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I heard a knock at the door. “What?”

“Your plan is to eat off the floor every night like a prisoner?”

“Well, I’d rather not have to look at you.”

He pushed the door open and leaned against the door frame.

“I know you’re upset,” he started.

“Upset.” I let out a humorless laugh. “I think we’re beyond that.”

“Belle—”

“Don’t. You’re not about to come in here and have some heart to heart like you didn’t turn my whole life upside down. It wasn’t enough to just force marriage on me. No, I had to move into your golden cage too.” I looked at him. “You got what you wanted. I’m paying for my sins. I just can’t stand to look at you or that fucking ring. Can I just be alone? Please.”

His face tightened. “There’s fresh towels in the cabinet in the sink.”

“Okay.”

He pushed off the wall and closed the door behind him.

I laid on the floor and stared at the ceiling. Somewhere between the tears and the exhaustion of the entire day’s events, I fell asleep right there on the rug with the lights still on.

26 CARDEZ MONTAGUE

That woman really punched me dead in my face. Priest laughed at me for a solid minute when he saw it, and Marco just shook his head. I hadn’t had a black eye since I fought some dude in boarding school.

I saw the shit coming too, and I stood there and took it. After everything that went down last night, it was the least I could do. It didn’t make us even, but I knew it probably made her feel a little better.

The spitting was wild though. I ate that too.

She’d probably try to hit me again when she went to work and found out I’d already filed her resignation.

I called Tank yesterday morning and told him she was done. I hadn’t told her because I was still heated, and knew it would fuck with her more if she found out when she got to work.

She was about to be a Montague anyway. There was no reason my wife needed to be managing bottle girls at Luxe. Tank could hand the position to Siani or whoever else he wanted.

I was at the warehouse on Saturday when the text came through.

Tank

I just told her she was terminated. She smashed two bottles of Clicquot.

When I got home that evening from a meeting with Yomi and one of my suppliers, she stormed over to the elevator doors as soon as they opened.

She shoved me in my chest. “My job? My fucking job, Cardez? Are you crazy?” she yelled.

“You don’t need to work anymore. And stop putting your hands on me,” I said calmly as I took off my shoes.

“You had no right,” she seethed.

“Why do you need to work in a club when we’re getting married? On top of that, you think I’m stupid? Luxe was your playground with all them rich niggas up in VIP. You’re not going back there.”

She turned and walked to the window that overlooked the river.

“It wasn’t your decision to make.”

“Everything about your life is my decision now.”