Unlike him.
“Paige, please,” he growls.
“Can’t have me making a scene, right?”
“That’s not what I meant. I want you getting what you’re entitled to.” His voice is a chemical explosion, lurching between bruised whispers and furious pleas.
“I said keep your dirty money out of my life.” I push the ring off my finger with my other hand and throw it at him. “Keep your ring, and keep your hands to yourself. I’ve still got the deposit and my dignity. That’s enough.”
But I’m not even sure I want the fricking deposit anymore for my trouble. I’ll probably send it back, but I’ll decide later with a cooler head.
I manage to fight back another wave of crippling tears until I’m on the elevator. Then I burst into unabashed death sobbing. Technically, my car is in Ward’s garage, too, but I can’t drive like this.
I could call Brina, but I don’t want to drag her into my pit, if she hasn’t jetted off with her hubby to some happy tropical place. I want to be out of here like now.
I text Reese. Do former employees still get one more ride?
She pings me almost instantly.
What? Where are you? And what happened?
The penthouse, I text back.
On my way!
In the meantime, I find a visitor bathroom in the lobby to hide in, lock myself in a stall, and bawl until my eyes hurt. When my phone buzzes, I’m still ugly crying my soul out.
I wash my face in the sink, cross my arms in front of my chest, and bite my lip. Even after running cool water over my eyes, it’s still obvious I’ve been ruined.
Somehow, I make it to the Lincoln without tripping on my own misplaced feet.
Reese turns around and looks at me with a gasp.
“Oh my God. Should I kick his ass, Paige? I’m ready!”
She throws the driver’s door open, her hair flapping as I realize she’s fully intent on marching up to Ward’s door.
“Reese, no. Just take me home. Please.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
She shuts her door and puts her seat belt back on. “The old apartment, right?”
I hug myself and nod. Good thing I kept paying rent after all.
“What Neanderthal thing did he do?” Reese asks gently, pulling the car onto the road.
“Nothing.”
“C’mon.” She scoffs. “I never knew nothing could be so...harsh.”
At this point, why lie? I shrug.
“He doesn’t love me, Reese.”
“That’s...a little hard to believe,” she says carefully. “I mean, not that the Brandt boys are awesome at being honest or healthy or even sane with their feelings. Believe me, I know.”
I’m half tempted to ask what her deal is with Nick, the rumblings she’s hinted at before, but I just can’t.
I’m also tempted to tell her the truth, but she never signed the NDA, and I’m not about to toss away my professionalism. “He just...he doesn’t love me. That’s the long and short of it. And all I can say per the NDA.”
“NDA?”
Oops. I didn’t mean for that to slip out.
“Nondisclosure agreement,” I whisper.
“Wha—you mean, the Warden broke up with you and made you sign an ND-freaking-A? Oh, he’ll enjoy his next ride to work, let me tell you.”
I manage a bitter, barely there smile.
“I still don’t believe he doesn’t love you, by the way,” she adds a minute later. “Before you, I never thought Ward and flowers could coexist in the same universe without a black hole opening.”
“Then you’re as naive as I am.” A poison laugh falls out of me but soon turns into uncontrollable tears.
End me.
I’m never going to live this down, am I? At least I’ll be gone before everybody in the office hears about it.
“Oh, I hate seeing you like this. I hope he’s a hell of a lay to put up with this trash.”
I wipe my eyes and sniff until my nostrils bend in. “I’m not putting up with anything. This was pretty final, but yeah. He has a PhD in horizontal acrobatics and judo kissing.”
Reese snickers. “TMI about the bossman.”
“Sorry, you asked.”
“Fair.”
She pulls up in front of my old apartment a short while later.
“You sure you’ll be okay alone? Maybe you should stay with a friend tonight? Or family. You have folks around here, right?”
“I’m fine. It’s not like this is my first rodeo being dumped.”
Technically true, only this feels like a mess of scorpion stings to the heart.
I fling the car door open.
“I’m telling you, he loves you. I’m sure of it,” Reese insists, trying and failing to make me feel better.
I bite my lip. “And I’m telling you you’re wrong. Love isn’t something he does, not after this. He didn’t even know I was there, standing behind him when he said I meant...basically nothing.” My chest feels hollow.
“Jackass!” she hisses.
I shake my head.
“No, just a Wardhole who handles his emotions like a stick of dynamite. Thanks for the ride.”
I shut my door and head upstairs.