Asshole Husband

Rachel stood up and walked to the kitchen.

“You don’t have to run away.”

Rachel threw her wine in the sink and turned to look at her sister. She knew she was going to cry and she tried to contain the tears, but it was no use. Her emotions were all over the place.

“Yes,” she said.

“Rachel, honey, you don’t have to cry.”

“But I can’t seem to help it.” The first tear fell down her cheek, and she swiped it away, angry with herself for even crying. This wasn’t what she wanted. “I love him so much, and I know I really shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s an asshole. He will do whatever the hell he wants for himself, and he doesn’t care about anyone else. Look at what he was willing to do. He married me because of a damn place on the board. I couldn’t give a fuck about my father’s business. I don’t really know what it is he does.” She burst out laughing. “I’m clueless about it all. Yet, Wolfe was willing to marry me in order to get it. I’m as useful as a seat. He will never feel the same way about me.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“I do. Wolfe will never love me. He will never care about me. Not the way I do him. Even after everything we’ve been through. He threatened to take my son away because I wanted a clean slate away from him, and look, I still love him.”

“You need to stop worrying about every tiny detail. So you love an asshole. I’m sure you’re not the first woman to fall for a guy who’s a little, you know, out there.”

“I don’t even know why I moved in here with him. I hate this place,” she said. “It’s so cold.”

“Turn the heating up then,” Alice said.

“It’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I’m really not good company right now.”

“It’s fine. You’ve moved from one house to the other. You have a right to be a little pissy.”

She rubbed at her temple. “Thank you, for being here, and for everything.”

“You’re going to cry again.”

“I know. Give me a minute. I’ve got to get myself under control.”

“Do you mind me turning your TV on while I wait?” Alice asked. “I don’t like sitting around doing nothing.”

“Sure, go ahead, have at it,” she said, rushing toward the bathroom.

She didn’t know why she was crying so much. There was no reason for her to cry or to be this emotional. She should be more than fine. Perfectly fine.

Turning on the water, she splashed some on her face.

Living with Wolfe wasn’t as bad as she originally thought it would be. He was trying to make this work with her, which was more than she ever believed he was capable of. For five years she’d thought the worst of him, and why not? He didn’t mince his words when she wasn’t in the room.

He wanted that place on the board, and she didn’t even know why.

Grabbing a towel, she dried her face and looked at herself in the mirror.

“You’re going to be fine. All of this, it’s going to be fine. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” She released a breath, but it didn’t feel true.

There was a knock on the bathroom. “Sweetie, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You really need to come out and see this.”

“What?”

“I can’t tell you. You really need to come and see this, Rachel. Come on.”

Frowning, she opened the door to see Alice right there. “I got a text from Mary and she told me to turn on the news. The entire video has gone complete viral.”

“Video?”

“You’ll see.”

Following Alice back to the siting room, the large screen showed Wolfe.

“Tonight, well, it’s not Valentine’s Day, but there is love in the air as we bring you the latest video that is going viral. You are looking at a confrontation with another man. The Wolfe Montgomery, multi-millionaire, and as you all may remember, he is also married to the elusive Rachel Parker, now Rachel Montgomery. For years we have had rumors of a seemingly bad dispute between the two that has always been covered up with one story or another. It would seem there wasn’t always love in paradise, but now the couple are together once again, and Wolfe is not willing to let her go. Let’s play the video of the day.”

Wolfe stood in front of Ryan’s house and someone was filming it, but clearly Wolfe didn’t know because he never once looked at the camera.

“I love the blue of her eyes. They’re like an open book to the woman inside. She cannot hide what she thinks or feels, even as she tries so hard to do exactly that. Her laughter. I missed it so much. It’s infectious, and even if you’re having a really fucking shitty day, hearing her laugh, you know everything is going to be okay. She’s on this planet, and knowing that, you can’t hate the world, or what it represents. She wants to be completely loved by someone, and she is. She just doesn’t know it yet. I love my wife more than anything else in the world, and you know, I am a fuck-up. A giant, stinking fuck-up, but I will do anything for her, because even though she doesn’t realize it, she owns my heart. My entire life is linked to hers, which is why I won’t let her go. If you think these past five years have been easy for me, you’re wrong. They’ve been the hardest of my life because she realized what an asshole I am, and well, rather than step out of my comfort zone, I let her believe it. I am an asshole, but with Rachel, I couldn’t hurt her.”