and sinks on top of him.

Trust him to lie to me—chase me to my mother's house and then fill my head with more lies so he could draw me out and reach the rawest parts of me, only to mess with me some more. I dump another arm full of clothes in my case, leaving everything Rico bought for me on the hangers.

I grab my overnight bag, open it, and run my arm along the dresser and dump my personal items inside. Glass hits glass but I don't stop even though it's most likely my perfume bottles connecting.

As hurt as I am, I can't assume that something more was happening between Rico and me, even though I presumed it was. We may be married, but he's promised me nothing other than a divorce at the end of this. My mistake was assuming he felt something more for me when he didn't.

That seems hard to get my head around after the days we shared in my tiny hospital bed—where we slept and showered and ate together—where he did everything but fuck me because he feared hurting me. Doesn't seem like a man only motivated by sex since we haven't had any since my mother's house.

Nonetheless, that doesn't mean he hasn't been seeing Gia without me knowing. Nor did I stop to consider how I would feel if he were. I just assumed she was gone. It never occurred to me he was lying. But I should have been more suspicious given how easy it was for him to dissociate himself from her.

I grab another arm full of clothes and dump them in my case when a sudden knock on my door startles me.

"Alexis," Rico thumps again, this time louder. "Open the door."

I level out the pile of clothes in my case so I can zip it shut, paying no attention to Rico.

"I know you're in there."

Still, I don't answer. Nothing he could say to me at this point will ease the hurt I feel at finding them together. "Answer me or I'll kick the door open."

I groan and relent, "what?"

"Can we have a conversation without a door between us, please?"

"No. I'm busy."

"Busy doing what?"

"Busy avoiding you. So please go away. I'm not interested in anything you have to say anymore. Go back to Gia."

"That was..."

"I know what it was. I have eyes and unfortunately, I won't be able to get that disgusting image out of my head any time soon. Now, if you don't mind, I'm busy."

Silence fills the space as I run my finger over the scratch mark on my black, glossy case. Why is it so easy to be swept up by something that feels so good? Yet the moment it turns bad, you're considering things you weren't bothered to consider before. Things that might have saved you from getting hurt.

"We'll talk later than," he tells me, "When you've ready."

"That'll be never," I counter, wiping the tear as it streams down my cheek. Truth is, I'm not interested in hearing anything he has to say since it's probably more lies to cover the other lies he's already told me. Seeing them together speaks for itself. What happened between us wasn't serious. I see that now, but I was too lost in the situation to recognize it then.

After a long quiet moment, I realize Rico must have gone since he's said nothing more. I continue packing my things, wondering if it's even possible to leave. I'm in over my head and have no idea how to keep myself safe once I leave here. Where do I even go? What will happen to me? Will Dom find me? It's a possibility. But I can't stay here, having Rico going back and forward from my bed to hers. I'd never stand for it, and he'd never stand for me telling him what to do. Besides all that, I don't trust Gia in any capacity and sharing space with her, let alone a man, is insane.