Lex inches closer, his nose grazing mine gently before he parts his lips and tenderly kisses mine, soft yet urgent, desperate yet at ease, under the gazebo as I barely manage to contain myself. I’m waiting for him to wake me up and tell me this is all a dream. The most beautiful dream where I just took the biggest leap of faith known to mankind.
“Are we m… married?” My voice is quivering.
“You better believe it, Mrs. Edwards.”
***
I climbed into his bed that night, and for the first time, he holds onto me not letting me go. We have never officially slept together, and this is to new beginnings. A new life for us, and we’re married. The adrenalin refusing to wear off.
Lex Edwards is my husband.
I am married.
As the sun rises in the morning, I wake up with Lex wrapped around my body. It’s the most wonderful sleep I have ever had, and I know for now the demons have been set free. We’re far from perfect, and there’s still so much to overcome, but it’s about taking baby steps. Right? Because getting married on a whim is taking baby steps.
I lay there for a while, smiling at how happy he has made me. Every part of me knows there’s no one else who can make me feel so secure, so content, and so whole. I snuggle into him, not wanting to let go of this perfect man who’s now mine. My husband.
Watching him sleep so peacefully, his eyelids flutter every so often. His perfect jaw, his perfect lips, his uncontrollable hair—everything about him makes me smile. So much that my cheeks start to actually hurt.
Reaching over to the nightstand, I grab my phone to see what time it is—seven in the morning—but the text sitting on the main screen catches my attention. It’s a link, sent directly to me. I don’t recognize the number, and it looks like a spam link, but it’s the title that piques my interest.
Billionaire Playboy finally settling down with Heiress to Preston Enterprises
I normally ignore any tabloid trash sent to me, but I click on the link, taken directly to the article on page six of the New York Times.
In a move that shocks the business world, entrepreneur and billionaire playboy, Lex Edwards, was seen last week leaving a hotel room while being
intimate with heiress to the Preston Enterprises group, Victoria Preston. A source close to the couple says they have been close for a while, but due to business conflicts, the relationship was not made public. Ms. Preston’s publicist declines any comments, however, founder of Preston Enterprises, Clive Preston, says that Lex is like a son to him, and any news of a union between the two is great for him as well as the two companies. Photographs have been snapped of them at intimate dinners in New York and London. Ms. Preston has also been caught leaving his apartment dressed casually in the early hours of the morning. The photograph caught of them being intimate at a business function last Saturday is enough to confirm the couple is definitely on.
I click on the pictures and zoom in. It’s him. My heart stops. Clutching my chest, I’m unable to breathe. I shake my head relentlessly, the shock consuming me.
Barely able to move, my brain is trying to compute what I’ve read. The pictures don’t lie, they are definitely being intimate, his hand is stroking her cheek. You don’t do that with business associates. Every image in that article is, in fact, of them being intimate all over the fucking country.
I untangle myself from him, quietly tiptoeing across the room. As I’m about to exit, I catch his phone by the nightstand. I try to ignore it, but I need fucking answers.
I’m so fucking angry at myself for trusting him again.
Quickly grabbing it, I read the message on the screen.
Victoria: Looks like we made page six, baby. Might as well come out now.
With shaking hands, I place the phone back and bolt out of the room. I’m ready to break down, to scream my lungs out, to punch something, do anything to let out the pain. The nausea washes over me. Covering my mouth, I run to the bathroom, barely making it to the bowl. My body is shaking, that familiar feeling is tearing me up inside.
I need to get out of here and fast.
Panicking as I don’t want to face him. Scared he’ll try to convince me it’s all a lie, when, in fact, the damage is done.
He’s broken me once again.
Rocky is the only one sitting at the dining table. He has the paper wide open but shuts it closed when he sees me.
“Charlie, do you wanna… look, I saw…”
“Rocky, I need you to do me a favor. I’m packing my bags right now and taking the bike. I don’t care how just make sure someone drives my car back. Park it in your garage. I need to get out of here right now. Please, just do this for me?”
He nods as I quickly bolt back to my room shoving everything in my bag. I dump it in the back of the car and run over to my bike. Quickly putting my helmet on, I drive off faster than I ever have before, the noise of the engine echoing through the quiet streets.
I hate myself so much right now.